#carolyn meyer

[bookwormchocaholic]

ask game: 8!!

8. a book you've finished in one setting?

I'm sure I've done this more than once, especially when I was a teen and had no hobbies outside of reading (not much has changed, lol). But this is the book that comes to mind.

Earlier in 2000, I heard a fictionalized diary for Anastasia Romanov was being released and I was desperate to get my hands on it. My Mom and sister bought it for me to give to me for Christmas. Christmas rolls around, I opened their present and viola there it was, and I just devoured it. Had it finished within a few hours. Just adored it. I still have my copy.

[roseunspindle]

Books by Women

[the-final-sentence]

He ruled the two kingdoms fairly and well.

Carolyn Meyer, from Beauty’s Daughter

[myhikari21things]

Read of Anastasia the Last Grand Duchess by Carolyn Meyer (2000) (190pgs)

[boricuacherry-blog]

I cried so hard reading this book. It's so good.

[onebluebookworm]

September 2023 Book Club Picks

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith: Cassandra Mortmain lives in a crumbling Suffolk castle with her penniless and eccentric family - her wild-tempered author father, her precocious younger brother, and her sensible older sister - recording their various misadventures in her diary. When two wealthy American brothers become their new landlords, Cassandra and her sister are immediately drawn to them, wondering if perhaps they've finally found an escape from their mundane lives.

Deborah Goes to Dover by Marion Chesney: Hannah Pym sets out once more for a glorious adventure, this time destined for Dover. Of course, what's an adventure with the infamous Traveling Matchmaker without matches to make? First, there's poor Abigail Cunningham, accompanied by her mother to be shuffled into a loveless marriage. Then there's tomboyish Deborah Western, encouraged to a life of lazy excess by her unruly twin brother William. Hannah isn't about to let two eligible ladies go astray, not when there are handsome eligible bachelors to pair them with!

The Only One Left by Riley Sager: Everyone knows the story of the Hope's End massacre - on a stormy, cold night in 1929, Lenora Hope systematically killed her whole family, stabbing her father and mother, and hanging her sister from the chandelier. Lenora swore she didn't do it and was never formally charged, but it had to be her. After all, she was the only one left. Fifty-four years later, Kit McDeere has been assigned to Hope's End as a caregiver after a series of strokes leaves Lenora almost totally immobilized, save her left hand. And one night, Lenora uses that left hand to plunk out a simple sentence on an old typewriter - I want to tell you everything. As Lenora tells Kit her story, it's clear that there's more to the story than anyone knows, and Kit begins to wonder how much she can trust this seemingly harmless woman.

Mary, Bloody Mary by Carolyn Meyer: Mary Tudor - Princess of Wales, only surviving child of King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon - leads a life full of riches and admiration, destined to rule all of England one day. But vicious rumors begin to circulate through the court - King Henry's eyes have begun to wander, vexed that Catherine never provided him with a proper male heir. His sights land on the beautiful and ambitious Anne Boleyn, and turns his kingdom upside down to be allowed to marry her. Mary, only a child, is thrown into a dangerous world of political intrigue, spies, and love gone mad as her once-beloved father tears her life apart, strips her of her title, her home, and her mother, and declares her a bastard, unfit to inherit the throne. But Mary endures. After all, it is her destiny to rule one day.

Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte: When her father loses the family savings on a risky investment, young Agnes Grey decides to easy her family's financial burden by taking a position as a governess to a wealthy family. Ecstatic at the thought that she has finally gained control and freedom over her own life, Agnes arrives at the Bloomfield mansion armed with confidence and purpose. The cruelty with which the family treat her however, slowly but surely strips the heroine of all dignity and belief in humanity.

[spray10101]

Christmas Book Haul

I know that I’m a month late but here are all the books I got for Christmas in 2022. I do plan on reading all of the theses eventually. Don’t know when I will though. Hopefully by the end of the year.

[bookcoversonly]

Title: Kristina: The Girl King | Author: Carolyn Meyer | Publisher: Scholastic (2003)

[lilyaquarius]

As a bonus, put the first book you can remember reading by the author in the tags!

If your favorite author isn't here, put their name in the tags!

[wallflowerglitter]

[maddie-grove]

I know some people don’t like how awful Anne Boleyn is in Wolf Hall and I get it, but I find her enchanting. She appears on the page (or screen) and I’m like oh yes this fucks. I missed her after she died.

[fideidefenswhore]

#prev tags#tell me more about lauren gardiner omg

Laurien Gardner is the collective pseudonym of a group of female authors writing a series of Tudor era novels about the wives of Henry VIII.[1] These historical romance novels are published by Jove Books, part of Penguin Books

The Spanish Bride: A Novel of Catherine of Aragon, 2005, written by Julianne Ardian Lee[3]A Lady Raised High: A Novel of Anne Boleyn, 2006, written by Allyson James (also known as Jennifer Ashley and Ashley Gardner)[4]Plain Jane: A Novel of Jane Seymour, 2006, written by Sarah A. Hoyt[5]

Sarah A. Hoyt (born November 18, 1962) is a Portuguese-born American science fiction, fantasy, mystery, and historical fiction writer.

She was the leader of the Sad Puppies campaign in the year that it ceased nominating candidates.

Sad Puppies was an unsuccessful[1]right-wing[2] anti-diversity[3] voting campaign run from 2013 to 2017 and intended to influence the outcome of the annual Hugo Awards, the longest-running prize (since 1953) for science fiction or fantasy works. It was started in 2013 by author Larry Correia as a voting bloc to get his novel Monster Hunter Legion nominated for a Hugo award, and then grew into suggested slates, or sets of works to nominate, in subsequent years (led by Correia in 2014, and then Brad R. Torgersen in 2015). According to the Los Angeles Times, Sad Puppies activists accused the Hugo Awards "of giving awards on the basis of political correctness and favoring authors and artists who aren't straight, white and male".[1]

What Your Favourite Tudor Novelist says about You

Alison Weir: you drink pumpkin spice lattes. There is a Live Laugh Love sign in your house.

Philippa Gregory: you believe in astrology. You unironically listen to podcasts that wax lyrical about the Divine Feminine.

Susan Kay: you compile ship playlists. You have a weakness for bad boys. You've read fanfiction about a boy band.

DL Bogdan: you're a teenage girl who spends too much time on Pinterest

Hilary Mantel: you think Rupi Kaur is an amazing poet

Jean Plaidy: you order egg and chips at an Indian restaurant.

Margaret Irwin: you have accused your favourite band of selling out

Emily Purdy: you watch gay porn on the bus. With headphones on, but still. On the bus.

Judith Arnopp: you don't understand people who think crocs are ugly.

Gemma Lawrence: your favourite hobby is to get high on weed and then go shopping at a car boot sale

Elizabeth Fremantle: you own an SUV. You believe cosy horror is a legitimate genre.

HFM Prescott: you're trying to get the smell of mothballs out of your clothes. You never use fast travel in a video game: your character must walk everywhere.

[historicity-was-already-taken]

Do you have any historical fiction book recs?

I don’t read a lot of historical fiction, so the majority of this list will compromise YA histfic from the late 90s/early 00s.

The early Dear America and Royal Diaries books were pretty foundational for me, and I still go back to reread them. Carolyn Meyer(s?) wrote some great histfic along the lines of Royal Diaries. Jane Yolen’s The Queen’s Own Fool is excellent, and of course, we stan Number the Stars. And none for Philippa Gregory byeeeee.

As for contemporary titles, the Maisie Dobbs books are 💯💯. They take place between the 1920s and 1940s, brilliant lady detective, excellent period detail. Also, the book that’s made like, the biggest impression on me since 2016 is Jerusalem by Alan Moore. It’s kind of hard to even describe what that book is about, but it’s MAGNIFICENT and has several long sections that deal with English class and racial history, and also Oliver Cromwell. I also enjoyed the first three books of the Outlander series.

Oh, and I love The Red Tent, (it gives Mists of Avalon but Genesis instead of Arthurian) tho that might be Hebrew Bible fanfic* as opposed to histfic.

Anyway, there are a lot of folks here who I’m sure will chime in with more current and diverse recs, so don’t forget to check the notes 🙂

ETA: When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit

*id actually argue that all histfic is fanfic, but im not hating.

[roses-of-the-romanovs]

What's your favorite fictional portrayal of any of OTMA? It could be from stories that mainly focus on one of the sisters (i.e Don Bluth's Anastasia film), stories that are centered on all four or somewhere in between (like for example stories that for some reason only focus on say, one half of OTMA) and so on.

Hello dear Anon and thank you for your question!

I haven’t actually seen or read many OTMA fictional portrayals. Frankly, of the ones I have, none of them have really struck a chord with me as being great works and very accurate. So instead I’ll just give my thoughts on ones that I have seen/read.

The Lost Crown by Sarah Miller: Ok, I’m starting with this one because it seems universally popular as an accurate representation of OTMA. I’d like to disagree respectfully. While it certainly sticks to the basic facts, the representations of the sisters themselves feel very stereotypical and flat. They’re defined by basically a few traits—what I especially hate is how Maria is portrayed almost as a baby. (To be fair, I read this a while ago, so she may not have been portrayed as badly as I remember.) The new cover for the edition titled OTMA, however, is beautiful. I appreciated the handling of the Skorokhodov myth.

Don Bluth’s Anastasia: It’s a charming film, is what I’ll say! It gets hate for being so historically inaccurate but I don’t mind much. The music is beautiful and enchanting. But I don’t really consider it a Romanov film because Anastasia is the only Romanov who replays a part, unless you count Maria Feodorovna, who is somehow in Paris. But clearly they did just a bit of research, enough to be able to claim “we did research,” and according to the behind-the-scenes documentary (it comes with some editions of the DVD), they literally based Anastasia’s look on Audrey Hepburn!!!

Romanov by Nadine Brandes: I actually liked this book, despite it deviating from history so dramatically. The writing was beautiful and Anastasia retained her mischievous character while coming across as kind and sympathetic. Her father trusted her way too much in the book and I know in real life, however much love there was, Anastasia was simply too young to receive so much trust. Also perpetuates the Ivan Skorokhodov myth, tames the act, but exaggerates the punishments. And it misgenders Joy! (But I’d still recommend for Anastasia fans.) The writing is imo more captivating than The Lost Crown.

Anastasia, the Last Grand Duchess by Carolyn Meyer: It was okay. On the poor side of the Royal Diaries series. It seems the author just read Nicholas and Alexandra and then wrote the book. Anastasia comes across as very shallow. When Maria contracts pneumonia and measles and is in danger of death, what does Anastasia say? “Good thing we have our doctors!” (Or something along those lines.) And that’s all. Clearly she doesn’t care about Maria very much.

Anastasia and Her Sisters by Carolyn Meyer: Same author, much better book. Anastasia’s thought processes are fleshed out more and the writing more enjoyable. Would recommend, but tbh can’t remember much about it … Written in first person, almost diary form but not quite.

I Was Anastasia by Ariel Lawhorn: This was a fine read. I really enjoyed the author’s use of structure—it gave the whole book a unique shape. (It’s two stories—one of Anna Anderson, told in third person and told backwards, and Anastasia, told in first person and told in typical chronology.) Perpetuates Skorokhodov and rape myths.

The Last Grand Duchess by Bryn Turnbull: Eh. Somewhat dull.

Dear Anon, I’m sorry I wrote all of this for you to read—now I see I probably have read enough to pick a favorite. Well then, I suppose I’ll choose Romanov!

(But honestly, if anyone is reading this and is broke and is just trying to get some joy back into their life through one Romanov retelling, don’t buy any of these.)

[myhikari21things]

Read of Isabel Jewel of Castilla by Carolyn Meyer (2000) (180pgs)

[emjee]

FIFTEEN? royal diaries? never knew there was so much. My best friend sure must get on with it to tell me all about all the one i don't know about lmao

There are twenty of them! Here's the full list:

Elizabeth I: Red Rose of the House of Tudor, England, 1544 by Kathryn Lasky (1999)

Cleopatra VII: Daughter of the Nile, Egypt, 57 B.C. by Kristiana Gregory (1999)

Isabel: Jewel of Castilla, Spain, 1466 by Carolyn Meyer (2000)

Marie Antoinette: Princess of Versailles, Austria-France 1769 by Kathryn Lasky (2000)

Anastasia: The Last Grand Duchess, Russia, 1914 by Carolyn Meyer (2000)

Nzingha: Warrior Queen of Matamba, Angola, Africa, 1595 by Patricia McKissack (2000)

Kaiulani: The People's Princess, Hawaii, 1889 by Ellen Emerson White (2001)

Lady of Ch'iao Kuo: Warrior of the South, Southern China, 531 A.D. by Laurence Yep (2001)

Victoria: May Blossom of Britannia, England, 1829 by Anna Kirwan (2001)

Mary, Queen of Scots: Queen Without a Country, France, 1553 by Kathryn Lasky (2002)

Sŏndŏk: Princess of the Moon and Stars, Korea, 595 A.D. by Sheri Holman (2002)

Jahanara: Princess of Princesses, India, 1627 by Kathryn Lasky (2002)

Eleanor: Crown Jewel of Aquitaine, France, 1136 by Kristiana Gregory (2002)

Elisabeth: The Princess Bride, Austria-Hungary, 1853 by Barry Denenberg (2003)

Kristina: The Girl King, Sweden, 1638 by Carolyn Meyer (2003)

Weetamoo: Heart of the Pocassets, Massachusetts-Rhode Island, 1653 by Patricia Clark Smith (2003)

Lady of Palenque: Flower of Bacal, Mesoamerica, A.D. 749 by Anna Kirwan (2004)

Kazunomiya: Prisoner of Heaven, Japan, 1858 by Kathryn Lasky (2004)

Anacaona: Golden Flower, Haiti, 1490 by Edwidge Danticat (2005)

Catherine: The Great Journey, Russia, 1743 by Kristiana Gregory (2005)

I read every single one of them.