The groaning shelves of books about English royalty hardly require another volume, but at least Waller's take is...
Glossy, deeply detailed, occasionally repetitious comparative examination of the six queens who have ruled England in their own right.
No law barred women from the medieval nation’s throne, writes British historian Waller (London 1945, 2005, etc.), “but in practice the idea of female sovereignty was anathema.” Although Henry I left the crown to his daughter Matilda, she was never actually anointed queen, and a male cousin snatched the throne in 1135. After that, most women with royal claims ceded or were forced to cede their rights to husbands or male relatives. Henry VIII’s daughters were the first two queens to actually rule. Catholic Mary I (1553–58), daughter of Henry’s banished Queen Katherine, succeeded her Protestant brother, Edward VI, in a coup d’état; her dubious legacy included an unpopular marriage to Philip II of Spain and the burning of heretics. Elizabeth I (1558–1603) restored Protestantism and enjoyed a magnificent reign, trumping male discomfort “by claiming to have ‘the body but of a weak and feeble woman’ but ‘the heart and stomach of a king.’ ” Mary II (1689–94), reluctant to assume power when Parliament excluded her Catholic father, James II, generally deferred to husband and joint sovereign William III. Her frugal younger sister Anne (1702–14) ascended after William’s death and proved the last of the Stuarts. The mighty Victoria (1837–1901), who assumed the throne at age 18, favored a domestic role and actually expressed hostility to women’s entry into professional life. Queen Elizabeth II (1952–) remains elusive, yet dauntless in will and absolutely loyal to her people.
The groaning shelves of books about English royalty hardly require another volume, but at least Waller's take is refreshingly feminist.Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-312-33801-5
Page Count: 576
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2007
Both entertaining and grippingly introspective, Haddish’s take-no-prisoners tale is a testament to self-will and how humor...
The stand-up comedian and actress opens up about her past and the perils of being a woman in comedy.
In her uncensored and often hilarious debut memoir, Haddish reveals pivotal events from her personal life that helped propel her toward the stage. “I got into the entertainment business so I could feel accepted,” she writes. “And loved. And safe.” After learning about the trials of her early years, readers will appreciate how trying to make a roomful of strangers laugh could prove easier than negotiating the minefield of the author’s home life. Though somewhat dismissive of her uncanny ability to rise above adversity, Haddish provides a colloquially written rags-to-riches story that is both impressive and harrowing. Abandoned by her father at age 3 and forced to live with her grandmother at 8, after her mother was in a devastating car accident that caused permanent brain damage, Haddish spent years taking care of her younger siblings or being abused while in foster care. She turned to humor as a defense mechanism, getting her comedic start as a teen working as an “energy producer” at bar mitzvahs around Los Angeles. Once her grandmother learned she would no longer receive financial support for caring for her granddaughter, she turned Haddish out, causing her to become homeless at 18. At 21, the author’s stepfather told her that not only was he responsible for the accident that had forever changed her mother, but that it had been meant to kill her and all her siblings so he could cash in on the life insurance. After learning this, Haddish says she started dating policemen. “It’s always good to have police friends,” she writes, “especially black police, because there aren’t a lot of them.” The author’s unrelenting positivity and openness about how insecurities about her own self-worth led to poor decisions later in life offer important lessons and hope for others seemingly trapped in toxic relationships.
Both entertaining and grippingly introspective, Haddish’s take-no-prisoners tale is a testament to self-will and how humor can save your life.Pub Date: Dec. 12, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5011-8182-5
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
Well-written, often poignant and surprisingly relatable.
Memoir of a literature professor who converted to Christianity in the halls of Oxford University.
Coming home for the holidays, Weber (English/Seattle Univ.) had a handsome young man with a jewelry box in his pocket waiting for her at the gate. Most girls would be excited, but not the author. As her ex–fiancé-to-be awaited her arrival, Weber found herself confiding to a concerned stranger that she'd been thinking about someone else: Jesus. It's an inauspicious beginning for a conversion story, inciting the same adverse reaction in readers as the author’s agnostic friends—nice, well-educated girls do not break up with their boyfriends and become Christians. But a lot has changed since Weber began her graduate studies at Oxford, an establishment where semesters with names like "Michaelmas" and "Hilary" frame a touching narrative of friendship, love and faith. There, the author was just as often inspired by Keats and the Beatles as she was by the Gospel. Weaving lines of poetry, philosophy and scripture into her narrative, Weber grasps at the meaning of life in the pages of great works of literature and overcomes her own childhood cynicism. Ultimately, a boy she refers to as TDK (i.e., tall, dark and handsome) won her heart and encouraged her to convert. When normal, 20-something trials ensued, notably a visit from a Georgia Peach in designer stilettos who threatened to steal her crush, the author’s new faith was put to the test. The delicately crafted moments when Weber’s faith allowed her to think more clearly and walk more gracefully through her life are, much like her romance, worth the wait.
Well-written, often poignant and surprisingly relatable.Pub Date: Aug. 9, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-8499-4611-0
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Review Posted Online: July 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2011
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