'The Queen's Man', series by Sharon Kay Penman

While in my local library last month checking out Lionheart, I also grabbed a couple of Sharon Kay Penman's forays into the historical-mystery-detective sub-genre; Cruel as the Grave (1998) and Dragon's Lair (2003). I assume that, for historical novelists, sub-genres are attempts to widen the author's normal audience. They generally do this in several ways:

1. The novels are shorter
2. There is less history
3. There is more fictional content in the chosen sub-genre

All three of these are true of Penman's The Queen's Man series of novels. Having previously read the first of the series, The Queen's Man (1996), I expected these two sequels to be equally entertaining, and was not disappointed. These shorter novels tie in to the historical narrative of Lionheart and the other books in the Angevin Kings series, so there's no question that Penman has done plenty of historical research.

The central action in each of these brief novels is, however, a fictional murder mystery. The central recurring character is the fictional Justin de Quincy, who becomes known as a "Queen's Man" because of his loyalty to and employment by the dowager Queen Eleanor, widow of King Henry II. Eleanor is responsible for England while her son, King Richard I (Lionheart) is away battling the "Saracens" for control of Jerusalem. De Quincy is dispatched by his queen to far-flung corners of the island on confidential assignments, and one or more unexplained murders always seem to occur during his pursuit of the Queen's assignments. De Quincy then becomes a sort of amateur detective to solve the mystery.

The formula is simple and well-understood by fans of the genre, including myself. The entertainment value is undeniable. It would be a mistake, however, to read these novels as representative of the lives and minds of persons actually living in those times and places. It's possible that there was someone like Justin de Quincy in 1193, but we have no historical evidence for it. All the written materials we have from those times indicate that people simply did not think in ways that allowed them to solve a murder mystery by the methods de Quincy uses. They didn't examine alternative explanations for events. They didn't look for hidden physical evidence to support or refute a theory. Hard as it is for us to imagine, they just weren't like us. Anything confusing and/or unexplained became the province of the priest, who declared the event to be "God's will".

There's one other aspect of the construction of these novels that strikes me as somewhat facile. The events and persons connected with the murder mystery and its solution do not influence historical events or persons in any discernable way. The fictional story stands apart within a historical setting. This method allows the author to avoid most of the inherent contradictions involved. By contrast, a more ambitious work in this genre proposes fictional events and characters as part of an alternative explanation for historical events. Stone's Fall, by Iain Pears, is an outstanding recent example of such a novel.

Reading these tales, then, requires a huge suspension of disbelief. Having stipulated that caveat, however, I'm not one to let it stand in the way of my enjoyment of a good mystery. I look forward to reading the fourth installment of The Queen's Man, titled Prince of Darkness (2005).

'Absolute Friends' by John Le Carré

I picked this one up firstly because I couldn't decide which way to go in my historical reading and, secondly, because I've always enjoyed Le Carré's writing. By the time I reached the end of the book it occurred to me that this actually is a sort of historical novel. The time period begins in the mid-1960s and continues up to the present (or 2003 when the novel was written). The setting incorporates many historical events and places from those years. No historical persons appear as characters, which some will find disappointing but many others might consider a plus. The most interesting departure, however, from a "normal" historical is the author's invention of a hidden back story underlying the historical events. In this regard, Absolute Friends resembles Stone's Fall by Iain Pears - one of my favorites from 2009.

The climactic series of events in the story leads up to a fictional dénouement wherein the hero realizes how he and his absolute friend have been cleverly deceived and manipulated by the fiendish villains. At that point, the author strikes out into territory not unfamiliar to many historical novelists - the morality tale. Remember, this was written in 2003, the year of the Iraq invasion. In that and other events, Le Carré sees the work of a worldwide corporate/political conspiracy with the power to manipulate history to achieve its own nefarious ends. Had he waited a few years to see what an embarrassing botch Iraq became, Le Carré might have lowered his estimate of the omnipotence of those shadowy conspirators. To his credit, he doesn't pick sides like Tom Clancy or other flag-wavers. The bad guys are bad guys and the good guys are also bad guys.

Anyway, Absolute Friends was a good read. In future, I will continue to be tempted by post-WWII spy/crime novels, if they do a good job with the history. Are you listening, John Lawton?

Lionheart, by Sharon Kay Penman

I suspect that most American readers of historical fiction share my incomplete and skewed knowledge of King Richard I. Before reading Sharon Kay Penman's "Angevin series" novels, I knew Richard mainly as the violent, angry, homosexual sociopath of The Lion in Winter, or as the beloved but absent English king championed by Robin Hood against the evil usurper, Prince John. Penman has done us all a great favor by filling out our picture of Richard as a complex and nuanced character in Devil's Brood, and now in Lionheart. Beyond Richard himself, the novel contributed greatly to my knowledge of the Crusades and the complex politics of those times.

Lionheart begins where Devil's Brood left off, following the death of King Henry in 1189. Richard's first task is to consolidate his rule of his father's empire and put loyal vassals in place to administer the widely-separated regions. The work takes on added urgency when Richard decides to "take the cross" and lead an army against the "Saracen" Moslems who have recaptured Jerusalem from the Christian forces under their charismatic Kurdish general, whose Arabic name is usually rendered as "Saladin". The remainder of Lionheart takes place during the so-called "Third Crusade", as Richard battles not only Saladin but also the schemes of his main "ally", King Philippe II of France. The novel ends as Richard, having failed to recapture Jerusalem and fearing for the survival of his kingdom at home, departs forever from Palestine in late 1192. Penman will complete the story of Richard's eventful homeward journey in the forthcoming A King's Ransom.

Thanks to Penman's conscientious historical research, the reader gains a historically-accurate picture of the Richard and his Crusaders during those turbulent two years. Modernizing distortions of the fictionalized historical characters are kept to an unobtrusive minimum - especially important when all of the main characters are historical. Exotic locations include the Kingdom of Sicily, where Richard's sister Joanna is Queen, and the Crusader kingdom known to the French-speakers as Outremer (which translates generally as "beyond the sea" or "overseas"). An entertaining (and fairly accurate as historical movies go) account of events leading up to Richard's arrival in "The Holy Land" can be found in Kingdom of Heaven (2005). Some of the movie characters have roles in Lionheart, including the hero Balian of Ibelin. As for Richard himself, Penman devoted considerable research to debunking the "homosexual" label as a slander circulated by his enemies. The violence and anger, however, of the Richard portrayed in James Goldman's famous play are also present in Penman's version. One interesting creative decision by Penman is to keep Saladin in the background. He appears in the story only through the words of his lieutenants and popular stories told about him.

As with Devil's Brood, Lionheart rates straight 5's in my criteria for historical novels. The genre is lucky to have a writer who is able to entertain while maintaining the utmost respect for history. Highly recommended.

'REAMDE' by Neal Stephenson

Anyone who has read Stephenson's latest knows it's not a historical novel. So, I'm straying somewhat from this blog's purported theme by writing about it. Stephenson has, however, written some of my favorite historical novels (The Baroque Trilogy, Cryptonomicron), so it's perhaps not that large of a departure. Without going into a plot summary, let's just stipulate that the novel is set in the very-near-future, containing nothing which can't become reality in the next few years. So, some of the same criteria normally used for historicals can be applied to REAMDE. Specifically, how accurate is the novel's portrayal of the current world?

Any story line that brings on-line fantasy gamers and hackers together with Russian mobsters and radical Islamic terrorists must be read with some suspension of disbelief. That is, however, part of the point of the novel. In an increasingly interconnected world, the strangest bedfellows are only separated by a few mouse-clicks. The cascade of unlikely events that bring all these characters together sometimes has a Keystone Cops air that can be humorous and horrific at the same time. Regular readers will, of course, recognize such deeply ironical juxtapositions as a Stephenson specialty. The factual basis underpinning the plausibility of the story is mostly very solid - another quality we've come to expect from Stephenson. The man does his research. I learned lots of new stuff about hacking, computer gaming, modern small-arms, China and the Pacific Northwest.

The one aspect of the plot that seemed like a big stretch was the idea that an Al Qaeda terrorist leader could unexpectedly arrive in a remote region of northern Idaho and, within a few days, find a dozen accomplices already living in the U.S. ready, willing and able to join him and become part of a terrorist/suicide operation. Maybe I'm not sufficiently pananoid, but I don't buy it. The 9-11 attacks, for instance, required years of careful planning and preparation. On the other hand, those late recruits were not essential to the story. The extra guns just allowed for a bigger shoot-out at the book's climax.

In the end, despite the abundant entertainment value, I found the novel mildly disappointing. That would not be true if the author were not Neal Stephenson. REAMDE lacks the really mind-bending ideas of his SF novels, or even of The Baroque Trilogy. In the end, it's a fairly standard modern techno-thriller with the requisite large doses of guns, explosions and chase scenes. Stephenson doesn't spend much time on sex scenes, so that guilty pleasure is missing. Still, it was a fun ride and I was sorry when I reached the last page.

'Devil's Brood' by Sharon Kay Penman

A recent review of Penman's newest novel, Lionheart, induced me to detour from my early-American reading path to catch up on Penman's explorations of Henry and Eleanor's 12th-century world. Penman really is, in my opinion, one of the best historical novelists writing today, and I can give Devil's Brood straight 5's on my five criteria without even thinking much about it. She's probably not for everyone - there are times when the reader wonders, "where's the fiction?". Penman is so scrupulous about adhering to historical sources that it sometimes seems like you're reading a family biography rather than a novel. The saving grace is the way she creates wonderfully complex and subtly-nuanced fictionalized historical characters that seem so authentic. Certainly there is some modern bias, which is unavoidable, but it never jumps up to slap you in the face. To the extent that it's possible to make the minds of a 12th-century French-speaking royal family accessible to a modern English-speaking reader - without romanticizing or condescending - Penman does.

Devil's Brood is subtitled, "The last days of the tempestuous marriage of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine", and that sums it up pretty well. The story picks up where Time and Chance, the previous novel in Penman's "Plantagenet series", left off. It's April of 1172 and Henry is returning to Wales from Ireland, where he had gone to solidify his rule over the feuding Irish kings. Also, it was wise for Henry to be out of England following the death of Thomas Beckett, the climactic event of Time and Chance. The Devil's Brood referred to in the novel's title was Henry's four sons, who took turns scheming, defying and rebelling as they came of age and began to chafe under their father's authority. The novel concludes following the death of Henry in 1189. Lionheart will presumably take up the story at that point.

Follow-up to 'Lydia Bailey' review

As noted previously, when reading a historical novel I like to have one or more reliable works of straight history near to hand for fact-checking. I initially failed to do that while reading the Barbary War sections of Kenneth Roberts' Lydia Bailey (see 08-30 post). Since then, I found a very well-written history entitled Pirate Coast: Thomas Jefferson, the First Marines, and the Secret Mission of 1805, by Richard Zacks. Zacks' book confirms the general historical accuracy of Roberts' novel. It also confirms my comments about Roberts' tendency to polarize historical characters into good/evil extremes. Pirate Coast is highly recommended for fulfillment of my first criterium, "inspired me to further historical research".

'Washington and Caesar', by Christian Cameron (2004)

This novel took me completely by surprise - I'm not quite sure why. Maybe it was because I had never heard of author Christian Cameron or this novel until I found it listed on Historical Novels.com (thanks once again, Margaret). Maybe it was the somewhat lurid (and ungrammatical) subtitle - Master and slave. Two heroes fighting for freedom. But on opposite sides. I was expecting lots of purple prose, but Washington and Caesar turned out to be a well-researched, well-written and thoroughly enjoyable read. My enjoyment was increased when I found a very inexpensive hardcover copy at an on-line clearance site. Now I can donate it to my local library and hope they shelve it.

As the subtitle explains, the novel features two very different main character viewpoints. The inherent contrasts between the Great Man and his African slave give the story plenty of tension. The Revolutionary War setting imparts life-and-death drama. Characters are believable and sympathetic. The history research is impressive. What more can a reader ask for?

The five criteria:

1. Did the novel inspire me to further historical research?

Even though I've now read quite a few Revolutionary War-era novels, histories and biographies, this is the first that offered a look at the experiences of black slaves during the War. It's another side to the story, one that I'm sure a lot of folks would like to forget about. Score = 4

2. Did the novel include enough history to make it an interesting historical story?

The coverage of Washington's life before and during the War was very complete. Likewise the history of the black Loyalist soldiers. Score = 4

3. Was the depiction of historical events accurate?

The author acknowledges a few cases of dramatic license, such as creating a fictional black Loyalist unit that combines features of several different historical units. I found no obvious cases of historical error or distortion. Score = 4

4. Was the depiction of historical characters accurate?

Washington's portrayal does not contradict his biographers in any major ways. None of the other historical characters get nearly as much depth, except for Mrs. Washington. Cameron gives Martha an intelligence and sharp wit that are missing from other descriptions I've read. Score = 4

5. Would I read another novel by this author, continuing in this historical period, with these characters (or new ones)?

I would welcome a sequel that follows Caesar and other former slaves who decided to leave/not leave the new United States after the war. Their fates are left unexplored. Score = 4

'1812' by David Nevin (1996)

This is my second David Nevin novel, after Eagle's Cry (see June 22 review). 1812 skips over the years between the end of Eagle's Cry in 1804 and 1812, which included the second term of President Jefferson and the first term of President Madison. Madison, one of the fictionalized historical heroes of Eagle's Cry, returns as the President who presides over the 'second war of independence' against Great Britain. First lady Dolley Madison also plays a major role. A more mature Andrew Jackson returns, joined by youthful new hero Winfield Scott, whose battlefield prowess vaults him from Captain to General in two years of war. Jackson and Scott eventually reward Madison's frustrating search for able military commanders, strikingly similar to Lincoln's situation in the Civil War. Jackson's involvement in the Creek War of 1813-14 is also included in the narrative, prior to the climactic Battle of New Orleans. The fictional Sally McQuirk, daughter and heir of a newspaper publisher, provides a romantic interest for young Scott (Maria Mayo, the woman Scott married, makes an appearance later in the story).

A note about the Wikipedia links; I don't vouch for the quality and/or accuracy of all these articles, but they are handy for quick reference. I'm a WP editor myself and frequently expand, clarify and correct articles I read, especially when I've just finished a work of history or biography. I urge others with an interest in history to do the same. Wikipedia is a democratic collaboration, so the larger the number of editors involved, the better the article tends to be. For serious research, of course, full histories and biographies are necessary.

No need to reiterate Nevin's political slant; that's discussed in the Eagle's Cry review. Let's move on to the five criteria:

1. Did the novel inspire me to further historical research?

Yes. I haven't read too much about the War of 1812 or about the Creek War. Score = 4

2. Did the novel include enough history to make it an interesting historical story?

Nevin includes the main documented historical events, told with plenty of detail. Only a half-hearted attempt is made to explain the causes of the war, which is understandable since the novel focuses on the heroic, courageous soldiers, while President Madison fumes about his and his administration's shortcomings. Score = 4

3. Was the depiction of historical events accurate?

Nevin adheres closely to the facts of documented historical events. Conspicuous omissions are absent as well, other than the lack of any in-depth British perspective. Unfortunately, no 'Author's Note' or list of sources is included this time. Score = 4

4. Was the depiction of historical characters accurate?

Nevin, unlike many historical novelists, includes historical persons as major dramatic characters. Since the romanticization (is that a word?), simplification and polarization of characters is a feature of most historical novels, an experienced reader of the genre should not be surprised that Madison, Scott and Jackson come off better than they probably were. In like manner, the novel's historical villains, especially Secretary of War Armstrong, Senator Daniel Webster and British General Cockburn, probably come off worse. Creek leader William "Red Eagle" Weatherford gets a respectful, though brief treatment. Score = 3

5. Would I read another novel by this author, continuing in this historical period, with these characters (or new ones)?

Yes; at some point Dream West will be read and reviewed. Score = 4.

'Lydia Bailey' by Kenneth Roberts (1947)

Lydia Bailey is the name of the fictional heroine of this later novel by Kenneth Roberts. The time period is 1798 to 1805, and encompasses several major events in US history. The same cautionary note applies to this novel as to Roberts' previous works - that is, his fictionalized historical character portrayals are very black-and-white, either much more heroic or villainous than they could possibly have been in real life. Also, government officials in general tend to be small-minded, conniving, dishonest and cowardly, among other faults. Their actions continually frustrate the patriotic and altruistic designs of Roberts' noble heroes. Given that large grain of salt, Roberts invented a clever and exciting plot that takes fictional hero Albion Hamlin on a wide-ranging journey from his home in Portland, Maine. Young attorney Hamlin first travels to Boston to defend a newspaper publisher on trial in 1798 for violations of the infamous Sedition Act. The judge turns out to be the Federalist Samuel Chase (future Supreme Court justice and enemy of President Jefferson), the novel's first black-hearted villain. While there, Hamlin falls in love with a portrait of Lydia Bailey and sets out to find her and save her inheritance from an unscrupulous cousin. This quest takes Hamlin first to Philadelphia (still the US capital in 1798), where he meets the novel's central villain, State Department functionary Tobias Lear. Nearby, Hamlin meets botanist John Bartram. Further plot twists take him into the middle of the Haitian Revolution and on to the Mediterranean, ending up in Tripoli on the eve of the first Barbary War. Along the way, he meets good guys Toussaint Louverture and William Eaton, along with bad guys Charles Leclerc, Yusuf Karamanli and William Bainbridge The five criteria:

1. Did the novel inspire me to further historical research?

Yes. Many of these historical events were relatively unexplored by by historical reading, so the novel opened up some new vistas. Score = 4

2. Did the novel include enough history to make it an interesting historical story?

Definitely. As noted above, Roberts' clever plot manages to bind many geographically remote historical events into one story. Score = 4

3. Was the depiction of historical events accurate?

Pretty much. As with virtually all historical novels, there's a certain amount of exaggeration for dramatic effect. I found no outright fabrications or willful distortions. Score = 4

4. Was the depiction of historical characters accurate?

Characters are always more subject to the novelist's manipulation than events. Roberts, as noted in the opening section above, uses that sort of artistic license to fit characters into his good vs. evil sort of historical outlook. He did plenty of research, however, and included a brief list of sources at the end - always a plus in my scoring system. Score = 4

5. Would I read another novel by this author, continuing in this historical period, with these characters (or new ones)?

Unfortunately, I've just about reached the end of Roberts' novels, and he won't be writing any new ones. I wish there were more. Score = 4.

'Northwest Passage' by Kenneth Roberts (1936)

After finishing Rabble In Arms, I thought I was done with Kenneth Roberts for a while. Then I discovered that my local library had a copy of Northwest Passage. It's main historical character is Robert Rogers, creator of 'Rogers' Rangers'. This irregular force of colonial soldiers fought alongside the British army in the French and Indian War (1754-63). Rogers specialized in Indian-style forest tactics, as opposed to the strict British open-field formations that proved disastrous in the early stages of the war. In Rogers, novelist Roberts found another example of a brilliant leader and out-of-the-box thinker who was opposed and dragged down by the jealousy and envy of lesser men. Ayn Rand made her literary debut ten years later with another hero in this mold, in The Fountainhead. So, when reading Roberts, one should remember that the historical characters were almost certainly not as heroic or despicable as their fictionalized counterparts.

The novel's title was the quest undertaken by Rogers after the war. Thwarted by his enemies, Rogers got no further west than Fort Michilimackinac (at the strait between Lakes Huron and Michigan). His life after that was a series of ups and downs, ending in alcoholism and destitution. Roberts' fictional main character is another man from northern New England, named Langdon Towne. Towne is a relative of the fictional Nason family of Arundel, and shares a friendship with the irrepressible Cap Huff. Towne becomes one of Rogers' Rangers and an aide to Rogers himself. He is thus in a position to observe and comment on the leader's actions. The fictional Steven Nason had a similar relationship to Benedict Arnold in Arundel.

The five criteria:

1. Did the novel inspire me to further historical research?

Yes. I haven't read much on the French and Indian War, so this novel opened up some new territory. Also, Roberts used some recently discovered (at that time) material about Rogers' career to flesh out his account. An author's note referred to a bibliography, which unfortunately was not included in the edition of the novel that I found. I always love it when historical novelists include bibliography. Score = 4

2. Did the novel include enough history to make it an interesting historical story?

Yes. As usual, Roberts includes a wealth of historical detail. Score = 5

3. Was the depiction of historical events accurate?

Yes. Roberts is always scrupulous in adhering to historical facts. Only his interpretation of those facts might be questioned. Score = 4

4. Was the depiction of historical characters accurate?

As noted above, there is undoubtedly some exaggeration to make the 'good' characters better and the 'bad' characters worse. This tendency made me wonder, at times, whether a particular historical character really did something he does in the novel. These are, however, always minor actions that don't contradict known facts. As long as the reader keeps that in mind, it's not a big problem. Score = 3

5. Would I read another novel by this author, continuing in this historical period, with these characters (or new ones)?

Definitely. I just found Lydia Bailey, and will read it soon. Score = 5.