The Kings Sisters

Download or read book The King's Sister written by Anne O'Brien and published by Mira. This book was released on 2015 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Elizabeth Plantagenet - seventeen years old, spoilt, headstrong, fun-loving and intelligent - is about to be married. The Earl of Pembroke is an advantageous choice for all concerned, except Elizabeth, as the Earl is only eight years old. Six years later, scandalously pregnant by Sir John Holland, Duke of Exeter, Elizabeth is hastily married again. But now she finds herself drawn into a dangerous rebellion.

Download or read book The Kings' Mistresses written by Elizabeth C Goldsmith and published by PublicAffairs. This book was released on 2012-04-03 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Mancini Sisters, Marie and Hortense, were born in Rome, brought to the court of Louis XIV of France, and strategically married off by their uncle, Cardinal Mazarin, to secure his political power base. Such was the life of many young women of the age: they had no independent status under the law and were entirely a part of their husband's property once married. Marie and Hortense, however, had other ambitions in mind altogether. Miserable in their marriages and determined to live independently, they abandoned their husbands in secret and began lives of extraordinary daring on the run and in the public eye. The beguiling sisters quickly won the affections of noblemen and kings alike. Their flight became popular fodder for salon conversation and tabloids, and was closely followed by seventeenth-century European society. The Countess of Grignan remarked that they were traveling "like two heroines out of a novel." Others gossiped that they "were roaming the countryside in pursuit of wandering lovers. "Their scandalous behavior -- disguising themselves as men, gambling, and publicly disputing with their husbands -- served as more than just entertainment. It sparked discussions across Europe concerning the legal rights of husbands over their wives. Elizabeth Goldsmith's vibrant biography of the Mancini sisters -- drawn from personal papers of the players involved and the tabloids of the time -- illuminates the lives of two pioneering free spirits who were feminists long before the word existed.

Download or read book The King's Sisters written by Sarah Kennedy and published by Cross and the Crown. This book was released on 2019-07-31 with total page 426 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The King's Sisters continues the story of Catherine Havens. It's now 1542, and another queen, Catherine Howard, has been beheaded for adultery. Although young Prince Edward is growing, and the line of Tudor succession seems secure, the king falls into a deep melancholy and questions the faith and loyalty of those around him. Catherine has found herself in a unique position as a married former nun. Now she is a wealthy widow. She has two children, a boy who has successfully joined the young prince's household and a daughter who lives with her at Richmond Palace, home to Henry's cast-off fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, now designated "The King's Beloved Sister." Catherine also enjoys the attentions of widower Benjamin Davies, and in the festive court atmosphere, she has furtively indulged her passion for him. But England has changed again. Anne of Cleves hopes for reinstatement as queen--until questions arise about the finances of the houses she keeps. Catherine, as one of the king's "reformed sisters," is singled out, just as she realizes that she is carrying a third child. The King's Sisters explores the Tudor court under an aging Henry VIII. He now has a son and heir, but his two daughters remain players in the political intrigues. The Cross and the Crown series follows the very private Catherine as she is thrust into the scheming. She is skilled enough to serve a former queen, but this may be the very quality that endangers her future. Sarah Kennedy opens magical windows into the world of Tudor's England and brings it to life in vibrant colors and unforgettable reverberations. She reinvents the genre of historical fiction of that period giving voice to women of all ages, social classes, and economic standing. She writes with astounding detail of material culture and deft psychological insight about the experiences of women from the royal sisters to maids and confidants amidst whom the feisty protagonist Catherine Haven sparkles in the full richness of her empowered self, in the delicious shades of her moods, intelligence, warm motherhood and sensuality. This third novel in the series soars to new heights and we follow the heroine breathlessly on her suspenseful, sometimes reckless, always riveting journey. Domnica Radulescu, author of Train to Trieste and Black Sea Twilight.

Download or read book The Sisters of Versailles written by Sally Christie and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2015-09 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Court intriguers are beginning to sense that young King Louis XV, after seven years of marriage, is tiring of his Polish wife. The race is on to find a mistress for the royal bed. The King's scheming ministers push Louise, the eldest of the aristocratic Nesle sisters, into the arms of the King. Over the following decade, of the five Nesle sisters-- Louise, Pauline, Diane, Hortense, and Marie-Anne-- four will become mistresses to King Louis XV. All will conspire, betray, suffer, and triumph in a desperate fight for both love and power.

Download or read book Bastards: A Memoir written by Mary Anna King and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2015-06-22 with total page 251 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Searing . . . explores how identity forms love, and love, identity. Written in engrossing, intimate prose, it makes us rethink how blood’s deep connections relate to the attachments of proximity."—Andrew Solomon, author of Far from the Tree In the early 1980s, Mary Hall is a little girl growing up in poverty in Camden, New Jersey, with her older brother Jacob and parents who, in her words, were "great at making babies, but not so great at holding on to them." After her father leaves the family, she is raised among a commune of mothers in a low-income housing complex. Then, no longer able to care for the only daughter she has left at home, Mary's mother sends Mary away to Oklahoma to live with her maternal grandparents, who have also been raising her younger sister, Rebecca. When Mary is legally adopted by her grandparents, the result is a family story like no other. Because Mary was adopted by her grandparents, Mary’s mother, Peggy, is legally her sister, while her brother, Jacob, is legally her nephew. Living in Oklahoma with her maternal grandfather, Mary gets a new name and a new life. But she's haunted by the past: by the baby girls she’s sure will come looking for her someday, by the mother she left behind, by the father who left her. Mary is a college student when her sisters start to get back in touch. With each subsequent reunion, her family becomes closer to whole again. Moving, haunting, and at times wickedly funny, Bastards is about finding one's family and oneself.

Download or read book Always Sisters written by CeCe Winans and published by Howard Books. This book was released on 2007-07-17 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Becoming the princess God intended you to be has a lot to do with discovering -- who you are as His daughter and who you can be as a sister to those who walk beside you. Award-winning singer CeCe Winans has a heart for God and a heart for you and your future. And in the pages of this book, she shares her heart and her vision for you as a daughter of the King of Kings. Each day's devotional will help you grow more and more into the princess you were created to be. You'll find -- - a message from CeCe's heart to yours - scriptures to guide you in your royal walk as a princess - journaling questions to help you look into yourself and into God's Word - an Always Sisters Sister Tip to help you be a sister to the princess beside you It takes just twenty-one days to make a new habit. The twenty-one devotional messages in this book were designed to bring out the princess in you. They form a crown that you can wear again and again.

Download or read book The Kings' Mistresses written by Elizabeth Goldsmith and published by Public Affairs. This book was released on 2012-04-03 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The little-known story of two spirited sisters who flaunted every social convention of 17th century Europe in their determination to live independently.