MY LORD JOHN

Author: Georgette Heyer ISBN: 9781402213533 5/2009 HISTORICAL Publisher: SOURCEBOOKS
Time Period: Medieval - late 1300s

Georgette Heyer's final novel, set in her own favorite time period. With her signature wit, drama and impeccable historical accuracy, Georgette Heyer tells the story of a medieval royal family on the rise. Set in the last days of the reign of Richard II, just before Henry V succeeded him to the throne, the eponymous hero is Henry's brother, John, Duke of Bedford. Heyer brings the medieval world to life, creating a panoramic view of a royal family's intricacies, intrigues and sibling rivalries, along with the everyday lives of the servants, clerics, and vassals in their charge.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

I recently read a Georgette Heyer novel, so I was expecting the detail to character and staying true to the era to be off the charts. But in MY LORD JOHN, the history overpowered everything else. I don’t think that I ever had a clear understanding of what was going on with this story. I kept referring back to the family tree at the back of the book and that made me even more confused, which started to frustrate me, because I truly wanted to give this book a chance, but it lost me.

The language, the jumping back and forth between millions of characters... it was just too much. I don’t want to sound rude, but I actually got a headache. I’ve been reading historical romance forever, and with that comes an understanding of how each author expresses their understanding of a certain timeframe and era. And nine times out of ten I can understand it by at least the end of the first chapter. But when you get to the middle of the book and you still don’t know what the heck anyone’s talking about or who they're even talking to, that’s bad. I can understand a made up foreign language in a science fiction novel better than the dialog used in MY LORD JOHN.

But on the up side, I did like FREDERICA, which I gave a Top Pick rating.

Sheila Smith