A couple of books to add to my collection of those those I really enjoyed. I found them unputadownable...From first to last page.

The first was The Gilded Chamber by Rebecca Kohn. The story of Ester from the bible. I got the book and didn't even realise it was based from biblical text. I love stories about strong women, and she was a mere girl when she was abducted and put into the kings harem. From a concubine to a queen, and to have brains enough to outwit a king and his court, and survive-wow fact or fiction, its riveting stuff.

http://www.rebeccakohn.com/gildedchamber.html

The second was In the Company of the Courtesan by Sarah Dunant. This was recommended to me ages ago, and I've just got around to reading it. No need to figure what it is about, but it surprised me, in that it was told through the eyes of a dwarf, who was her manager and friend. I loved the writing, it was lush and vivid, and it made me want to be there in Venice, though not in the poor area. Her writing is very descriptive, when she said Venice was smelly and seedy etc, you actually where there.  She took inspiration from Titian's portrait that has come to be known as ”the Venus of Urbino”

http://www.sarahdunant.co.uk/books.htm

I have been devouring books again. I absolutely couldn't put these down. Most biogs are about the great people themselves, but I always enjoy reading about the lives of those around them. In Josephine's case, I wonder would Napoleon really have become the man he did without her help. Did destiny place them together, in order that their fates could be fulfilled. Fascinating stuff.

It's told in a journal form, It is easy to read, in that you want to know what tomorrow brings. She was a blogger before blogging became huge. Though they called them diarists then. I admit I cried when I read the end of the last book, her life was far from easy. It's a love story wrapped in the torments of sacrifice and ambition. The author stays away from Napoleon as a character in his own right, but tends to portray him through the eyes of Josephine. I loved these and was so disappointed when I reached the end of the trilogy.

I found the info about the author (Sandra Gulland) and the pics of the books on her website. http://www.sandragulland.com/

The Josephine B. Trilogy :

Book 1: The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B.

"You will be Queen."
A novel about destiny; Josephine's life from 1777, when she turns 14, to 1796, when she marries Napoleon at the age of 32.

Book 2: Tales of Passion, Tales of Woe.

"I fear I've made a mistake."
A novel about betrayal; the first four years of Josephine's marriage to Napoleon from 1795 to 1799 when Napoleon, with Josephine's help, takes control of France.

Book 3: The Last Great Dance on Earth

"Did she know how much we loved her?"
A novel about an enduring love set against the opulence and treachery of the Empire years; Josephine's life from 1799 to her death in 1814 at the age of 50.

There I was determined to write about blood, thirsty vampires. Yes I have the next bit ready to be pulled from my mind. But I made the mistake of putting my media player on and damn if I didn't go and get pulled into my soppiest love songs.

If I write the next bit of my story, I will have her saving his soul. Making him human again (poor thing) and they will fall head-long into the throes of the deepest, slushiest love that I can imagine. Yeuk, can't have that! Much too difficult to write about requited love.

But I am at the moment feeling that feeling, love and a million violins playing the beats of our twin hearts. Melting into arms that have to embrace each other, touch that has to be felt. The completion of a love held at arms length, something that has grown slowly into something all consuming. Acting on the feelings, when the compulsion cannot be held back any more. More than mere sex, more than making love, it is love...

WHITE HELIOTROPE
The feverish room and that white bed,
The tumbled skirts upon a chair,
The novel flung half-open where
Hat, hairpins, puffs and paints, are spread;

The mirror that has sucked your face
Into its secret deep of deeps,
And there mysteriously keeps
Forgotten memories of grace;

And you, half dressed and half awake,
Your slant eyes strangely watching  me,
And I, who watch you drowsily,
With eyes that, having slept not, ache;

This (need one dread? nay, dare one hope?)
Will rise, a ghost of memory, if
Ever again my handkerchief
Is scented with White Helioptope.

Arthur Symnons (1865-1945)

Its been a while since I added my books category. I am still devouring books but some catch my attention more than others.

I loved The Boleyn Inheritance, even more than Other Boleyn Girl. This gripped me so much I couldn't put it down, though I know the history of Henry V111 and how he treated his wives, it was still compelling reading. The Boleyn Inheritance concentrated on Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard & Jane Boleyn (Anne boleyn's sister in law). It was terrifying, like being on a roller coaster you couldn't get off. Who needs horror books, history is full of it. Despotism, and absolutely no rose tinted glasses where the king and his court was concerned.

Extinction was an entirely different kind of read. Very topical at the moment with all these eco worries. An end of the world, through climate changes story. An easy read inspite of learning a lot about geology too. Scary reading it when the rain was lashing against my window and the news is full of floods.

Blood Data was great, anything to do with computers and i'm there. Well nearly anything. But this book just took me from page to page, in a never ending rush to read what happened next. It made me think of big brother-watching us, and how everything about us can be found out from our details stored on computers. The theme- is our behaviour genetically inherent? and the outcome of genetic testing is fascinating. Well to me it is :)

More of Love and Longing

Sometimes the words of others can say just what I can't. Hard to believe this was wrote so long ago, yet the meaning is still as current now, as it would have been then. (More for my poetry collection)

From Amores: The Triumph of Love
Who is it that can tell me why my bed seems so hard
And why the bedclothes will not stay upon it?
Wherefore has this night-and oh, how long it was-
dragged on, bringing no sleep to my eyes?
Why are my weary limbs visited with restlessness and pain?
If it were Love that had come to make me suffer,
Surely i should know it.
Or stay, what if he comes, without a word of warning,
To wound me with his cruel arts?
Yes tis he! His slender arrows have pierced my heart,
And fell Love holds it like a conquered land.
Shall i yield me to him? Or shall i strive against him,
And so add fuel to this sudden flame?
Well, I will yield; burdens willingly borne do lighter weigh.
OVID43BC-AD18)

It has been a while since I pondered on the thoughts of love. Too much deep thinking of other things, but today I find my mind drifts towards love and of being in love. Two entirely different things, but both with a wealth of emotion and feelings.

I think today of being in love, how overwhelming it is. It is with you every minute of every day. It rises and falls, but never goes away. To know the feeling is as important to you, as it is to me, that it is equal in its measure.

But it doesn't take away the pain of longing when that love is there, but just out of reach. I cannot think of anything that is wrote about more than love. Yet it still remains difficult to sum it up in its entirety. Perhaps because it is in essence a thing of fluidity, even though it seems solid at times.

BY DAY mine eyes, by night my soul desires thee, Weary, I lie alone.

Once in a dream it seemed thou wert beside me;

O far beyond all dreams, if thou wouldst come!

MS of Beauvais (9th or 10th century) Translated by Helen Waddell

3 Simple lines, yet it reveals feelings of longing- painful, aching, heartbreaking.

Isn't it just the most blissful feeling in the world- to LOVE ... To have and to hold it close. Only then, once you have known that feeling, can you know how it is to feel true longing.

I have been catching up on my history, both on TV and books. On TV I just watched the tape of The Last Days of the Raj. I had heard of the partition of India and Pakistan, but didn't know the background to it. Nor the part that Mountbatten played in it. I am not sure how biased the program was towards the British Lord, it seemed to say he was fair, but that he left too early.

I was not sure how it could have been done. But savagery, death and rage shouldn't have been the answer. Politics and religion baffles me. I wonder why we can't all just get along. So many people died, or were hurt and still mourn the loss of family and loved ones. When the program finished I wanted to know what happened afterwards, how it was settled, if it was.

I still think religion should be a peaceful thing, not the cause of so much death, power and corruption. But talking of religion, I move onto Christianity...

I must admit I couldn't put down The Borgia Bride  by Jeanne Kalogridis. http://www.book-club.co.nz/books05/theborgiabride.htm

I remember the series long ago on TV about the Borgias, the corrupt pope. And his papal court.

This book is about Sancha, an illegitimate daughter of King Alfonso II of Naples. Who is forced into marriage, to Pope Alexander VI's son Jofre. Yes I said son. It is amazing how it was tolerated that he had a mistress, and any woman who took his fancy,  and fathered children. But then the court of the Borgias, pope or not, had more power than even the kings who ruled.

I loved it because, I simply could not wait to find out what happened next. A page turner from beginning to end.

I haven't mentioned books for a while but it doesn't mean I have not been reading. It is probably because the book is good, but it's just another book. I did however read Zelda's Cut by Philippa Gregory. It was fascinating and had me held from the beginning.

It was about a female writer, trapped by a need to be the good woman she has always been, crippled with secret debt & also her reputation as a literary writer. With the help of her agent, they create Zelda the author, who writes a blockbuster. She assumes Zelda's identity & experiences life through her eyes. Her agent becomes fascinated about the person that is Zelda, and so the lines about identity are explored and crossed.

It was great in that it looks at the masks that we wear in order to be the person we are, they keep us safe. When you don another mask, can it make you into a whole other persona and allow you to think about the things we would love to experience, but would never dare try. Even go so far as to dip a toe in the things considered to be taboo.

I found it interesting that by wearing a different face, it could also allow you to cross gender barriers. But I won't say any more, in case anyone has an urge to read it. And I loved the end :)

I have read quite a lot of Philippa Gregory's books, she allows her women to be strong and capable, yet vulnerable too.