Anya Seton‘s note at the beginning of this book states that The theme of this book is reincarnation, an attempt to show the interplay – the law of cause and effect, good and evil – for certain individual souls in two English periods.
The two periods are 1968 when the book begins but after 80 odd pages the story turns back to Tudor times. Celia Marsden is a young, rich American who has been married for her money really, her husband Richard’s family has lived in a Sussex manor house, Medfield Place since the Tudor times, and before that they had built a stone keep there in the 1200s.
In 1968 Celia ends up in a catatonic state and it’s then that the story switches to Tudor times with many of the same characters from 1968. It isn’t exactly successful although I can imagine that if I had read this book when it was first published in 1972 when I was 13 then I would have probably loved it. Of course it could just be that I was put off by yet another Tudor period setting which I hadn’t expected. Back in 1972 this book was wildly popular and I almost never read books at the same time as everybody else is reading them. I don’t know why – it’s probably me being a wee bit snobbish book-wise. Has anyone read Anya Seton’s Katherine and if so should I read it do you think?
Katrina,
Katherine is, to my mind, the absolute #1 Anya Seton novel! I adored it, absolutely and thoroughly loved every minute. I’ll confess I read it one summer when I was in high school, but I don’t think my views of what a great novel is have changed much.
Do pick it up–it will be a colossal escape for you!
Judith
Judith,
Thanks, I will read it. I’m in need of some escapism right now!
I absolutely loved Anya Seton’s books when I read them years ago – I must have been in my twenties at the time, I think. I re-read ‘Green Darkness’ a while ago after I’d visited Ightham Mote and wasn’t as enchanted by it then as when I first read it. I don’t have any of her books now, so can’t check, but my memory is that I also loved ‘Katherine’. But whether I would now is a different matter, as my reading tastes have changed over the years.
Margaret,
Some books just don’t wear well, or we grow beyond them I suppose. Historical romance is still more popular with younger women I think, we all have so many books in our piles that it’s probably best to leave old well loved books in our memories.
I’ve been disappointed before re-reading old favourites, so now I don’t even go there – as you say there are so many other books to read. I’d rather remember them as well-loved books!
Margaret,
The only ones I re-read from time to time are Rebecca and To Kill a Mockingbird, they never seem to disappoint.
Even Rebecca wasn’t quite as wonderful as the first time I read it. One book I have re-read several times that is just as good as the first time I read it is Pride and Prejudice. I’ve only recently read To Kill a Mockingbird which I think is a great book – I may re-read that one day.
Margaret,
P&P is a comfort book for me, in fact Jane Austen in general, if our place doesn’t sell soon I think I’ll be plunging into Austen!
I know that as women get older Rebecca tends to annoy them as the second Mrs de Winter seems such a ninny and too wet so maybe it’s better left to the teenagers, I still empathise though.
I worked in a library during my late teens/early twenties, so I had access to a wide variety of books to choose from. I also worked with a group of avid readers there. We would buy books and then pass them amongst us. Green Darkness is one of the novels I remember most clearly during that time. I had started reading gothic/historical romances during my early teens, but I mother didn’t approve. So I would check books out of the school library and read them away from home. I became hooked on novels set in the Middle Ages.; it’s still my favorite time period. I re-read Green Darkness again after twenty years had passed, and found it wasn’t quite the book I’d remembered, but looking at it with fresh eyes gave me a unique perspective. I began to love the book all over again.
As for Katherine, it was the first book I’d read about the Plantagenets. It started my fascination with the royal houses of England, that continues to this day.
I’m glad that Anya Seton’s novels are being read now and arel in print. There was a time when they were not, and it made me very sad.
What did you think of Katherine?
Jan,
Snap! I also worked in libraries in my late teens and early twenties. In fact that is probably why I didn’t read the very popular books as there were so many people waiting in request queues for them. I have to admit that I’ve not got around to reading Katherine yet, just because it hasn’t popped up in a second-hand bookshop, I prefer to use real shops rather than online sellers, hoping to keep the few shops there are nowadays in business. I’ve just checked Fife libraries and they don’t have Katherine either, which seems strange. They have Avalon, Turquoise and Dragonwyck. Have you read any of those ones?
Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Katrina
Katrina, my brother’s girlfriend’s sister read Katherine as a set book for her English O’level – she went to a Catholic secondary school – and that was how I got to read it when I was in my early teens. Like Jan, it started a life long interest in the Plantagenets and history in general for which I’m very grateful to Anya Seton. I’ve re-read it a number of times over the years and still enjoy it. I’ve also read more factual accounts of Katherine’s life. Green Darkness was also a favourite book of mine that I have just re-read and as a consequence booked a short break in Midhurst last week to visit the places mentioned in the book. When I first read the book, I was into all things spiritual and other worldly – ‘Was God an astronaut.’ The Third Eye’, ‘Gardeners of the Universe’ etc so it intrigued me for that reason too. Avalon is my third favourite and started an interest in the Vikings and a wish to visit Cornwall so all 3 books influenced me in a profound way. Her other books, Dragonwyk, My Theodosia and Turqoise I also read and enjoyed but not to the same extent. Pat
Pat,
Thanks for all that information, I really intend to get back to Anya Seton’s books. I’m often inspired by books to visit places, it’s so much better being able to imagine exactly what the setting is like. I wanted to go to Cornwall for years as so many great books are set there and managed to visit after about 30 years of wishing. I’ve always been interested in the Vikings.
Thanks for dropping by and taking the time to comment.
Katrina
I have just re-read Green Darkness for the third time. I loved it as much as the first two. My first reading was in 1973 not long after it was published. My Mum had bought it for her book club and passed it on to me as she knew I would love it (she loved it too) I was in my first year of work and I was 18. My second reading was in the Late 80s and I was in my 30s. Again I loved it. I am now in my 60s and although my reading tastes have changed I still enjoyed it because I am fascinated by the Tudor and Elizabethan times and each time I read a novel set in those eras I learn something new and I like to look up all the places and people mentioned for more depth – Google is great that way (although as a academic librarian I am generally not in favour of it) I found the historical detail fascinating as I am a Phillipa Gregory fan and also have recently read and enjoyed Ken Folletts Pillar of Fire which covers extensively the Catholic rebellion and conspiring against Elizabeth1. Anthony Browne is mentioned for opposing her Protestant reforms although he did not actually conspire against her. So I found the mention of Browne and the setting of most of Green Darkness in his manor house very interesting.
I find that each time I re-read a favourite novel I get something new from it so I think one should bear that in mind and not be disappointed that it does not measure up at the second reading – take a look at the background and see it with new eyes.
Catherine Dryden,
I have Ken Follett on my list of authors to try, Pillar of Fire sounds like a good place to start. I recently read the children’s book A Traveller in Time by Alison Uttley, I’m trying to catch up with books that I missed when I was a child. Anyway the upshot is that a blog friend told me that Babbage’s house is now a B&B so that’s on my list of places to visit, when we’re allowed to travel again. I think with books, for me anyway a lot has to do with the mood that I’m in at the time, I agree with you that there’s always something different that strikes me during a re-read. Thanks for dropping by and taking the time to comment.
Regards,
Katrina