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Advenutes of Alianore Audley--January Group Read
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Susan
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Jan 01, 2010 05:09PM
Time to start our group discussion!
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I confess it's been several years since I've read this. For those who have read it recently, do you have a favorite scene? Favorite quote?
I just got the book from amazon and will start it this afternoon!
I've read the first five chapters. This book is freakin' hilarious!
I've so needed a good laugh. I'm really enjoying it! I wonder where I could score a copy of Brother Baldwin's One Hundred and Twenty-Six Positions for Knights and their Ladies!
All my groups keep choosing books for their group reads that I read about 3 months before! It's very frustrating.I thought this book was hilarious, but that it was important that you already had a foundation of Plantagenet history, or you were going to be totally confused.
Also, I interlibrary loaned this book, and the copy I got came from some library in Kansas, which I thought was really interesting. What causes libraries to buy books?
I had a couple other books that I wanted to finish up first, so I started this last night. Got through the first three chapters and couldn't stop laughing!Jenny, if you find a copy, be sure to share! ;)
I finished the book on Saturday night and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I would agree that someone would have to know a bit about the time period, not necessarily the particulars of the War of the Roses, but the book would definitely be funnier to someone who has read a lot of medieval fiction.I'll put up another post tonight when I have the book in front of me with some of my favorite quotes and scenes, but off the top of my head I do remember laughing out loud when Roger complained that he was going to be suspended from jousting for six months and pulled out his copy of the Knightly Code!
Funnily I was reading a serious historical novel the other day in which someone made reference to the knightly code, so you see it did exist!
Tho I doubt it was written down. More like a Code of Honor, in which correct behavior was understood. Few knights could read.
What a hoot! Thank you Brian for a wonderful read. Was wondering if there was any special significance to Edward IV hitting a passing Woodville with an orange? Is there history behind that comment? Anyone know?
The 'orange' episode came from nowhere that I know except my head. It just seemed like a good idea at the time. The point if any was that there were so many Woodvilles around that if you lobbed an orange at random you had a good chance of hitting one...
I've got to say that Alianore has been added to my list of favorite literary heroines. Anyone who would take on Margaret Beaufort, have her stuffed in a sack, and carted out of her own home is all right in my book! :D
This novel is definitely a hoot! Finding myself having a rip-roaring good laugh at many points, and I'm only 68 pages into it. True to the history albeit with a slew of anachronisms and contemporary allusions.
Was wondering if anyone know who is the "pushy family from Northhampton way" who claim to be descended from the Despencer family (p. 141). This got me curious as to who they are.
Terry wrote: "Was wondering if anyone know who is the "pushy family from Northhampton way" who claim to be descended from the Despencer family (p. 141). This got me curious as to who they are."I think that might be a reference to the ancestors of the present Spencer family (i.e., Princess Diana's family). The Spencers were given a phony male-line Despenser pedigree at some point. A genealogist named Horace Round wrote extensively about this:
http://books.google.com/books?id=-MZs...
Yes, Susan, you got it! Well done, 10 points.
Thanks Susan and thanks for the interesting link with more information. I really enjoyed reading The Adventures of Alianore Audley. Not only was the story fun but I had a great time deciphering some of the "inside" incidents and expanding my knowledge of the time period. Thank you Brian for writing such a wonderful book. I am looking forward to your next one!
Brian wrote: "Yes, Susan, you got it! Well done, 10 points."It's been a while since I read the book, but I remember being proud of catching the reference at the time!
Princess Diana's family thought at one point it was descended from the le Despensers? I had never heard that one.Do they still believe this?
Robin wrote: "Princess Diana's family thought at one point it was descended from the le Despensers? I had never heard that one.Do they still believe this?"
I think so--I believe Diana's brother mentions it at least as a possibility in his book on the family, but I don't have the book to verify it. They might have a female-line descent--I think genealogists have traced one, but I could be wrong. Brian might know.
I was wondering if Guy's last name, Archer, has any significance? I don't have the book in front of me but I thought at one point I remembered Alianore remarking on it.
No, Guy was just chosen as it was a 'different' name. Most Englishmen of this era were Richard, Edward, Thomas or William. Oh, and John. Some families even used the same Christian name twice because they liked it so much they wanted it to survive! Or maybe because it was the godparent's name.On the Despenser descent, I believe Princess Diana does descend from Constance of York's Despenser marriage but by a female line (as the male line became extinct around 1413.) Sadly I have forgotten the detail. Obviously the link antedates Alianore's chronicle and she was not to know of it.
As far as the male line is concerned, I believe it's bogus, or, at least, cannot be proved. There's discussion on the matter somewhere on the web if anyone's interested.
Found an amusing article on the Spenser/Despensers coat of arms business here: http://www.baronage.co.uk/bphtm-02/mo... .
Have just realised the question was about 'Archer' rather than 'Guy'. 1/10 for comprehension.I had in mind the long-running BBC radio show, The Archers, but I didn't make much of it. I think there is one point where Alianore says the Archers may one day be more famous than the Beauchamps. Well, in the BBC sense they are!
I thought I remembered her saying that but I couldn't find the reference when I flipped back through the book. That makes sense, if I lived in England I'm sure I would have realized what it meant!
