Friday, 14 November 2025

My review of The House of Mitford, by Jonathan Guinness with Catherine Guinness

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The House of Mitford by Jonathan Guinness with Catherine Guinness My rating:  5 out of 5 stars After this sitting considerably far down my M...

My review of Honey Trap, by Anthony Summers and Steve Dorril

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Honey Trap by Anthony Summers and Stephen Dorril My rating:  4 out of 5 stars The Profumo affair – one of Cold War Britain’s most famous pol...

My review of The Sisters Who Would Be Queen, by Leanda de Lisle

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The Sisters Who Would Be Queen by Leanda de Lisle My rating:  4 out of 5 stars Leanda de Lisle undertook a bold and lofty endeavour penning ...

My review of Elizabeth's Women: Friends, Rivals, and Foes Who Shaped the Virgin Queen, by Tracy Borman

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Elizabeth's Women: Friends, Rivals, and Foes Who Shaped the Virgin Queen by Tracy Borman My rating:  3 out of 5 stars Some armchair crit...

My review of The Other Boleyn Girl, by Philippa Gregory

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The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory My rating:  4 out of 5 stars The 2008 movie, starring Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson, made...

My review of The White Queen, by Philippa Gregory

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The White Queen by Philippa Gregory  My rating:  4 out of 5 stars I read this novel having exhausted much of the definitive fictional and no...

My review of Henry: Virtuous Prince, by David Starkey

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Henry: Virtuous Prince by David Starkey My rating:  3 out of 5 stars Being one of the more recent Henry VIII biographies, and being specific...

My review of Henry VIII: The King and His Court, by Alison Weir

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Henry VIII: The King and His Court by Alison Weir My rating:  4 out of 5 stars I love most of Alison Weir's work and this is no exceptio...

My review of Bloody Mary: The Life of Mary Tudor, by Carolly Erickson

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Bloody Mary: The Life of Mary Tudor by Carolly Erickson My rating:  4 out of 5 stars A terrific biography of a much maligned and grossly mis...

My review of The Life of Elizabeth I, by Alison Weir

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The Life of Elizabeth I  by Alison Weir My rating:  5 out of 5 stars Published outside America as  Elizabeth the Queen , this is my favourit...
Tuesday, 23 September 2025

My review of Jean Rhys: Life and Work, by Carole Angier

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Jean Rhys: Life and Work by Carole Angier My rating:  5 out of 5 stars Having read the thin earlier version and this subsequent thick-as-a-b...

My review of The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters, by Charlotte Mosley (Editor)

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The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters by Charlotte Mosley (Editor) My rating:  5 out of 5 stars 'I also think a volume of letters wi...

My review of Gypsy: Memoirs of America's Most Celebrated Stripper, by Gypsy Rose Lee

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Gypsy: Memoirs of America's Most Celebrated Stripper by Gypsy Rose Lee My rating:  5 out of 5 stars This 1957 memoir follows the early l...

My review of The Pursuit of Laughter, by Diana Mitford

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The Pursuit of Laughter by Diana Mitford My rating:  5 out of 5 stars Diana Mitford Mosley, tagged on this book's cover 'The Most Co...

My review of Quartet, by Jean Rhys

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Quartet by Jean Rhys My rating:  5 out of 5 stars   Published in 1928/9 and set in Paris's bohemian café society, this was Jean Rhys...

My review of Sybil Thorndike: A Star of Life, by Jonathan Croall

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Sybil Thorndike: A Star of Life by Jonathan Croall My rating:  5 out of 5 stars Though a name seldom heard in today's popular culture, D...