As of Friday, my time has been freed up quite a bit. My exams are over, my papers and my full dissertation proposal are in, and now I am full speed ahead towards research. My dissertation is officially focusing on Anthony Woodville as a chivalric case study. Since I wrote my BA thesis on Richard III, I am finding this quietly amusing. For those who are not similarly obsessed with the fifteenth century, Richard III ordered Anthony Woodville’s execution. They are accused of feeling a great deal of animosity towards each other, although I personally don’t think it was quite as severe as some historians would like to imagine. At least not on Anthony’s side.
I have never decided whether or not I am a Ricardian. It seems to me that to go one way or the other would require ignoring a great deal of historical opinion and I can’t say I know enough yet to ignore all the options and interpretations. Since I’m looking at Anthony Woodville in a chivalric rather than political light (although as ever, everything in history is connected and divisions are obviously made by the historian), I don’t have to decide just yet. I do have to pin down just where he was, what he was doing, and when, which is a harder task than you’d imagine, before I can consider the whys of it all. Today, I’m consulting Edward IV by Charles Ross and Richard III: A Study in Service by Rosemary Horrox (which I love and highly recommend), as well as several minor sources. I’m secretly hoping that I will have to go to London and look at original documents. There are a few which I can track down that involve him and I really, really want to try my hand at reading more fifteenth century handwriting.
Today, I’m starting The Founding by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles. This book has been languishing in my library pile for months. Finally, someone has requested it, so I must get it read by the 14th. I’ve been somewhat wary about it. I need to stop reading fiction set in the late fifteenth century because I know too much. I’m also planning on making a little bit of progress on my review pile with A Convenient Marriage by Georgette Heyer. My review pile is actually diminishing. I’m lingering under this pleasant delusion because all of my post-late-June review copies are collecting in my parents’ house. I’m also excited to start The Reincarnationist by M.J. Rose today. This book is featured for By The Chapter this week with Marcia and Amy. I was a very lucky winner of Amy’s contest to read along with them. Thank you!
This week, I finished:
The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire by C.M. Mayo
Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie
The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde
The World in Half by Cristina Henriquez
The Vampire of Ropraz by Jacques Chessex
I reviewed:
Duchess By Night by Eloisa James
The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet by Reif Larsen
Briar Rose by Jane Yolen
The Wonder Singer by George Rabasa
Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
And I participated in Booking Through Thursday about comic books.
Finally and most importantly, Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers out there, and especially to my own, whom I love very much. I regret that I can’t spend this day with her.
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