Status
Available
Call number
Collections
Publication
bantam (1976), Edition: 1st bantam, Paperback
Description
Fiction. Literature. Historical Fiction. HTML: There are heroes and villains but only one king... John, Duke of Bedford, grew to manhood fighting for his father, King Henry IV of England, on the wild and lawless Northern Marches. He was a prince of the royal blood, loyal, strong, and the greatest ally that his brother�??the future Henry V�??was to have. Filled with the clash of bitter rivalries and deadly power struggles, this is Georgette Heyer's last and most ambitious novel, bringing to life a character and a period she found irresistibly attractive. Bonus reading group guide available inside PRAISE FOR GEORGETTE HEYER "Wonderful characters, elegant, witty writing, perfect period detail, and rapturously romantic. Georgette Heyer achieves what the rest of us only aspire to." New York Times Book Review "The real charm of the story lies in the vivid portrayal of life in the Middle Ages, the dominance of the church and the character of John whose responsibilities seem heavy for his years. Childhood was short, apparently, in those long-ago times. And Miss Heyer's use of words and expressions is fascinating, a constant reminder of the period and how language changes." Wichita Falls Times "Miss Heyer was an outstanding storyteller." Times Literary Supplement "With incredibly extensive scholarship, Miss Heyer tells the drama of an entire era." Columbus Dispatch "Miss Heyer brings the spirit of the Middle Ages to life in every chapter." Best Seller… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member thetometraveller
Georgette Heyer wrote over fifty novels in her lifetime, starting when she was fifteen years old and continuing nonstop until her death at age seventy one. Her Regency romance novels where wildly popular, but her first love was for "armour," the Middle Ages.
I have read several of her Regency novels
John grew to manhood in a turbulent time. His father, Henry IV ousted Richard II from the throne and took the crown for himself. Through Richard died shortly after (of course), that didn't stop different factions from trying to topple Henry. At the tender age of fourteen, John's steady hand and sensible head were rewarded and his father made him Lord High Constable of England. He couldn't have chosen a better man, though he was really still a boy. For the rest of his life, John would do the serious and difficult work of running a fractious nation, first for his father and later for his brother.
For me, reading My Lord John was a bit of a struggle, though I could see glimpses of what a great book it could have become. It was never edited by the author and it does suffer from that lack. It reads almost like a non-fiction history, so I found myself growing sleepy time and again. There are so many characters and, as is common for this time period, multiple people have the same first names. Thomas, Henry, John, Mary, Katherine...at times it is very hard to tell who is who. Plus, the men are referred to by their given names at times and their titles at others (for example, Richard Fitzalan, Earl of Arundel might be referred to as Richard, Fitzalan or Arundel), instead of picking one and using it throughout. Though there is a very good character list and also a nice family tree, constantly having to refer to it really breaks up the story.
The same can be said for the author's use of authentic middle English words/phrases. There is an extensive and helpful glossary at the back of the book and the use of these forgotten terms does add to the flavor of the story. But constantly having to refer to the glossary, sometimes multiple times while reading one page, slows down the reading process. I did learn quite a bit, which I enjoyed, but looking up words so often does become tedious.
So, unfortunately, I can't recommend this one to the average Georgette Heyer fan. Anyone who needs romance in their books will not be able to get through this one, as you will not find any here. I happen to be a die hard historical fiction lover and romance is not a must for me (I do find a little bit livens up a story, though!), but even I had a hard time with this one. It is truly unfinished - it ends in mid sentence. If you are interested in history and the middle ages and can accept the book as is, I think you will find both interest and enjoyment within its pages.
The preface, written by the author's husband after her death, made me sad for her and I wanted to add part of it for you here:
"Her research was enormous and meticulous. She was a perfectionist. She studied every aspect of the period-history, wars, social conditions, manners and customs, costume, armour, heraldry, falconry, and the chase. She drew genealogies of all the noble families of England (with their own armorial bearings painted on each) for she believed that the clues to events were to be found in their relationships. She had indexed files for every day of the year for the forty years she was covering with all noteworthy events duly entered on their dates. She learnt to read medieval English almost as easily as modern and amassed a large vocabulary. One summer we toured the Scottish-English borderlands, learning the country and visiting seventy-five castles and twenty-three abbeys (or their ruins). Her notes fill volumes.
For the work, as she planned it, she needed a period of about five years of single-minded concentration. But this was not granted to her. The penal burden of British taxation, coupled with the clamour of her readers for a new book, made her break off to write another Regency story. After such a break it was hard to recapture the spirit of her main work and it required a good deal of labour to refresh her knowledge. After this had happened a second time, she laid her manuscripts aside, foreseeing that at least two more such interruptions would inevitably recur before she could complete the work. So a great historical novel was never finished."
I have read several of her Regency novels
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and can easily see her appeal, they are witty, frothy and full of fun. So it was with interest that I picked up My Lord John, one of her non-romance, non-Regency historical novels. It was, in fact, unfinished at her death and the current book only makes up about a third of the tale that she planned to tell. It would have been a trilogy encompassing the entire life of John, Duke of Bedford, third son of King Henry IV and brother and trusted advisor of King Henry V.John grew to manhood in a turbulent time. His father, Henry IV ousted Richard II from the throne and took the crown for himself. Through Richard died shortly after (of course), that didn't stop different factions from trying to topple Henry. At the tender age of fourteen, John's steady hand and sensible head were rewarded and his father made him Lord High Constable of England. He couldn't have chosen a better man, though he was really still a boy. For the rest of his life, John would do the serious and difficult work of running a fractious nation, first for his father and later for his brother.
For me, reading My Lord John was a bit of a struggle, though I could see glimpses of what a great book it could have become. It was never edited by the author and it does suffer from that lack. It reads almost like a non-fiction history, so I found myself growing sleepy time and again. There are so many characters and, as is common for this time period, multiple people have the same first names. Thomas, Henry, John, Mary, Katherine...at times it is very hard to tell who is who. Plus, the men are referred to by their given names at times and their titles at others (for example, Richard Fitzalan, Earl of Arundel might be referred to as Richard, Fitzalan or Arundel), instead of picking one and using it throughout. Though there is a very good character list and also a nice family tree, constantly having to refer to it really breaks up the story.
The same can be said for the author's use of authentic middle English words/phrases. There is an extensive and helpful glossary at the back of the book and the use of these forgotten terms does add to the flavor of the story. But constantly having to refer to the glossary, sometimes multiple times while reading one page, slows down the reading process. I did learn quite a bit, which I enjoyed, but looking up words so often does become tedious.
So, unfortunately, I can't recommend this one to the average Georgette Heyer fan. Anyone who needs romance in their books will not be able to get through this one, as you will not find any here. I happen to be a die hard historical fiction lover and romance is not a must for me (I do find a little bit livens up a story, though!), but even I had a hard time with this one. It is truly unfinished - it ends in mid sentence. If you are interested in history and the middle ages and can accept the book as is, I think you will find both interest and enjoyment within its pages.
The preface, written by the author's husband after her death, made me sad for her and I wanted to add part of it for you here:
"Her research was enormous and meticulous. She was a perfectionist. She studied every aspect of the period-history, wars, social conditions, manners and customs, costume, armour, heraldry, falconry, and the chase. She drew genealogies of all the noble families of England (with their own armorial bearings painted on each) for she believed that the clues to events were to be found in their relationships. She had indexed files for every day of the year for the forty years she was covering with all noteworthy events duly entered on their dates. She learnt to read medieval English almost as easily as modern and amassed a large vocabulary. One summer we toured the Scottish-English borderlands, learning the country and visiting seventy-five castles and twenty-three abbeys (or their ruins). Her notes fill volumes.
For the work, as she planned it, she needed a period of about five years of single-minded concentration. But this was not granted to her. The penal burden of British taxation, coupled with the clamour of her readers for a new book, made her break off to write another Regency story. After such a break it was hard to recapture the spirit of her main work and it required a good deal of labour to refresh her knowledge. After this had happened a second time, she laid her manuscripts aside, foreseeing that at least two more such interruptions would inevitably recur before she could complete the work. So a great historical novel was never finished."
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LibraryThing member LydiaHD
This book can be tough to get through if you don't know anything about the period (roughly 1390-1410 in England). The first time I read it, I didn't know much of anything and found it fairly boring. The second time I read it, I knew more and found it interesting and enjoyable but still had
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difficulty following the name changes. (Lord So-and-So becomes the Duke of This-and-That, and is never again referred to as Lord So-and-So.) The third time...well, that's in the future. But there will indeed be a third time, after I've read some more about the period. The book is worth the bother. Show Less
LibraryThing member Elysianfield
2.5 stars
I don’t think I’ve ever read anything about this era so I spent more time on google than reading and thank goodness for character list! But it’s so annoying and confusing when you can’t call someone the same name the whole time. I mean there’s half dozen Henry/Harry, John,
It was also quite slow to read. Heyer has tried writing how people spoke at the fifteenth century and it slows down the reading. There were many times I had to read the sentence few times to understand it.
I liked how John was portrayed and the scenes that focused on him but at times I felt like I was having history lesson instead of reading historical fiction.
Heyer died before the trilogy was finished, but did the book had to end in mid sentence?! Even if the manuscript breaks off like that. What were the editors thinking!
I liked this more than The Conqueror but I still wouldn’t recommend this.
I don’t think I’ve ever read anything about this era so I spent more time on google than reading and thank goodness for character list! But it’s so annoying and confusing when you can’t call someone the same name the whole time. I mean there’s half dozen Henry/Harry, John,
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Richard, Hugh, Thomas… No need confusing the reader by calling the person sometimes by their given name and other time by their title. It was also quite slow to read. Heyer has tried writing how people spoke at the fifteenth century and it slows down the reading. There were many times I had to read the sentence few times to understand it.
I liked how John was portrayed and the scenes that focused on him but at times I felt like I was having history lesson instead of reading historical fiction.
Heyer died before the trilogy was finished, but did the book had to end in mid sentence?! Even if the manuscript breaks off like that. What were the editors thinking!
I liked this more than The Conqueror but I still wouldn’t recommend this.
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LibraryThing member PhilSyphe
Before reading this novel I expected to rate it 4 or even 5 stars, as I am aware of the author's talent, and I'm interested in the period (late 1300s/early 1400s), yet it's proved a real disappointment.
One of Ms Heyer's greatest strengths is her dialogue, but this book is dominated by a dull third
I accept that it's good to be authentic, but here the reader - except those who are knowledgeable regarding 14th- and 15h-century words and phrases - is barraged with unfamiliar dialect. Yes, there's a glossary, but it's a pain to be constantly checking the back of the book during every dialogue exchange. Therefore, you either flit back and forth or just guess what these archaic words mean.
Another minus point is that for the most part the author tries to name-check everyone who was living at the same time as my lord John - who's Henry IV's son and Henry V's brother, by the way - and even refers to many people who've died, who also have no relevance to the story. It seems like Ms Heyer wanted to use this book to express her historical interests, which makes me think she would've been better off writing a non-fictional work.
To me, the beauty of good historical fiction is that it serves to bring life and colour to historical figures by developing their characters and adding in bits that are unknown to historians. A history book generally cannot do this, for it must stick to the facts and avoid romanticizing events. This novel feels more like a dull history book with just the odd scene dramatized - and not too well at that.
To be fair, Ms Heyer died before finishing what turned out to be her last book, so perhaps the novel would have been revised a few more times and been better than this. This we will never know ...
One of Ms Heyer's greatest strengths is her dialogue, but this book is dominated by a dull third
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person narrative, and most of the dialogue lacks the author's usual wit and is weighed down further by an overuse of archaic vocabulary. I accept that it's good to be authentic, but here the reader - except those who are knowledgeable regarding 14th- and 15h-century words and phrases - is barraged with unfamiliar dialect. Yes, there's a glossary, but it's a pain to be constantly checking the back of the book during every dialogue exchange. Therefore, you either flit back and forth or just guess what these archaic words mean.
Another minus point is that for the most part the author tries to name-check everyone who was living at the same time as my lord John - who's Henry IV's son and Henry V's brother, by the way - and even refers to many people who've died, who also have no relevance to the story. It seems like Ms Heyer wanted to use this book to express her historical interests, which makes me think she would've been better off writing a non-fictional work.
To me, the beauty of good historical fiction is that it serves to bring life and colour to historical figures by developing their characters and adding in bits that are unknown to historians. A history book generally cannot do this, for it must stick to the facts and avoid romanticizing events. This novel feels more like a dull history book with just the odd scene dramatized - and not too well at that.
To be fair, Ms Heyer died before finishing what turned out to be her last book, so perhaps the novel would have been revised a few more times and been better than this. This we will never know ...
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LibraryThing member hailelib
While this book might not appeal to a lot of Heyer's fans, I rather enjoyed it, especially after I became used to the language the author employed. I didn't even use the Glossary as most of the archaic terms could be figured out from context. However, there were a multitude of characters with ever
The book begins with Lord John at the age of four and follows him and his brothers until shortly before their father's death in 1413 when Lord John would have been about 23 and had for several years been responsible for keeping the Scots in Scotland and the Border raiding to a tolerable level on both sides. These boys had to grow up fast and hold down a man's position from their mid-teens. There was a lot of history here and a great deal about how the ruling class lived.
I think Heyer greatly admired her lead character and wanted her readers to see him as one of the most admirable of the Plantagenets. It's too bad that she felt that her manuscript had to be put aside and left unfinished in order to write the romances her fans wanted. Like the rest of us she had to pay the bills!
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changing names so that the family tree and the character list were very helpful.The book begins with Lord John at the age of four and follows him and his brothers until shortly before their father's death in 1413 when Lord John would have been about 23 and had for several years been responsible for keeping the Scots in Scotland and the Border raiding to a tolerable level on both sides. These boys had to grow up fast and hold down a man's position from their mid-teens. There was a lot of history here and a great deal about how the ruling class lived.
I think Heyer greatly admired her lead character and wanted her readers to see him as one of the most admirable of the Plantagenets. It's too bad that she felt that her manuscript had to be put aside and left unfinished in order to write the romances her fans wanted. Like the rest of us she had to pay the bills!
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Language
Original publication date
1975
Physical description
6.9 inches
ISBN
0553025260 / 9780553025262
DDC/MDS
| Fic Historical Heyer |