Katherine by Anya Seton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a very strong text. Although I didn’t realize it was a historical romance novel, I still found it to be quite compelling. The characters are lively, and the modality of the descriptions are inline with “old timey-ness”. The language is not too stilted, and the sensibilities are modestly “old timey”.
What I liked about the book was the unexpected development of the character. At first it felt very much like a text acknowledging how women were trapped in a world ruled by men (which in the 13th century England, was so). But eventually it cleared out to become a text about a spiritual coming-of-age. After all, Katherine’s reputation was ruined by her affair. And as the facts of their lives followed, Katherine did come to leave him and then eventually marry.
In this sense, the pacing was quite appropriate, and even if the story was long, it was also compelling in its details and political forecasting. I am not certain that the background actions of the Royal family would have been as important to Katherine as a lover of John of Guant but then again, it gives a sense of legitimacy and romance to the atmosphere.
What I liked the most about this story was the execution preformed by Seton. She set out to write this story within the constraints and pulled it off, with character and plot. The development of Katherine was both expected and unexpected. After all, she did need to come onto her own as her own woman, which she does admirably, in order to be worthy of John of Guant at the end. I do believe as well, that John of Guant did need to also show some worthiness, although he seems more of a foil for Katherine’s development than anything else. How does love fit into this? I think some more spiritual placement of love could have been needed, although Katherine did not become a nun as she did intend when she was sad, and that love remained unresolved until the ending we are waiting for happens.
So in this sense, her growth as a character was appropriate to the story, although I wonder how her re-found luxury sat with her spirituality. I would have liked to hear more of that, as Seton did previously make a big deal of it with her taking it for granted, and admiring all this wealth around her.
Despite never becoming king of queen, we do still find a happy ending, situated for the couple. And that was followed by a nice afterword that sealed the book.
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