What do You think about The Merry Monarch's Wife (2008)?
Captain Renault:What in heaven's name brought you to Casablanca?Rick:My health. I came to Casablanca for the waters.Captain Renault:The waters? What waters? We're in the desert.Rick:I was misinformed.This is my first encounter with Jean Plaidy's Queens of England Series. I thought I might be getting Hilary Mantel; I was misinformed. This book dramatizes the life of Catherine of Braganza. She, a good Catholic, married Charles II of England whose good fortune it was to be available at the restoration of the British monarchy after the great Civil War. Charles' father was beheaded in that conflict. Catherine was married to Charles to cement a relationship between England and Portugal and provide some buffer between the warring parties in the Iberian peninsula. Catherine's father got what he wanted in the deal, and was willing to pay a substantial price for it. Aside from the money in the dowry, England got concessions in north Africa and India --- items that led to Britain's later domination of India and other places in Asia. Plaidy, instead, chooses to caste Catherine as a "pawn in the game of life." Everything happens to her. She seems to do nothing, take no initiative on her own.The "Merry Monarch" of the title had romantic involvements both before and during his marriage to Catherine. Perhaps because of his bride's miscarriages and inability to produce an heir, Charles fathered and recognized many out of wedlock progeny. The book takes us on a long journey through Catherine's fidelity to Roman Catholicism. The English people had difficulty warming to her because her religion stood in the way. She was accused at various times of treason and other offenses. Charles, to his credit, was her strong defender. When he died, she stayed in England. It was the Portuguese who, being among the first Western sailors to Asia, brought back tea. It became popular among their nobility. It was Catherine who, as part of her dowry, brought several chests of tea with her to England. She made it fashionable at Court and from there to the general public. Plaidy makes little note of this, and other things less titilating.
—HBalikov
Despite the somewhat dull and placid personality of this Queen of England, Plaidy creates a simple and relatively enjoyable story of her life. Though I found the lives of her enemies - could one call them that? - the mistresses of Charles II such as Nell Gwynne and Lady Castlemaine. Unfortunately they took the show away from Catherine.However, Plaidy is such a talented writer, it is hard to fault the tone she manages to capture of famous people of the time. Not a favourite but that may be because I'm a Tudor kind of girl.
—Danielle
This book is told from the point of view of Charles II's wife Catherine Braganza. It's interesting to compare this book with Plaidy's earlier books about Charles II. Most things are similar, but in this book (which was written considerably after the Charles II trilogy) she has Charles dying willingly as a Catholic as opposed to being forced to it like at the end of the trilogy (which her author's note even discusses). I haven't read any non-fiction about Charles, so I'm not sure what the current thoughts might be on this subject, but it's interesting to see how Plaidy's views changed over the years.
—Sara W
