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ghost_of_the_library 's review for:
Matriarch: Queen Mary and the House of Windsor
by Anne Edwards
Honor, Duty, Devotion, Fidelity
In this day and age concepts like these will sound to most as ancient, dusty, old fashioned or just plain stupid (don't you just love it when something or someone is judged based on no previous knowledge or life experience?).
However, you need not go very far to find a time and age where these were highly appreciated and acknowledged - and perhaps Queen Mary is one of the best known examples of adherence to a code of life and conduct that well...nuns and monks in convents are the only ones who can perhaps relate these days.
The imposing and awe inducing figure of Queen Mary is well known to anyone who loves British History or, to be slightly more down to earth, good bling!
Her life, her modern day Cinderella tale are fascinating to read about and, although this isn't my first book on her, Edwards does manage to bring her life and times to life in an interesting and engaging manner that makes for a good read.
Princess May of Teck - of half royal blood (there was the stain of a morganatic marriage in the family) and product of a family with many assles and problems (mostly of a financial nature) - is one fine day chosen by good old Queen Victoria to be future Queen of England...all she has to do is marry the Duke of Clarence - Victoria's oldest grandson, heir to the throne.
That... spoilers alert....ends badly and she, after a suitable period ends up marrying George, the younger brother - future King George V.
These two were a rather unique duo - apparently cold to everything and everyone - yet full of love and devotion for each other (their correspondence which Edwards only briefly looks at clearly shows that).
That "coldness" had unfortunate consequences for their children and their non parenting was, by modern standards...ahem...pretty much bad.
Queen Mary's love to her country, it's history and the institution of the monarchy was bigger and stronger than anything else - for better or worse.
Does it make her a bad person? No, not at all, it makes her if anything, more human.... because unlike those stunning photos that made a clear statement and helped maintain the myth, it shows she had flaws and wasn't perfect.
Now for the book in itself - pretty much straightforward writing, good research even if at one or two moments there are some mistakes that I identified.
Impartial writer? ...nope, not really, and therein lies the connundrum...sadly.
The story is respected and Queen Mary comes alive very well....yet there's a tendency to stress how bad a parent she and King George were and also a clear pro Duke of Windsor attitude....his behavior is excused because they were bad parents? He was ok to abdicate and marry Wallis and then proceed to make life quite difficult for his family? He was ok to go to Nazi Germany because mummy didn't love him?
There are no winners or losers here...and frankly I found the "Team David" attitude a little annoying, which in turn prevented me from fully enjoying what would otherwise might have been a very good book.
FYI - James Pope Hennessy's bio on Queen Mary, although somewhat more dated, had better access to sources and makes for a very very compelling read - highly recommend it - his style and care of research plus his clear fascination/respect/no fuss atittude make his book as close to a masterpiece of a biography as anyone will get on Queen Mary.
Happy Readings!
In this day and age concepts like these will sound to most as ancient, dusty, old fashioned or just plain stupid (don't you just love it when something or someone is judged based on no previous knowledge or life experience?).
However, you need not go very far to find a time and age where these were highly appreciated and acknowledged - and perhaps Queen Mary is one of the best known examples of adherence to a code of life and conduct that well...nuns and monks in convents are the only ones who can perhaps relate these days.
The imposing and awe inducing figure of Queen Mary is well known to anyone who loves British History or, to be slightly more down to earth, good bling!
Her life, her modern day Cinderella tale are fascinating to read about and, although this isn't my first book on her, Edwards does manage to bring her life and times to life in an interesting and engaging manner that makes for a good read.
Princess May of Teck - of half royal blood (there was the stain of a morganatic marriage in the family) and product of a family with many assles and problems (mostly of a financial nature) - is one fine day chosen by good old Queen Victoria to be future Queen of England...all she has to do is marry the Duke of Clarence - Victoria's oldest grandson, heir to the throne.
That... spoilers alert....ends badly and she, after a suitable period ends up marrying George, the younger brother - future King George V.
These two were a rather unique duo - apparently cold to everything and everyone - yet full of love and devotion for each other (their correspondence which Edwards only briefly looks at clearly shows that).
That "coldness" had unfortunate consequences for their children and their non parenting was, by modern standards...ahem...pretty much bad.
Queen Mary's love to her country, it's history and the institution of the monarchy was bigger and stronger than anything else - for better or worse.
Does it make her a bad person? No, not at all, it makes her if anything, more human.... because unlike those stunning photos that made a clear statement and helped maintain the myth, it shows she had flaws and wasn't perfect.
Now for the book in itself - pretty much straightforward writing, good research even if at one or two moments there are some mistakes that I identified.
Impartial writer? ...nope, not really, and therein lies the connundrum...sadly.
The story is respected and Queen Mary comes alive very well....yet there's a tendency to stress how bad a parent she and King George were and also a clear pro Duke of Windsor attitude....his behavior is excused because they were bad parents? He was ok to abdicate and marry Wallis and then proceed to make life quite difficult for his family? He was ok to go to Nazi Germany because mummy didn't love him?
There are no winners or losers here...and frankly I found the "Team David" attitude a little annoying, which in turn prevented me from fully enjoying what would otherwise might have been a very good book.
FYI - James Pope Hennessy's bio on Queen Mary, although somewhat more dated, had better access to sources and makes for a very very compelling read - highly recommend it - his style and care of research plus his clear fascination/respect/no fuss atittude make his book as close to a masterpiece of a biography as anyone will get on Queen Mary.
Happy Readings!