Katherine Kindle Edition

I'm not finished with it. Did I mention it's nearly 600 pages? An intriguing tale based on historic facts, Seton does a good job of embellishing to make a story worth reading while remaining essentially true to the facts. I'm not crazy about the more syrupy scenes but I do appreciate learning new vocabulary about old things we no longer use or do.

Katherine is widely regarded as Anya Seton's finest book, and is still a popular classic in its genre over 50 years after it was first published. There are several reasons why this book has endured and is still so well-loved by so many.First, in Katherine Anya Seton completely immerses the reader in 14th century England. This is an era that, 600 years later, we tend to view through a soft-focus lens, remembering it as a romantic and chivalric period of castles, knights, courtly manners and beautiful and elaborate clothing. However, Seton's writing removes the rosy glow and depicts the late 1300s in as realistic a way as possible for a 20th century writer; she reminds us that life in a castle was cold, damp, moldy, smelly (unwashed bodies and poor sanitation), and ridden with sickness, lice and fleas. And yet this time period is still compelling with its tournaments, courtly intrigue, and social structure so different from our own. It was a world so drastically different from what we know that we are still fascinated by it.Secondly, Katherine is a successful book because it is so full and satisfying; it is like eating a seven-course meal. When you are finished you feel that it is complete and nothing has been left out. Anya Seton found her niche in the writing world by focusing on real women who had actually lived, but who were (with the exception of Katherine Swynford) minor players never on the center stage of their society, and who had been forgotten over time by all but perhaps a few elite scholars. She took such characters, what few facts about them she could discover in her research, and, using her own fertile imagination, recreated their lives. Because her subjects were heretofore unknown to her readers, Seton was able to form their personalities and motives as she pleased and make them her own.She does this in spades with Katherine. As she says in her Author's Note at the beginning of the book, few documented facts exist about Katherine Swynford's life. Therefore, the majority of this 500-page book (and very small print at that) is the result of Seton's own vivid and gifted imagination. This is really less a love story about John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford than it is a life story of Katherine herself, complete with a large cast of major and minor players. The result is a story that is full, detailed and multi-textured, just as Katherine's life probably actually was. Seton vividly portrays her characters and develops their personalities and motivations in ways that are completely credible to the reader. Having read all of Anya Seton's books, I can say that they are never contrived; never do you feel that she is forcing the plot to go in the direction she wishes it to. Always the direction of the story seems to emerge from the characters themselves and their decisions; such is the ability of a gifted writer.The only drawback that I could find in this book, and the reason I am giving it 4 stars instead of 5, is that at times the pace drags. There were several places where I found myself thumbing ahead (although I would always go back to where I was and keep reading until it got more interesting!)If you like modern-style romances with their graphic and titillating love scenes, then you won't like Katherine or any other older romance book for that matter. This is an old-style romance (which is the best kind in my opinion) where the intimacy is only alluded to.But if you want to be transported back to the 14th century and read about a real-life woman who was fascinating in her ability to capture and hold the love of the wealthiest and most powerful man in England at the time, then this is it. I was a little sad to see the book end, I wasn't quite ready to return to the 21st century. :) This is one I will doubtless read again someday. Enjoy.

I didn’t think that I would like this book. I don’t like historical fiction. This story was told so gracefully that I decided, halfway through, that I would look for more books by Anya Seton. I recommend this book even if you had no interest in the story of Duchess Katherine and John of Gaunt. You will be swept up by this love story.

Viewed from the perspective of its publication fifty years ago, Katherine is one of Seton's more respected and significant works, a retelling of the fourteenth century love affair of a beautiful, convent-raised young woman, Katherine de Roet, who arrives at the English Court through the offices of the Queen, marries Hugh, Duke of Swynford, a small minded, brutal man and has a mythic romance with John of Gaunt, third son of King Edward. From the time of her marriage to Hugh Swynford, whom Katherine detests, through her adoration of Blanche, the Duke of Lancaster's wife who perishes from the Black Plague in 1369, Katherine is undeniably infatuated with John, who is both attracted and repulsed by her earthy beauty, so in contrast with his virginal wife. Upon Hugh's untimely death, John allows his growing obsession with Katherine to flower and the two become lovers, although it remains impossible for them to marry.Katherine bears John two sons, raising her Swynford-born children in luxury far beyond their natural station in life. John is, of course, distracted by the affairs of state and his role as the powerful younger son of the King. Katherine keeps herself removed from matters of the court, but after the death of the Duke of Wales, whose young son is in line to become king, the Duke of Lancaster pledges himself to protect the child's interests. Beset by the problems that attend any court and attacks on his own royal lineage, John has much to occupy him and Katherine is left alone with her children. At such times, Katherine believes that John no longer loves her and has cast her aside, although her fears are groundless, at least at that time, her attitude a product of their insular love affair and an inability to own her chosen role, transgressing the morality she was taught. Of sufficient years to be aware of the Duke's problems, Katherine yet clings helplessly to the fragments of her tattered conscience.Seton's prose is perfectly tailored to the turbulent century, when war and plague are common occurrences, religious leaders assign power to saint's relics and crops and children are lost at the whim of the moon. Gossip and court intrigue spread as easily as illness, the poor ever-oppressed by the nobles, who demand tithes to wage their wars in defense of England. Spain is allied to England through the second marriage of John of Gaunt, who attends his royal duties while saving his heart for Katherine de Roet Swynford. Although beset by exigent circumstances that demand great sacrifice, Katherine eventually fulfills her destiny and her heart's desire, her heirs (the Beaufort children) are connected by birth to the Tudor and Stuart line. In a love affair that spans the years and captures the imagination, Katherine and John find peace, spiritual harmony restored to Katherine's wounded soul. Luan Gaines/ 2005.

Please note I'm merely commenting on the Kindle version. I've loved this book for years and have only just downloaded it on to my Kindle. But there are so many errors in the conversion to Kindle format that sometimes it's difficult to work out what the text is actually supposed to be, and quite often the mood is completely spoiled. Someone else has picked up on "horrible dream - I was drowning and you - 8212" - I've looked in my paperback copy and 8212 doesn't actually replace anything, it's just sneaked in! It's obviously not been checked for errors by the transcriber.

If you are thinking of approaching this book as a historically accurate fiction novel on one of England's most famous love affairs, you will be utterly disappointed.Very few things are known about Katherine De Roet, later Lady Swynford lover and then wife to the Duke of Lancaster, but not so few that the reader can accept the author's wild speculations unquestioningly. The Duke's first wife died in 1468, his grief was portrayed by Chaucer in the Book of the Duchess and his first son by Swynford was born in 1473, so no need to picture our Prince Charming laying hands on his future lover barely 4 days after interring his beloved consort. There is also no evidence that Katherine's first marriage was not just as happy as her lover's and second husband's first marriage, with no need to picture Sir Swynford as a fatty, hairy, rude rapist who proposes marriage only because he's caught in the act of assailing our maid by the Duke, let alone the allegations on his Thomas Becket-like death making way for our heroine's surrender to the Duke's passion.The love story itself is overromanticised: our Duke is the perfect knight in shining armour (save for 10 years of blatant and very fruitful adultery), rescueing Katherine from evil every other chapter, scarcely remembering his royal duties and ambition when his lover is near. Katherine is the perfect Cinderella (again save for 10 years of adultery and 4 illegitimate children) eventually winning the prize of honourable marriage after renouncing her love for 15 years out of a sacred vow to the Virgin Mary instead of being sent away out of political necessity. Sometimes the descriptions are sooo sweet you think the pages will stick to your fingers. Other elements in the plot (Katherine's presence at the Savoy during the Peasants' revolt, her lonely pilgrimage to Walsingham, the turn of events related to Katherine's first legitimate daughter, etc.) make the story as unplausible as it is dramatic. One passage ends with Katherine feeling like she is treading on a mine field (mines? In the Middle Ages???)However, if you leave your need for absolute accuracy aside and lose yourself in the detailed, lavish descriptions the author delivers in her beautiful rich writing, you will feel like looking at a live Medieval fresco, with characters moving in the landscape of an era that you will feel come to life, despite the several weak points of the narrative, making you at least want to know more and investigate further on both the historical period and its characters.

Katherine was the book from my Classics Club listpicked for me to read in the latest Classics Club Spin. And how glad I am it was selected because at 500 pages I’d been putting off reading it but, once I started the book, I became so caught up in the story that the pages flew by.A fictionalized account of the relationship between Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt, the book is wonderfully romantic without being slushy or sentimental and full of period atmosphere. The intimate portrait of their love affair which spanned decades is set against the backdrop of wider historical events, such as the Peasants’ Revolt. However, the historical detail never overwhelms the personal story.The book is rich in descriptive detail – of food, clothing, furnishings, daily life – and has an interesting cast of secondary characters such as Geoffrey Chaucer. I also liked the way the closing scenes of the book contrast Katherine’s view of her newly elevated position with her first impressions of the Plantagenet court as a young girl.No doubt it can be argued that Katherine is an overly romanticized account of a woman about whom relatively little is actually known. However, as a historical romance it worked for me and I thank the spin gods for choosing this book for me to read.(My rating relates to the book not to this Kindle edition which has numerous proofing errors)

I first read this when I was about 12 years old. It was the beginning of what became a passion for history, framing my life and career as a historian. Today as a read it is old fashioned romantic fiction, full of 1950s mores, attitudes to women, reverence for royalty and not entirely historically accurate but it is in fact ‘faction’. It is essentially a love story, a true one, an exceptional one, the heroes of which were the ancestors of those involved in the Wars of the Roses, which brought to power the Tudors. It is the blood of the Beauforts, Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunts children, which runs through our existing monarchy.

I find it difficult to express why I liked this book so much. Katherine Swynford is a women from history that is often overlooked but this book puts her right at the centre and what a wonderful read it is as a result. Written in 1954 it predates much of the modern popularity for historical fiction but can easily hold its own against any modern author of this genre. It is factually well researched the characters are real, as are the main events. It is set in the medieval period but far from being morbid or brutal it is a beautiful love story of the life long love that endures between Katherine and the Duke of Lancaster, John of Gaunt. The characters are well drawn and you feel part of the story from the very beginning. I have read this book in the Kindle version but decided to buy a paperback to own and loan. When it arrives I shall read it again and again and......