Tuesday, July 28, 2009

84. The Long Shadow

By: Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
Rated 2.5
From:  amazon

I have been happily reading my way through these wonderful books and now all of
a sudden I came to The Long Shadow and I really, really hated the main character.   I am such a character driven reader that when that happens it's very hard for me to keep reading. It's a sign of how much I am enjoying this series over all that I stuck with it instead of wall banging it.

This book and the one before it was set in the years of the Stuart's whom I lost all respect for last year(February 2008) when  I watched The First Churchill's (netflix) a 1977 Masterpiece Presentation. It was fabulously done and started me on a quest to read about the Stuart Monarch's because I just couldn't believe they were really as dim witted as they were portrayed. Sadly, the more I read about them the more obvious it became that they were. In fairness I will have to except Charles II from this sweeping generalization because although he was not very intelligent he was at least shrewd and had a strong instinct for self preservation. I guess watching your Father being beheaded will drive that lesson home.

Annunciata the main character in this book is the illegitimate daughter of Prince Rupert, cousin to Charles II and James II.  CHE seems to have endowed her with a full set of Stuart characteristics. Vanity, obstinacy, the morals of an alley cat,  and especially - The Stupid! I hope she dies early in the next book so I can be done with her.

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