THE QUEEN'S GOVERNESS by Karen Harper, 2010.

I have liked most any of Harper's books that I've read; especially enjoyed her Tudor mystery series. This particular novel is a standalone title, and I was intrigued that she chose the character of Elizabeth I's old governess, Kat Ashley, as the main voice for the story.

Born Katherine Champernowne, Kat grows up in a household in Devon run by her father's second wife. Mourning her dead mother, Kat doesn't get along with her stepmother. By happy circumstance, she's noticed by the visiting royal councilor Thomas Cromwell, who arranges for her to live with and further her education with distant relatives. In return, Cromwell eventually brings her to court and wishes for her to be his "eyes and ears" around Anne Boleyn. The grateful Kat, over time, becomes sympathetic to Queen Anne, is trusted by her, and later by the doomed queen's request is given charge over the young Elizabeth.

Harper creates an interesting story around Kat: how she meets and eventually marries John Ashley, a relative of the Boleyn family; her relations with Tom Seymour, Princess Mary, Cromwell, and Robert Dudley, among others; the terrifying plots, gruesome executions and stays in the Tower; the religious issues of the day; the many intrigues and power plays surrounding the Tudor court. Many of the episodes about Elizabeth and Mary are familiar, but seeing them from Kat Ashley's viewpoint gives a fresh perspective. A smooth narrative, excellent details that don't overwhelm, and a good pace make this a satisfying read about the Tudor era.

Finished last night:

WOLF HALL by Hilary Mantel, 2009.

English author Mantel has written a huge, sprawling story concerning Thomas Cromwell, who rose to prominence under Henry VIII during the time of the king's "Great Matter." Henry wished to divorce his wife Katharine of Aragon after 20 years of marriage and then marry the captivating Anne Boleyn. Looming in the background, foreground, and everywhere, was Henry's desire and need for a male heir.

The author has done a terrific job with describing how Cromwell, son of a brutish blacksmith, manages to escape his dreadful childhood, spends years abroad, returns to England and becomes Cardinal Wolsey's go-to guy. After Wolsey's fall, Cromwell continues his rise to power, and finds that he is living a life beyond his wildest expectations. Cromwell, charming, knowledgeable, enigmatic, opportunistic, ambitious, and an enormously successful strategist, becomes crucial in Henry's and Anne's intertwined lives. She does well with making him a well rounded person, showing him as a kind and loving family man, as well as the courtly manipulator he was.

This is a hugely entertaining book, filled with larger than life characters and events, and Mantel's writing truly makes the era come to life. Political machinations, judicial murders, religious upheaval and persecution and executions, threats from rival claimants for the throne, wars, plague, etc. are all part of the story. I found her portrayals of Queen Katharine, Mary Tudor, Cardinal Wolsey, Elizabeth Barton, Hans Holbein and others very credible. The tragedy of Sir Thomas More was an interesting and moving section, and it was amazing what she was able to do to make so many characters stand out and be memorable: Mary Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Lady Rochford, and Bishop Gardiner, among so many others.

My only complaint about this novel is that it was very difficult and at times frustrating to keep track of who was saying what to whom. It took too much time to figure that out, and as a result, made for a slow read. Other than that, I found it a fresh take on an often written about episode in history. Kudos to Mantel for choosing to tell the story using Cromwell as the main voice and creating a different perspective on this Tudor period.

When the moon is full...

I went to see "Wolfman" the other night with a friend of mine. Our wives don't particularly care for creepy/scary/gory/horror type movies, so occasionally we'll go out together and see one. We were curious about this, and neither of us was disappointed. Reviewers were not overly thrilled with it, but we enjoyed the special effects, the overall creepy atmosphere, the story was fine, and Anthony Hopkins and Benicio Del Toro as the tormented father and son involved in the mystery did quite well in their roles. Emily Blunt as the fiancee of Del Toro's brutally murdered brother is quite interesting and easy to look at. Hugo Weaving was good as the detective sent from London to investigate the series of murders at Blackmoor. And casting Geraldine Chaplin as the gypsy woman Maleva was a good choice--cool to see her in a film again. Del Toro plays an American who is called back home when his brother is killed and becomes involved in discovering the cause of all these local murders. Visions from childhood, his father's distant attitude, and his attraction to Gwen (Blunt) add to the suspense. While it was easy to guess the secret of the Talbot family of Talbot Hall, it still made for a thrilling picture. Lots of little surprises to make one jump or flinch and plenty of blood and gore--for me almost too much. This movie really was more like a remake of the original "Wolfman" and I definitely liked it more than "An American Werewolf in London". My movie pal and I both agreed it was worthwhile, and I would recommend it at least as a decent rental.

Just finished this yesterday: SOUTH OF BROAD by Pat Conroy, 2009.

Conroy is not a writer whose books I necessarily seek out. In fact, the only book of his I had read before this one was Prince of Tides, and that was many years ago... I was drawn to this one mainly because it's set in Charleston, South Carolina, an historic city I've visited several times over the years and am very fond of.

Most of South of Broad's action takes place in Charleston, and Conroy does an excellent job in his descriptions of the city, his use of real place names, etc. I could feel myself walking down Meeting Street, stepping into St. Michael's Church, and strolling along the Battery. The story involves a group of teens who meet the summer before their senior year in 1969 and who become lifelong friends, and continues 20 years later, in 1989, when they are adults and following their various paths. The two time periods/stories move back and forth through the book. Leo King, isolated and lonely, struggling to heal himself, is the heart of this group, which includes the glamorous just-come-to-town Sheba Poe and her brother Trevor; the damaged orphans Niles and Starla Whitehead; Ike Jefferson, Leo's football training partner and son of the new black coach; Betty Roberts, a sassy black orphan; the old Charleston money kids Molly Huger and Chad Rutledge and his sister Fraser. These kids become a close-knit group, whose lives remain intertwined as their circle widens. They survive issues of integration, loyalty, love, parental authority, prejudice, depression, alcoholism, acceptance, and multiple tragedies, some becoming stronger and some ruining their lives. These kids are troubled as teens, and they become more messed up as adults. Conroy piles on plenty of old secrets and scandals, supplies chilling horror when the Poes' insane father shows up, and uses Hurricane Hugo to set some things right in their world. While at times Conroy's characters seem a little too old and wise (especially as teenagers), they are interesting and well defined, full of emotion and energy. His writing is just wonderful, with plenty of wit and humor, as well as solemness and elegance and grace. Full of enthusiasm, beauty, wildness, cruelty, social graces and customs, emotional turbulence and the power of love and redemption, this novel really is thought provoking and moving. It was a very worthwhile read for me.

THE HELP by Kathryn Stockett, 2009.

Even though snow is falling outside as I finish this, it was easy to feel the heat and humidity of a Mississippi summer while reading this book. Stockett's debut novel concerns three women (one white, two black) living in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1962. Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan is 22, an Ole Miss graduate, who is living back at home and who yearns for something meaningful in her life. She wishes her maid (caregiver) Constantine were around to give her support and comfort, but she has disappeared and no one will tell her what happened...Skeeter also realizes that life in the South between the races is not as it should be and wants to help somehow. Aibilene is a black maid, wise and dignified and kind, who has raised 16 white children as her own, and loves her current charge Mae Mobley enough to teach her a better way to live even though it could cost her everything and continues to mourn her only child--killed on his job while white coworkers looked on. Sassy and smart Minny is a great cook but doesn't know when to shut up and keeps losing jobs, but is loyal and true to her friends. These three determined females come together to work on a secret project that could start a movement and change everything in their town. In the process they learn much about each other and what it means to be black and white and female in the South, about barriers, about lines that can't be crossed and how to gain the courage to try. At times heartbreaking and sometimes funny, the author portrays life during that time and place honestly and painfully, with all the moonlight and magnolias and scars of slavery and racial prejudice and hatred on both sides.

Stockett knows how to write well, her language and dialogue are spot on, her descriptive passages are well done, and her characters seem real. She is able to portray both black and white characters equally well. She knows the South of the Sixties and what it was like growing up with a black servant. It all comes together as a very appealing and readable story and in the hands of a good screenwriter, it would make an excellent movie. As someone who grew up in the South during this period with a black caregiver, I found it really resonated with me in some small ways, and I think it will be one of those books that will continue to linger in my memory years from now.

THE SUGAR QUEEN by Sarah Addison Allen, 2008.

A nice, light piece by the author of Garden Spells, this story concerns three youngish women, living in a small North Carolina town, who are tied together by secrets and lies: Josey, who lives with her mother as basically an unpaid servant, keeps a hidden closet full of sugary junk food for herself and dreams of escape; Chloe, who owns and operates the best sandwich shop in town, is in the throes of a breakup and is hounded by books that appear whenever she needs them; and Della Lee, a tough talking waitress with a heart of gold who is fleeing an abusive relationship and hiding out in Josey's closet. Murder, abusive behavior, illicit affairs, forbidden love, and blooming romances all play a part in the plot, and these characters' lives intersect when secrets are slowly revealed and all comes to light in somewhat surprising ways. Full of small town quirkiness, recognizable and interesting characters, humor, and a little bit of magic, it's a pleasant and charming read.

I enjoy watching the old 90's sitcom "Home Improvement" (thank goodness for cable), and I like Tim Allen's humor on that show, so I decided to check out his first book, DON'T STAND TOO CLOSE TO A NAKED MAN (1994). I don't read a lot of strictly humor books, so this was something different for me. I decided that while I really like his show, reading an entire book of his humor was just a bit much. Maybe that's the way I'd feel about reading any comic's book of humor. Anyway, Allen's humor is good on TV, where he's interacting with other characters and it's in small doses. It just didn't come off as funny on the printed page--at least, it didn't give me consistent chuckles while reading it.

I decided I would watch the theatrical version of "Brideshead Revisited" (2008), after putting it off a while. I had viewed the original PBS series (from 1981) a short while back, and enjoyed it quite a bit--made when Jeremy Irons and Anthony Andrews were so young and John Gielgud was still actively working. I had read that this movie version did not stand up so well next to the PBS version, but I like Emma Thompson and thought I'd give it a shot. Well, next to PBS's miniseries, the film came off as pretty shallow. Of course, a film cannot accomplish as much as a miniseries can, but this film didn't have much character development or motivation, seemed rather murky at times, somewhat disjointed, and not very involving. Didn't draw me into very well. Emma Thompson as the brittle and very Catholic Lady Marchmain and Matthew Goode as the ambitious Charles Ryder were about the best things in the film; Michael Gambon was not very good, or Ben Whishaw or Hayley Atwell. In terms of chemistry, the only ones who had much chemistry together were Goode and Whishaw and Goode and Thompson. Sometimes the dialogue was a bit dull, which made the whole movie go rather slowly. Andrew Davies has certainly done better scripts than this (a little too much concentration on the gay thing for me and the whole Catholic/atheist issue seemed very shallow). Beautiful location shooting (Castle Howard in England, which was used for the original, too), very gorgeous sets, but not much depth here. Not terrible, but not consistently good or very enthralling.