Mistress of the Monarchy: The Life of Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster (edit title)

• Rated 0 stars

“ Ever since I read the Anya Seton book about Katherine Swynford, I have been fascinated by her life and the story of John of Gaunt and their descendents, the Beauforts. I was delighted to find this well -researched book by author Alison Weir at our local library.”

• Rated 3 stars

“Really, a 3 plus...very scholarly, well-sourced, lots of footnotes. The problem is that there's not so much about the subject available to writers. So, we get a lot of inferences. John of Gaunt is certainly one of the most interesting men of the the Middle Ages--the progenitor of the Lancasters. So there's lots about him.
And, Weir included a good bit about Katherine's brother-in-law, Geoffrey Chaucer.”

• Rated 0 stars

“I didn't actually finish. A bit too dry for summer reading, but very thorough. Maybe when school is finally finished I'll delve back in...”

• Rated 3 stars

“A fascinating, well written book”

• Rated 2 stars

“Well researched and scholarly”

• Rated 3 stars

“The main problem with this biography is what Weir acknowledges at the beginning of the book: there's no personal *anything* remaining of Katherine Swynford - no correspondence, no personal articles or possessions, no diary, no will, and no direct biographical examination of her by anyone who knew her directly. This means that everything Weir says about her is basically conjecture, even if it is meticulously researched conjecture.

There was a lot of information here that, frankly, I didn't care if I knew, and nothing about Katherine's (or John of Gaunt's) personal feelings. However, reading it did fill in some of the gaps of English politics in the late 14th and early 15th centuries, so it was in that way, worthwhile. ”

• Rated 0 stars

“Great, great historical book. Reads like a novel at times, and really makes sense of the Plantagenet, Lancaster, Tudor and York origins. One of the few books about Katharine Swynford, and reinforces the research in the Anya Seton book about the eponymous Katharine. I skimmed when I got to boring parts but found myself turning often to the several family trees. My only disappoint was to find how few years Katharine and John of Gaunt were able to spend in non-scandalous happiness.”

• Rated 3 stars

“Reads a lot like a high school history textbook, but I find the story intriguing still.”

• Rated 3 stars

“I enjoyed this because I have read Katherine by Anya Seton many times and I loved getting more information about one of my favorite heroines and the ancestress of my beloved Tudors. However, for a casual reader the information was rather dry and the author seemed almost combative where her research differed from Seton's. Actually I'm not a big fan of Weir's work although I do end up picking up most of her titles. Her opinions differ from mine, especially regarding Richard 3 and the Princes in the Tower. Overall, an interesting selection for those obsessed with Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt. I did enjoy the illustrations showing tombs and effigies of the main players.”