The Magic of Ordinary Days (film)

I watched this film recently as it is now available on you tube.  I thought it was a lovely story of love and redemption.  Certainly a different kind of story, which was set in the countryside of America in earlier times of 1944 during the war years.   Clothing, costumes and settings were quite spectacular and also the way of life of the farming community in those times which were not quite so distant from the present days.

The film also gave an insight into attitudes and values of the times.

 An enjoyable film to watch.

The English Girl by Daniel Silva

The story in this book is quite riveting and well worth reading.  It is a different style of genre from which I have normally been reading.  The story takes place amidst the political machinations of England and the kidnapping of an English girl who had a promising career within the parliamentary establishment. 

To prevent a scandal an Israeli intelligence officer is called upon to investigate the matter with as little repercussions as possible in the political establishment.

The story has wonderful settings of Israel, France and Corsica.  It is a roller coaster of a story which I enjoyed reading.  The action, the mystery and the intrigue keep thereader guessing the motives. 

The fascinating dialogue and camaraderie of the characters also plays its part.  There were also clever repetitive actions and manners of speech which added a certain quirkiness to the novel.  I also enjoyed the mood and ambience of the novel.  It was wonderful.   A brilliant story and I am now reading another book by the same authorof the tales of the Israeli spy, Gabriel Allon.

The Shadow Queen by Sandra Gulland

This wonderful novel by celebrated author Sandra Gulland of The Josephine Trilogy tells the complex tale of the early years of the life of Claude des Oeillets. This is a great novel which I enjoyed reading.

Claude des Oeillets was a personal assistant to Madame de Montespan during the early years of the court of Louis XIV in France in the 17^th century.

Claude was from an acting family and it is this aspect of the novel which appeals i.e. the travels and also travails of an acting troupe during these early years in France.

The Great Corneille, writer and playwright was an inspiration to these theatre people whose livelihoods often depended upon patronage and performances given on the stage at courts or various centres in the surrounding countryside.

Claude des Oeillets seems to me to have been an enigma and she also appears as a character in the novel

Of Athenais, The Real Queen of France by Lisa Hilton as a servant of Madame de Montespan.

I enjoyed reading the novel. It gives wonderful insights into another era and time where life was so different from today’s world and the king was the supreme power in the land.

The story is told from the viewpoint of Claude and how she reacts to adverse situations in her life, the hardships and troubles of her family and also from the time of her first meeting with Madame de Montespan who came from a more privileged background. Apparently in earlier more prosperous times her mother and father had been well received on the stage and well regarded as performers in their day.

The story tells of the wonderful side of court life and its beauty and grandeur but also unfortunately also shows a side of court life which is not respectable or acceptable and Claude has to make decisions about her life and face consequences because of earlier decisions which she has made. Ultimately Claude decides where her true loyalties lie and what is the better course for her and her child.

The novel is a triumph of great story-telling. In the end Claude makes a decision which she feels she can live with. She decides to leave the employ of Madame de Montespan. The life at court was not all is seemed and because of the values which she was brought up with she could no longer continue to live a life which was not in keeping with her own moral code.

This book is wonderful and gives a good account of what may have occurred during the Affair of the Poisons at the Court of Louis XIV where so many people were named and also banished from court.

“The Shadow Queen” is an excellent historical fiction novel and the adventures of Claude des Oeillets in the employ of Madame de Montespan are fascinating to follow. The court life and its many complexities are seen throughout in this novel from what Claude des Oeillets could see and gather from her own information. It is very good.

The Lost Duchess

The Lost Duchess by Jenny Barden

The Last Duchess by Jenny Barden is a wonderful descriptive novel of early tudor England and the very different conditions encountered by the early settlers at Roanoke Island in the New World. The story follows the adventures of Emme, a lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth I and an adventurer sailor, Kit, who has decided to make a new life in the New World.

This novel gives fascinating insights into the times of Elizabeth I and the many courtiers and famous characters from history who surrounded the Queen during these eventful years e.g. Lord Burghley, Sir Francis Walsingham, Sir Francis Drake, Sir Walter Raleigh and Christopher Hatton.

Emme and Kit are the main protagonists and the story follows their adventures and romance closely. It is a wonderful tale of beauty, mystery and also courage.

In this story there is an account given of the mystery surrounding the early settlers of Roanoke Island and what may have happened to them. The story is also peppered by real life characters of the times who were engaged as governors , botanists and scientists amongst the early settlers.

This book is well recommended. I found this book wonderful. It is educational, historical and also fascinating to read about these earlier times in the history of England and USA. The story is quite compelling and quickly draws the reader into the narrative.

I found reading this story and learning of the early days of settlement in the New World , the dangers and hardships incurred and also the strength and resilience of the early settlers to be a beautiful story.

When I See You Smile by Bic Runga

When I See You Smile by Bic Runga:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdvbeAAJzsI


A favourite singer!

Best wishes from Sandra

A Thousand Years by Christina Perri:

A wonderful song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtOvBOTyX00
A Thousand Years by Christina Perri

I will be posting book reviews shortly.


Best wishes from Sandra

My Last Duchess

My Last Duchess by Daisy Goodwin

I enjoyed reading this quite compelling story of an American heiress,

Cora Cash, who marries an English duke in the gilded age of the late 1890's.

A wonderful story to read which gives valuable insights into this late

Victorian era; the English aristocracy, the hunts and the horses, the elegant

dinner parties and wonderful fashions of the time. Respectability and

dress sense and a sense of propriety all have their place in this novel. It

also has its humorous aspects as well as the serious and the tragic circumstances

which occur at the beginning of the novel.

The characters of the novel and the descriptions of life in those times

are quite fascinating. Queen Victoria's son (the Prince of Wales) is an

interesting character, who attends dinner parties and luncheons who is an invited guest

at the castle; the parents of the American heiress and the mother

of the Duke are also quite colourful characters. The lives of the servants, Bertha,

Cora's lady's maid and the Duke's valet, Jim, are also of

interest. This story does develop and also is quite fascinating for the reader in a later century. The author has spent time in the novel developing the characters of the

servants and I did also enjoy reading about their lives and romance which were

also a theme of the novel.

The decorative arts and design are also an integral part of this story. The

English castle is in need of renovation and the mansion in Newport, where the

story initially is set, has decorative designs which are intended to be replicas of the

Chateau of Versailles.

There is a sense of romance in the novel and it is to be hoped that the heroine

of the story is not disappointed. It is a nice story to read and is well recommended.