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Elizabeth Kerri Mahon

Goodreads author profile

born

November 02, 1964 in New York, The United States

gender

female

website

http://scandalouswoman.blogspot.com

twitter username

scandalwomen

genre

Nonfiction, History, Women & Gender Studies

member since

April 2011

About this author

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I'm a native New Yorker, amateur historian, ardent Anglophile, and ballroom dancer. For over 15 years I was a professional actress, played virgins and vixens in everything from Shaw to Shakespeare. Although I didn’t start writing seriously until ten years ago, I’ve always been a voracious reader. I think I came out of the womb clutching a book. While other kids were writing 500 word essays in English class, I was writing first chapters. I even submitted my first manuscript to Grosset & Dunlap (publishers of the Nancy Drew mysteries) at the tender of age of 10. Since I started writing, I have about 5 completed manuscripts underneath my bed. One of them, a YA novel MUCH ADO ABOUT HIGH SCHOOL was a semi-finalist in the Amazon Breakthrough...more

31 posts
Elizabeth Kerri Mahon's Blog

Natalie Barney: An American Amazon

Natalie Barney painted by her mother Alice Pike Barney

Natalie Barney (1876-1972) was probably one of the most fascinating and maddening woman of the 19th and early 20th century. She was a great seductress whose list of conquests sounds like a who’s who of the Belle Époque, Collette, the poet Renee Vivien, the painter Romaine Brooks, Dolly Wilde, the Duchesse de Clermont-Tonnerre, just to name... read more »

View more on Elizabeth Kerri Mahon's website »

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Published on May 26, 2012 10:08

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Books by Elizabeth Kerri Mahon

Average rating: 3.47 · 142 ratings · 38 reviews · 1 distinct work

Scandalous Women: The Lives and Loves of History's Most Notorious Women

3.47 avg rating — 142 ratings — published 2011 — 3 editions

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Elizabeth is Currently Reading

Elizabeth Mahon gave

to:

Paris, My Sweet: A Year in the City of Light (and Dark Chocolate)

by Amy Thomas

bookshelves: currently-reading

My rating:

Feb 22, 2012 07:33am

Elizabeth Mahon gave

to:

Anne of Hollywood

by Carol Wolper

bookshelves: currently-reading

read in February, 2012

My rating:

Elizabeth Mahon said: "When I first heard about this book, I thought, 'You have to be kidding me! Anne Boleyn in Hollywood?' Still there was something about the idea that intrigued me. Perhaps it was the fact that this mash-up didn't turn Anne into a werewolf, a vampire or...more When I first heard about this book, I thought, 'You have to be kidding me! Anne Boleyn in Hollywood?' Still there was something about the idea that intrigued me. Perhaps it was the fact that this mash-up didn't turn Anne into a werewolf, a vampire or a succubus! So I downloaded a sample of the book onto my NOOK, and gave it a quick read. What I read made me want to read the whole book, but I confess, I took the book out of the library instead of buying it. A girl has to economize!

The idea of translating the Tudors into contemporary Hollywood shouldn't work but it somehow does. Henry VIII in Wolper's version is Henry Tudor who owns a studio, a web-site ala The Huffington Post, as well as other interests. He's referred to as "the King" of Hollywood by various characters in the book. But Henry is not content with just being the Kingpin of Hollywood, he's seeking the Governorship of California. All of the usual suspects that most readers will be familiar with are here, Thomas Cromwell as been reinterpreted as Theresa Cromwell, Henry's right hand woman, Cardinal Wolsey is now crooked money manager Carl Wolsey, Catherine is Catherine Aragon, the daughter of a wealthy power-broker Ferdinand, she and Henry have a daughter Maren who is boarding school. As the book opens, they are wrangling not just over the divorce but over the property settlement. Catherine, obsessed with Henry, has become a devout Catholic, who pops pills to get through her day. Mary is a former model turned party girl who failed to snag Henry, so she becomes a pot-smoking hippie. All the Boleyn hopes are now pinned on Anne. See daddy Thomas Boleyn, unlike the successful courtier of Tudor Times, is an entertainment lawyer, who failed when he started his own firm. Now he creeps around the fringes of power with his face pressed against the window, trying to get in. George is a bisexual actor, who gets a job on a cop show thanks to Henry. Jane Boleyn is now Lacy, who hates Anne because George loves her so much. And then there's Jane Seymour who is now a jewelry designer and a friend of Theresa's.

The novel is written in an easy, breezy style from the points of view of various characters, mainly Anne (in the first person), Theresa, and a hanger-on Cliff Craven. Anne is a likeable narrator, who genuinely seems to love Henry for himself, not just for what he can do for her family. Theresa Cromwell feels threatened by Anne, particulary when she takes over Henry's philanthropic foundation, which was Theresa's pet project. There are two big weaknesses in this novel, the first is that Wolper fails to make the reader understand why everyone, apart from Catherine and Lacy, hates Anne so much. She doesn't really throw her weight around, everyone agrees that she is vibrant, sexy, and charismatic. Unlike the real Anne, she doesn't confront Henry with his infidelities, she seems to roll with the punches. She's a freelance writer, but unlike Lacy, she doesn't use her position as Henry's wife to snag a cushy job. Nor is she really one of those Hollywood wives who spend most of their times lunching. We don't really see Anne doing much of anything, apart from giving birth to Elizabeth, and hoping to get pregnant with a male heir for Henry. Apparently even in 2012, a daughter isn't good enough.

The other weakness in the novel is that Henry remains off-stage throughout most of the book. He's a cipher, a Howard Hughes figure but without the OCD. It's unclear how he became so rich, or powerful. After awhile, I began to lose interest in the story, or even care how Anne was going to get her comeuppance in this version of her life. Clearly, she's not going to be executed but somehow banished from her glitzy lifestyle. I've read Jackie Collins novels with more pizzazz and punch than this book which is really a shame because it's an intriguing idea.

Verdict: Only for real fans of Anne Boleyn, or readers who love reading about Hollywood.(less) "

Feb 28, 2012 09:19am · see review

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Elizabeth Mahon is now friends with Nina
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Elizabeth Mahon gave to: Anne of Hollywood by Carol Wolper read in February, 2012	My rating:
When I first heard about this book, I thought, 'You have to be kidding me! Anne Boleyn in Hollywood?' Still there was something about the idea that intrigued me. Perhaps it was the fact that this mash-up didn't turn Anne into a werewolf, a vampire or...more
Feb 28, 2012 09:19am · see review
Elizabeth Mahon marked as to-read: Overseas by Beatriz Williams (Goodreads Author)	My rating:
Feb 22, 2012 07:51am
Elizabeth Mahon marked as to-read: So Damn Lucky by Deborah Coonts (Goodreads Author)	My rating:
Feb 22, 2012 07:43am
Elizabeth Mahon marked as to-read: The Selection by Kiera Cass (Goodreads Author)	My rating:
Feb 22, 2012 07:39am
Elizabeth Mahon gave to: Paris, My Sweet: A Year in the City of Light (and Dark Chocolate) by Amy Thomas	My rating:
Feb 22, 2012 07:33am
Elizabeth Mahon became a fan of Goodreads Author Melanie Clegg
Feb 22, 2012 07:27am · all of Elizabeth's favorite authors
Elizabeth Mahon joined the Edwardians! group.
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Elizabeth Mahon gave to: Bossypants by Tina Fey	My rating:
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