Anya Seton

"The Beautiful Adulteress had been lent by Phoebe , and it must be finished by nightfall so that Phoebe could return it to Deborah Wilson, who had purloined it from her brother's saddlebag. Despite Miranda's eighteen years and elegant education at Philander Button's , despite avid perusal of this and similar books, she had not the vaguest notion of the horrifying behavior that resulted in one's becoming an adulteress. But that point was immaterial. It was the glorious palpitating romance that mattered. The melancholy heroes, the languishing heroines, the clanking ghosts, dismal castles and all entrancingly punctuated at intervals by a tender, a rapturous—but in any case a guilty—kiss."

"On the night of the great storm, the taproom at was deserted. Earlier that evening men had wandered in for beers or rum flip—shore men all of them now, too old to go out with the fishing fleet. They had drunk uneasily, the mugs shaking in their vein-corded hands, while they listened to the rising wind. Ever more boisterous gusts puffed down the big chimney scattering fine ash over the scrubbed boards. In the two hundred yards away, the mounting breakers roared up the , muffling the clink of mugs on the table and the men's sparse comments."

"From all of the nearby s, from as far away as and and , the people were flocking to celebrate at . Weeks ago the King's herald had galloped throughout the country proclaiming the great tournament and inviting all valorous knights to come and participate. There would be tilting at the and other knightly games; there would be jousts and challenges, and there would be a climaxing tourney, or melee, for all contenders. Most of the knights and arrived at Windsor some days ago, and the lesser ones who cloud not be accommodated in the castle were already encamped on the plain below the walls in a bivouac of multicolored tents; many had brought their ladies, and all, of course, their s. But the common people, though not specifically invited, were welcome, too. For these, five hundred oxen were roasting at charcoal fires dotted around the fields, vats of beer had been set up, and a thousand loaves of already baked for distribution."

"... I have no illusion about my writing. It is swift, competent, pictorial, emotional, and I am a . I am not very original and have no subtleties of style."

"The children romped together in and , they raced on shaggy ponies, they sailed chips amid protesting ducks on the pond, they wandered the nearby woods and stuffed themselves with . They explored all the fascinating features of the Manor lands, the mill with its big slowly turning sails, the little heath where had once found some Roman coins, the ruins of a castle haunted by a headless lady in gray."

"It snowed softly on , which was the fourth year of 's reign, and on Christmas morning a fleece as white and soft as a lay over London town. It hid the wooden gables and the red roof tiles, it hid the piles of filth dumped into the narrow . It muffled the rumble of carts, the clop-clop of hooves, the acrid cries of the street venders, but the church bells clanged out clear as ever above the stilled city. And while in the impatiently pounded snail shells in a , she heard rowdy singing directly outside the shop door on Old Bailey Street. "Is it ?" she cried, throwing her down on the counter top and rushing to the twinkling-pained, ."

"', the story of the mistress and later, the wife of , was the sixth of the ten popular novels ... written by Anya Seton. All of Seton’s novels were best sellers, yet in the fifty years since its original publication, Katherine stands apart, showing the longevity of a classic. This is illustrated most clearly by the book’s inclusion in the listing of the top 100 favorite books in (2003)."

"Seton spent several years researching , and her book has been repeatedly commended for its . It has even been listed in the bibliographies of works of historical nonfiction, which is no mean achievement. On the debit side, this has resulted in it achieving more credibility for accuracy than it deserves ... It is important to note that Katherine is essentially a novel, and although its author made impressive and commendable efforts to get her facts right, there are three good reasons why we should not accept hers as a valid portrayal of the historical . First, Katherine is essentially of its own time. Seton's is derived partly from nineteenth-century perception of him ... and partly from Clark Gable's portrayal of in Gone With the Wind: ... one Internet reviewer described John of Gaunt, as depicted in the novel, as the "sexiest hero since Rhett Butler." ... Second, Katherine is as much about Anya Seton as it is about Katherine Swynford. ... The third reason we should be cautious in accepting Anya Seton's portrayal of Katherine Swynford as historically accurate is that Katherine is essentially a romantic novel in the classic sense. ... Threaded through it are the classic romantic clichés of remembered childhood, , cruel conflict, and lonely exile."