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My Dearest Minette
Charles II was a renowned ladies' man but, arguably his greatest love—though not in the Biblical sense—was his sister Minette. Separated from her in their youth by a royal inter-marriage, his letters reveal a tender and humane side not often seen in biographies of this cunning and calculating monarch.
- GenresHistory
256 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1996
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November 16, 2013
This book does assume that you have prior knowledge about about the Restoration period. That’s not to say you have to be an expert, but a little knowledge about who Charles II was and Louis XIV, the war with Holland. Anyone who has a little bit (or a lot) of knowledge about the period, it’s perfect.
The book documents the letters between Charles II of England and his sister Henrietta, the Duchesse d’Orlèans. It does deliver that, too the format is easy to understand, Ruth gives a short explanation for some of the trickier terms or something that hasn’t been mentioned before and then you read the letter. Obviously, I feel like I know these people from history, and Ruth Norrington evidently feels the same which comes across in her writing.
I was personally surprised about the format because I didn’t think she would include so many of the letters but at the end of the day that is what you’re reading the book for and so it’s just doing its job. She also manages to explain the letters in a fairly simple way which is a relief as some history books can be hard to get through.
The only fault I can pick out is that it starts with more detail, like about how people would have felt, but it loses that and gives into hard facts rather than opinions. I liked the personal flair that the start of the book had, and it was a little harder to get through when it lost that. It does begin to pull the opinions back at the end but maybe it’s too little too late.
Overall, it took me a while to get through it with there being so much information, but it was really enjoyable to read and gave a real insight into the lives of these historical figures. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys the escapades of Charles.
The book documents the letters between Charles II of England and his sister Henrietta, the Duchesse d’Orlèans. It does deliver that, too the format is easy to understand, Ruth gives a short explanation for some of the trickier terms or something that hasn’t been mentioned before and then you read the letter. Obviously, I feel like I know these people from history, and Ruth Norrington evidently feels the same which comes across in her writing.
I was personally surprised about the format because I didn’t think she would include so many of the letters but at the end of the day that is what you’re reading the book for and so it’s just doing its job. She also manages to explain the letters in a fairly simple way which is a relief as some history books can be hard to get through.
The only fault I can pick out is that it starts with more detail, like about how people would have felt, but it loses that and gives into hard facts rather than opinions. I liked the personal flair that the start of the book had, and it was a little harder to get through when it lost that. It does begin to pull the opinions back at the end but maybe it’s too little too late.
Overall, it took me a while to get through it with there being so much information, but it was really enjoyable to read and gave a real insight into the lives of these historical figures. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys the escapades of Charles.
Displaying 1 of 1 review