Book Review: The Queen's Gambit

Hi lovely bloggers, 

Not much time for blogging lately but, I have had time to listen to a great Tudor novel on Audible (when I go for my walk on my way home from work).

It is the first in a trilogy about "forgotten" Tudors.  This first one is about Katherine Parr, Henry Viii's sixth wife.  Here is the publisher's blurb about the novel:

Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived: This is the story of the one who survived. 

Widowed for the second time at age thirty-one Katherine Parr falls deeply for the dashing courtier Thomas Seymour and hopes at last to marry for love. Instead, she attracts the amorous attentions of the ailing, egotistical, and dangerously powerful Henry VIII. No one is in a position to refuse a royal proposal so, haunted by the fates of his previous wives—two executions, two annulments, one death in childbirth—Katherine must wed Henry and rely on her wits and the help of her loyal servant Dot to survive the treacherous pitfalls of life as Henry’s queen. Yet as she treads the razor’s edge of court intrigue, she never quite gives up on love.

And here is  a link to a review in The Guardian and to Elizabeth Fremantle's website.

As I said, I actually listened to the novel on Audible, and I enjoyed the narration immensely.  If you are into "talking" books, then I can highly recommend "reading" it in that way.

I intend to download the 2nd and 3rd novels in the trilogy to listen to whilst I am away on our trip.  The second novel is about Lady Jane Grey's two sisters (who survive her execution) and the third is set in Elizabeth II's court, towards the end of her reign.  Both sound really good and are read by the same narrator as the first, whom I really enjoyed listening to.

Anyway, enough from me for now.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, 

hugs, Kaye

The Alphabet Club Post: "D" is for .....

....."Downunder".... I am not sure how many of you know this but Australia is often called the land Downunder because when you look at a globe of the world, where are we?  A big island sitting by its ownsome in the middle of the ocean!

DOWNUNDER!

Now, why is this?  Because, of course, the first mapmakers came from the northern hemisphere and they put North at the top.

Well, you know, this doesn't have to be so.  If you have ever been to the Map room at the Vatican Museum, you may have seen the maps which place Rome as the centre of the map and everything else is seen in relation to Rome.  In 2006, we brought this map of Sicily home for my DFIL from the Vatican map room and if you know Sicily, you will see that it is "upside" down.  That is because it is the view from Rome, which is North of Sicily.

But why should Australia be Downunder?  Why can't we be on top?  No reason at all, really!

I used to go to university with a guy who didn't believe that Australia was Downunder, so much so that he created this map and self-published it in 1979 - it is still being sold today.

See, Australia is in its rightful place!

This is the spiel about it on the website:

 Unique downunder viewpoint with cheeky Aussie humor. This map was created by Stuart McArthur of Melbourne, Australia. He drew his first South-Up map when he was 12 years old (1970). His geography teacher told him to re-do his assignment with the "correct" way up if he wanted to pass. Three years later he was an exchange student in Japan. He was taunted by his exchange student-friends from the USA for coming from "the bottom of the world." It was then, at age 15, he resolved to one day publish a map with Australia at the top. Six years later, while at Melbourne University, he produced the world's first "modern" south up map and launched it on Australia day in 1979. It has sold over 350,000 copies to date.

... and just to finish off, you may have heard of this famous Australian song by the iconic Australian band, Men at Work.

Here are the lyrics:

"Down Under"

Travelling in a fried-out Kombi
On a hippie trail, head full of zombie
I met a strange lady, she made me nervous
She took me in and gave me breakfast
And she said:

"Do you come from a land down under
Where women glow and men plunder
Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder
You better run, you better take cover."

Buying bread from a man in Brussels
He was six foot four and full of muscle
I said, "Do you speak-a my language?"
He just smiled and gave me a Vegemite sandwich
And he said:

"I come from a land down under
Where beer does flow and men chunder
Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder
You better run, you better take cover."

Lying in a den in Bombay
With a slack jaw, and not much to say
I said to the man, "Are you trying to tempt me?
Because I come from the land of plenty."
And he said:

"Oh! Do you come from a land down under (oh yeah yeah)
Where women glow and men plunder
Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder
You better run, you better take cover."

So, hopefully I have now educated you about the meaning of the word Downunder!

Just to finish with some stitching, here is the very sweet "D is for Darning" stitched for me by my dear friend, Kim.  Pretty, isn't she?

P.S. Sorry that this post is late but I have been so sick for nearly a week now - tonsilitis and the flu - double whammy!  So, no blogging, very little stitching, just a lot of sleeping, reading cosy crime on my kindle and watching bad TV!

Take care of yourselves,

hugs, Kaye xoxox


P.S. If you would like to join in the fun of "The Alphabet Club", pop over to Chiara's blog (The Grey Tail) to see what all the fun is about and link up your post for the Letter "D".