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The Portingale
Fictional biography centered on Catherine of Braganza's relationship with the king.
381 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1976
9 people want to read
About the author
Alison MacLeod
13 books4 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Alison Macleod, TV critic for the Daily Worker (1956) was born 12 April 1920. She is the daughter of Winifred Fairfield, one of 3 suffragette sisters, her sisters being Dr Letitia Fairfield and Cicily Isabel Fairfield (better known as Rebecca West). Alison was educated at Westcliffe High School for Girls and then at various art schools.
Joined Unity Theatre 1938 and then the Communist Party. She wanted to become a writer. She held various roles during the war: 1939, women's land army; 1941, ambulance attendant for Bristol civil defence; 1942, shipyard welder.
In 1944 she joined the staff of the Daily Worker (The Communist Party's daily newspaper) and remained there for 12 years. The story of her parting with the paper in 1956 is written in her book, The Death of Uncle Joe.
She has written 6 historical novels: The Heretics (London, 1965); The Trusted Servant (London, 1972); No Need of the Sun (London, 1971); The Muscovite (London, 1971); The Jesuit (London, 1972) and The Portingale (London, 1976). She later worked on other newspapers: The Times Business News and Euromoney.
Married (1) James Hackshaw in 1945; (2) Jack Selford in 1950. She has one daughter to each husband.
Alison Macleod, TV critic for the Daily Worker (1956) was born 12 April 1920. She is the daughter of Winifred Fairfield, one of 3 suffragette sisters, her sisters being Dr Letitia Fairfield and Cicily Isabel Fairfield (better known as Rebecca West). Alison was educated at Westcliffe High School for Girls and then at various art schools.
Joined Unity Theatre 1938 and then the Communist Party. She wanted to become a writer. She held various roles during the war: 1939, women's land army; 1941, ambulance attendant for Bristol civil defence; 1942, shipyard welder.
In 1944 she joined the staff of the Daily Worker (The Communist Party's daily newspaper) and remained there for 12 years. The story of her parting with the paper in 1956 is written in her book, The Death of Uncle Joe.
She has written 6 historical novels: The Heretics (London, 1965); The Trusted Servant (London, 1972); No Need of the Sun (London, 1971); The Muscovite (London, 1971); The Jesuit (London, 1972) and The Portingale (London, 1976). She later worked on other newspapers: The Times Business News and Euromoney.
Married (1) James Hackshaw in 1945; (2) Jack Selford in 1950. She has one daughter to each husband.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 31, 2014
Catherine of Bergenza, Portugese Catholic princess, is sent to England to be the wife of Charles the Second, newly restored to the throne. Bringing an indomitable sense of right and wrong to a muddled and compromised court, where Charles feels obliged to pardon the wrongdoings of men who supported him or his father, even when those wrongdoings are directed against or harm him, enabling the rise of powerful lords who feel, and effectively are, untouchable by law, and who all turn against the king with savagery and ruthlessness. Charles himself wounds Catherine with his mistresses, but she remains not only faithful but manages to avoid succumbing to jealousy and bitterness, learning how to cope with the ebb ad flow of her husband's favour to best defend the interests of her beloved homeland and her fellow religionsists. It's a world of intrigue and plot and conspiracy, and it culminates in the extraordinary welter of political and religious ugliness that was the Popish Plot, during which only Catherine's good name and demeanour seem to keep the country from another Civil War.
Well written and well told, with touches of wit and great passion under the cool, precise voice, filled with extraordinary characters, as many good as evil, and many divided, such as her husband, a man of charm and grace, yet who constantly shifts and compromises weakly, and who is s casually and unquestioningly misogynistic as most other men of his age. A terrific, absorbing and fascinating read.
Well written and well told, with touches of wit and great passion under the cool, precise voice, filled with extraordinary characters, as many good as evil, and many divided, such as her husband, a man of charm and grace, yet who constantly shifts and compromises weakly, and who is s casually and unquestioningly misogynistic as most other men of his age. A terrific, absorbing and fascinating read.
September 26, 2011
A fictional biography of Catherine of Braganza. An interesting edition to other biographies of this lesser known Queen, such as The Merry Monarch's Wife (The Pleasures of Love) by Jean Plaidy and With All My Heart: The Love Story of Catherine of Braganza by Margaret Campbell Barnes.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews