Tuesday, March 15, 2011

The Red Queen (Philippa Gregory)

You know I love the British monarchy and historical fiction, so I knew I would like this book. The Red Queen is the story of Margaret Beaufort, a lady of the House of Lancaster, during the War of the Roses. She spends her life fighting to secure the throne for her son - the future King Henry VII. The White Queen is Margaret's primary adversary as the two royal houses of England battle it out.

Not a book that everyone would love (I recommend the Tudor books first), but I still enjoyed it!

Read: February/March 2011
Bonus: got this from the library!

Thursday, March 10, 2011

The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)

We read this for Book Club in February and I really enjoyed it. I listened to it in the car (is that cheating?) on a drive to visit Sara in Houston. The Red Tent tells the biblical story of Jacob's four wives - Leah, Rachel, Bilhah and Zilpah - and his daughter Dinah. In the Bible, you read about the rape of Dinah and how Jacob took revenge by requiring the Canaanite tribe to be circumcised and then slaughtering them all in their sleep. This fictional interpretation re-creates the life of Dinah and describes the events from her point of view. This was the second time for me to read this book and I really enjoyed imaging the story behind the short biblical account. It also inspired me to study Genesis again to compare. Highly recommend!

Read: February/March 2011