Jean Plaidy

Uneasy Lies the Head (1982)

Took a while to get into this book and think a lot of bad reviews I read after starting probably put me off, however after a few chapters I got into it, I liked the fact the book explored many different character not only Henry the 7th but the pretenders to the throne perkin warbeck and lambert s...

To Hold the Crown (1982)

I was disappointed in this book. It was very readable but was laden with errors. The theme reminded me of Henry II who maniacally searched for a young wife to give him more heirs while he already had three. Henry VII had an heir but desperately wanted many spares. With Henry VIII, the nut di...

Gay Lord Robert (1970)

This enjoyable work is about Robert Dudley and the love shared between him and Queen Elizabeth I. Dudley descended from a family of ambitious men, and their ambition had been their undoing. However, Robert found himself attracted to the Queen of England, for ambition's sake but also for the pass...

Indiscretions of the Queen (1990)

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I'm a sucker for Jean Plaidy books.Oh my....Caroline, whatever will we do with you? When we first meet Caroline, she is a teenager and she pulls off the most outrageous stunts...like pretending she's giving birth in retaliation for not being allowed to a...

The Queen from Provence (1982)

Quite a good book focused on the life an reign of one of the perhaps lesser known Kings of England, Henry III and his relationship with his French Queen Eleanor de Provence. Henry not only devoted but was one of the rare kings who was faithful to his wife, but his devotion proved to be a double e...

Madonna of the Seven Hills (1968)

This is the first Jean Plaidy book I've ever read that did not concern itself with a Queen of England. I was expecting the reading of it to be a stranger experience.But Jean Plaidy is always Jean Plaidy, writing as if she's telling a fairy tale but not sparing us any of the unsavory or unpleasant...

The Shadow of the Pomegranate (2015)

"Then he began to pace up and down again.....a lion, not sure of his strength, but aware of the cage that enclosed him. The bars were strong, but his strength was growing. One day, he knew, he would break out of the cage. Then there would be nothing - no person on Earth to restrain him."The Shado...

The Regent's Daughter (1989)

Madame Serpent (2015)

Madame Serpent by Jean PlaidyGenre: Historical FictionWhen I started this book, I really didn’t know anything about Catherine de’ Medici and had only previously read 1 book by Plaidy. I picked up this book thinking that it would have more about Italy in it, seeing as she is a Medici, mistake! It...

The Courts of Love (2006)

Jean Plaidy’s historical novel of Eleanor of Aquitaine, Eleanor the Queen, includes important events in the lives of the title character, Henry II, and King Louis VII of France. Some of their sons’ and daughters’ stories are part of the intertwined story as well. The history itself is amazing, bu...

The Widow of Windsor (1979)

"The Widow of Windsor" is the final book in the Victorians series, obviously covering the life of Queen Victoria and her family following the death of the Prince Consort, Prince Albert. It's plain that Victoria never got over the death of her "Sainted One", wearing black every day, even to weddin...

Queen of This Realm (2004)

When I was invited to write a review about a book by Jane Plaidy, I readily accepted. I had heard so much about the author but never really had the chance to read any of her works. Queen of this Realm seemed like a good choice for this first experience, since the charismatic Elizabeth I, queen of...

Daughters of Spain (1974)

Quizás el mejor de los tres, lo cual no quiere decir que sea bueno. No sé si depende de la edición (Javier Vergara, 1995), pero como esta vez no tenía tantos errores tipográficos, los párrafos estaban correctamente separados y no se comían palabras, la lectura se hizo más fácil y lo disfruté más....

In the Shadow of the Crown (2004)

This is a story of Mary, Henry VIII’s daughter with Katherine of Aragon. As a child, Mary has it all. She’s the king’s only child and it’s understood she’ll be inheriting the throne. But, the king divorces the queen, marries Anne Boleyn, and has another daughter, Elizabeth. Mary is declared i...

The King's Confidante (2009)

This was a pleasure to read about Sir Thomas More, a notable figure among the prolific Tudor court of Henry VIII. Thomas More was a brilliant scholar and wrote "Utopia." You can't read a Henry VIII book and not have mention of the infamous Thomas More. Yet, we never get to see him in a personal t...

The Reluctant Queen: The Story of Anne of York (2007)

I went searching for a blurb of the story at Random House's site and this what I found is what is written above- I must say that I am a bit puzzled, Anne was not bethrothed to the older brother of her childhood love and Plaidy certainly never made that mistake... The Reluctant Queen is part of a ...

The Rose Without a Thorn (2003)

Katherine Howard has always been my least favorite of the wives of Henry VIII. She lacked the royal dignity of Katherine of Aragon, the wit and sophistication of her cousin Anne Boleyn, the quiet calculation of Jane Seymour, the sweet (yet canny) acceptance of Anne of Cleves, and the mature calm...

Katharine of Aragon: The Wives of Henry VIII (2005)

The Sixth Wife (2005)

Probably the title tells you right off the bat that this book has to do with Henry Tudor, AKA Henry the Eighth, he of the six wives. But before you decide that you already know as much as you want to about Henry and his wives, this historical fiction novel is by Jean Plaidy (1 September 1906 – 1...

The Thistle and the Rose (2004)

As much as i didn't want to write a review, i had to.Despite the fact i have NEVER read from this author, i really enjoy Tudor History. I have read a lot of history but never got around to Margret. I found myself looking through my book shelf and found this book and decided to give it a try. I wa...

The Plantagenet Prelude (2007)

I love Jean Plaidy's Plantagenet work! The literary world lost a great historical novelist when she died. I sometimes have a hard time getting into old books because of the totally different writing style of way-back-when, but Jean Plaidy always manages to get me immersed. She LIVED this! It amaz...

The Revolt of the Eaglets (2007)

The Revolt of the Eaglets is a direct sequel to Jean Plaidy's The Plantagenet Prelude. This 1977 entry was part of her never-ending quest to fictionalize each and every aspect of British history. This novel picks up just after the end of the last one. Thomas a Becket has just been murdered and th...

The Spanish Bridegroom (1971)

It became one of my personal goals to read 1 historical romance book every month. And this book started amazingly. I loved the author's words at the beggining and how she chose to show us a very strong monarch. I was excited for this book just after 20 pages and I had a feeling that it had the po...

The Vow on the Heron (1980)

Wow, That's a Lot of History.This is the first Jean Plaidy novel I've read. I recently read Hilda Lewis' 'Harlot Queen' which offers greater detail of the reign of Edward II and Edward III's succession to the throne. 'The Vow on the Heron' briefly touches on the succession of Edward III and how...

Hammer of the Scots (1983)

The Star of Lancaster (1982)

I enjoyed reading Plaidy's account of the early life and childhood of the boy who would become King Henry V, especially the female POV of his mother, an all too often ignored figure, in the early chapters. I barely knew that Henry had 2 sisters as well as his 3 more famous brothers. The first pa...

The Bastard King (1977)

This is the story of William the Conqueror – Duke of Normandy and King of England, son of Robert the Magnificent and a long line of Dukes of Normandy. Such a wonderful foundation was set by first telling part of the story of Robert the Magnificent and his love story with Arlette, daughter or a t...

The Prince of Darkness (2007)

The Prince of Darkness is the book about the youngest son of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II of England. Together they had 5 sons and 3 daughters. William the eldest died before his third birthday. Henry, the Young King, was crowned by his father the King when he was 15 years old and died when ...

Goddess of the Green Room (1979)

Let me just start by saying that I’ve moved this book way up my list of favourite Plaidys. In fact, right now it stands as number 1.Goddess of The Green Room is about the life of the famous 18th century actress, Dorothy Jordan and her eventual long-lasting relationship to George III’s third son, ...

Epitaph for Three Women (1983)

2.5 starsEpitaph for Three Women turned out to be far less about these three women than I was led to believe by the book's description. Broken into three parts titled Katherine of Valois, Joan of Arc, and Eleanor of Gloucester, only Joan, or Jeannette rather, has an actual story that follows her ...

The Queen and Lord M (1977)

The second in Plaidy’s four book series on Victoria. Now Queen, this book covers the first few years of her reign and her close relationship with Lord Melbourne. I really enjoyed Plaidy’s take on a young, but earnest young Queen who wants to be a good ruler, but is feeling her power after years...

The Captive of Kensington Palace (1976)

Con detalles históricos y un excelente contexto, Plaidy consigue que entre en un mundo completamente diferente, dándole la realidad necesaria para capturar al lector. Con personajes históricos bien retratados, inicia la historia de una pequeña heredera al trono. Si bien me gustó mucho la narrativ...

Victoria in the Wings (1992)

The Prince and the Quakeress (1989)

The StoryGeorge III's alleged secret marriage to Hannah Lightfoot, the niece of a Quaker linen-draper.The GoodAn amusing frolic through a highly dubious historical footnote.The BadIt's more the story of George III as he grows from sheltered child to adult capable of assuming his kingly responsibi...

Queen in Waiting (2002)

A vast improvement over the first volume of the Georgian saga, this book showed me the Sophie, Sophie Charlotte and most importantly the Caroline I'd been looking for. I've already read and enjoyed Caroline the Queen so it was especially nice to get more back story, particularly about the enmity ...

The King's Secret Matter (2006)

This is the second book of Eleanor Hibbert’s, aka Jean Plaidy, that I’ve tried, and I have to say, I stop here. The King’s Secret Matter is just the same as The Shadow of the Pomegranate, there’s no change in style or quality. Plaidy’s historical fiction novels seem to be characterised by incredi...

Sweet Lass of Richmond Hill (1990)

Daughter of Satan (1972)

This is not a supernatural novel as the title may suggest, although during the time it's set - late 1500s & early 1600s - superstition was rife.Anyone who's interested in the persecution of witches during Elizabethan & Jacobean England should enjoy this. Ms Plaidy does a great job of evoking thos...

The Loves of Charles II (2005)

The Loves of Chrles II is three of Plaidy's works combined into one volume. First is The Wandering Prince, which is much less about Charles than about his sister, Henriette. It is also about his first mistress and the mother of James, Duke of Monmouth, Lucy Water. I enjoyed this story, until th...

The Merry Monarch's Wife (2008)

This was my second Jean Plaidy book and I must say it was a good one.Catherine of Braganza was a sweet natured girl who dreamed all her life that she will marry King Charles II and she will live happily ever after.At 24 she goes to England and she is marrried to King Charles.At first everything s...

The Road to Compiegne (1972)

This one is the second in the Revolution Series by Jean Plaidy- and I absolutely loved it! Moving on from the first book, (Louis the Well-Beloved- see my review here), which portrays Louis from birth to the beginning of his relationship with La Marquise de Pompadour- in this volume, Louis goes...

Red Rose of Anjou (1985)

I've had some expectations about this book - the story was too good to screw up and the autor had written dozens of books before this one.Somehow I knew it was too good to be true.The story is good but the writing.... It is so incerdibly simple, with such a small wocabulary, that it read like one...

Perdita's Prince (1989)

The StoryThe 6th book in Plaidy's Georgian series, Perdita's Prince deals with the brief affair between the actress Mary Robinson (known as `Perdita' for her most famous role, in The Winter's Tale) and George IV, then still Prince of Wales. The GoodPlaidy's fluid, easy-to-read style are on displa...

Queen Jezebel (2006)

I always think that read about history is fascinating! It always makes me wonder, how is possible to humans, searching for power and wealth, do whatever they want, not caring if their acts will bring suffering for people. And history is, almost all the time, about that. One wanting more power tha...

Passage to Pontefract (1982)

Nobody writes British historical fiction better than Jean Plaidy. And this novel is Plaidy at her best. Focuses on the lives of the powerful and scheming nobleman John of Gaunt, and his passionate love, Katherine Swynford, Edward the Black Prince and his wife Joan of Kent and his son Richard II. ...

The Princess of Celle (1986)

This book is a sadly fascinating look at the topic of woman's inhumanity to woman, feudal German style. I picked it up because it is the beginning of the Georgian saga, and thus the beginning of Queen Caroline's story (Caroline being one of my favorite characters in Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycl...

The Heart of the Lion (2007)

I am, if anyone hadn't guessed thus far, a massive fan of Jean Plaidy. Whilst having little to no interest in the Plantagenet dynasty before now I suddenly find myself enthralled, almost entirely through her wonderful writings, and gaining new knowledge day by day of the period. Plaidy books are ...

The Lion of Justice (1977)

Nature's takin' over my one-track mindBelieve it or not, you're in my heart all the timeAll the girls are sayin' that you'll end up a foolFor the time being, baby, live by my rules The Lion of Justice focuses on three of William the Conqueror's sons: William Rufus (William II), Robert (duke of No...

The Third George (1989)

Louis the Well Beloved (1988)