Elizabeth of York

Hard work

There is very clearly little to write about Elizabeth of York - with the exceptions of maybes and perhaps(es). I'm guessing that Elizabeth Weir needed to write a book of more than 5 pages, which is probably all you would get from factual knowledge of her and so the book is made up of irritating guesses, maybes, would have, perhapses and merely conjectures. Even more irritating was the monetary valuation being recalculated into "being worth £(an obscene amount) today" at every mention of what was paid out to ladies, jesters, dress makers, and for fabrics, food, soap and just about anything to make up page numbers (it drove me potty!!!). The book was tediously long for very little information on Elizabeth of York, making it a pretty pointless book for me. A real shame, as I so thoroughly enjoyed The Wives of Henry the Eighth. I also got the impression that Maggie Marsh was probably just as fed up reading it by the dull set tones of her voice - but she did her best with the subject. Well, wouldn't recommend this book for the subject - but might be OK if you were looking for general information around that time and can suffer the tedium!!!

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

Annoying narrator and could have been edited a lot

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

This book was enjoyable in parts but was agonisingly detailed, to the point I nearly gave up half way through! More like an academic and thorough text with huge amounts of referencing rather than a lighthearted listen.

If you’ve listened to books by Alison Weir before, how does this one compare?

First by AW

Would you be willing to try another one of Maggie Mash’s performances?

No - I utterly hated her accents and voices. She pronounced 'diverse' as 'divers' so many times I could have screamed!

If this book were a film would you go see it?

No

Any additional comments?

Would have been better if it was half as long and got to the main themes and points a lot quicker!

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Interesting but a bit short on detail

I like Ailson Weir's writing and the idea of examining the beginnings of the Tudor dynasty from Elizabeth's perspective is an interesting one which allows Weir to explore the role of the powerful and influential women who help to shape the transition from the middle ages to the Tudor period. All of that warrants three stars and it's also well produced but it never really brought Elizabeth to life for me; either because as Weir says her life wasn't as consistently documented as male members of the nobility or maybe because she wasn't that interesting as a personality. Either way I'm giving this a three; worth a punt if you like history and have a credit burning a hole in your account; A bit bland if you want something to get your teeth into; in which case "A Distant Mirror" would be well worth a look.

6 of 7 people found this review helpful

Insight into domestic life of the period

In spite of the author's claims I did not really share her assumption about the extent of Elizabeth of York's influence. she was the daughter of two very powerful and forceful parents Edward IV and Elizabeth. Elizabeth came of age at a very dangerous time as Henry Tudor was about to make his assault on the realm then led by Richard III. It seems Richard was thinking of marrying his niece Elizabeth - a plan which Henry Tudor also had in mind. Although Elizabeth seems to have participated actively in obtaining a marriage which would make her queen; her life henceforth would be very much one of a devout and devoted spouse. Not only did she have a husband who knew his own mind and had a clear vision of where he wanted to take England but she also had a powerful mother-in-law who had managed to survive the turbulence of Edward's reign and fulfill her ambition of seeing her son Henry in power. Elizabeth's main role of course was to produce an heir, a task she managed to perform to the satisfaction of all. The interest of her life was in the abundance of detail the author could provide regarding domestic life - clothes, expenditure on jewels and furnishings and other items related to the household. These careful accounts provide us too with a vivid picture of how wide the gap was between the ordinary citizen and the court. The queen was not overly materialistic and she was always very generous and gave considerable amounts to charity. Henry VII who has gone down in history as a miser surprised me with some of his lavish spending on his wife with whom he seems to have maintained a monogomous way of life which, in those times was really quite exceptional.
I enjoyed the book immensely in spite of having to grit my teeth every time the narrator did those awful foreign accents trying to imitate Italian and French ambassadors and I did not really appreciate her trying to do male voices either. The narrator reads perfectly well in her normal voice so I was able to continue listening right to the end.
I cannot say I took away a picture of a particularly memorable character but I did gain a great deal of insight into the mores and social customs of the period which made the read most worthwhile.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Getting the Tudors off to a flying start...

This is a great book and if you're like me you'll want to listen to it again and again and again (and I have!).

The only downsides of the audio (and doing let these put you off!) are that Audible's chapters don't tally with the book's chapters; and the highly infuriating conversion to what something would cost today every other breath - this could have been easily eliminated if they'd included a PDF footnote, asides from only being valid information at the time the book was written.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

A majestic stroll through time

Would you try another book written by Alison Weir or narrated by Maggie Mash?

I would enjoy another book by Alison Weir as i enjoy her books and Maggie mash is a pleasant reader

Would you be willing to try another book from Alison Weir? Why or why not?

Yes, Alison Weir writes interesting books, both fiction and non-fiction

Which character – as performed by Maggie Mash – was your favourite?

The Spanish ambassadors

Do you think Elizabeth of York needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Yes, we probably need a biography of the forgotten Tudor heiress Margaret Tudor, she is ignored in favor of her brother and his children.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

The first Tudor queen.

I found it a bit confusing at times and am trying to work out why the narrator used a kind of Spanish accent when reading quotes. But I'm going to read it again to try and make more sense of what could be a good book.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Irritating mock accents

I would not be in a hurry to listen to another book read by Maggie Mash unless her producer stopped the most awful renditions of foreign accents; there is an overdose of mock German/Dutch type accents in a mock male voice. I found them extremely irritating and totally unnecessary. I also got very tired of hearing terms like £3 which in today's money is ... I know this is how Alison Weir wrote it but it did get very irritating after about the 50th hearing!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

A great book.

Just like Alison Weir makes history interesting . Once I started this book I had to finish it.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Very Entertaining and Interesting

The subject matter is really interesting and the production tells it well. Very intertaining and educational.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful