THE HOOPLA LITERARY SOCIETY
“I think books should have secrets, like people do. I think they should be there as a bonus for the sensitive reader or there as a kind of subliminal quavering. I don’t think that the duty of the twentieth-century fiction writer is to retell old stories only.” John Updike, The Paris Review, 1968
It’s always good as a reader to stretch your boundaries, try something new or revisit a foe to find a friend.
For me, this week has been about returning to historical fiction.
When I was at school, history seemed to be all about memorising the kings of England and the periods in which they reigned, Australian history talked an awful lot about convicts and modern history pretty much meant WWI and WWII.
I confess I found all of this tedious in the extreme. I transferred this loathing to anything with the word history in it, fact or fiction.
But today I am going on the public record to say that I am converted. Having read bestselling novelist and historian Philippa Gregory for this week’s column, I can now say that not only can history be fascinating but reading about the Kings and Queens of England can also be riveting. It just goes to show that the proof of the story is in the telling.
History, new and old, or history being made, there’s plenty of news in books this week. Here’s what caught my fancy.
The Kingmaker’s Daughter, Philippa Gregory
“It is those great enemies, my father and Margaret of Anjou, side by side. This is the great union; her son and I will merely enact with our bodies this plighting of our parents. First she puts her hand on a fragment of the True Cross- the real cross brought here from the kingdom of Jerusalem- and even from the back of cathedral I can hear her clear voice reciting an oath of loyalty to my father. Then it is his turn. He puts his hand on the cross and she adjusts it, making sure that every part of his palm and his fingers are on the sacred wood as if, even now, in the very act of swearing their alliance, she doesn’t trust him. He recites his oath, then they turn to one another and give each other the kiss of reconciliation. They are allies, they will be allies till death, they have sworn a sacred oath, nothing can part them.”
Anne Neville is the daughter of the Earl of Warwick, the kingmaker and the most powerful man in England. When Anne is 14, he marries her off to Margaret of Anjou’s son Prince Edward as part of a plan to facilitate the young prince’s rise to the position of King and to fulfill the Earl’s life-long ambition to see a Neville woman crowned Queen of England.
However, they are barely married when the young prince dies in battle, as does her father, and Anne finds herself dependent on the mercy of her sister’s husband George, brother to the current King. She is kept a virtual prisoner as George eyes off her incredible wealth until the third brother, Richard Duke of York rescues Anne and marries her.
As the wheels of fortune turn, she does become Queen as the wife of King Richard III.
However, these are turbulent times and there is no certainty for anyone, even a kingmaker’s daughter. After the death of her father, Anne is haunted by his decisions and fearful of his political enemies. There are whispers she is not legally married and Anne’s position as Queen is undermined by insecurity and secrecy.
Philippa Gregory is an historian and writer of the best selling novels the Tudor Court series and her current series The Cousins’ War where she takes the reader back to times of the Plantagenets. It is a fascinating look at the period through the eyes of the women, who though technically powerless, use their wealth if they married well, their offspring, their favours and their wits to influence the nation.
They are the mothers, daughters and wives of the political elite and Gregory uses her extensive knowledge of this period and women’s history to offer the reader a fresh perspective. These are histories for those who savour intrigue and the kind of high stakes politics that can see you Queen one day and dead by poison the next. I was fortunate enough to spend an hour with Philippa Gregory and found out exactly how one goes about writing gripping historical drama. You can read our interview here. BUY THE BOOK
Women on Top
No this isn’t an article about sex, well actually, it kind of is. This week Forbes magazine announced its list of Top-Earning Writers and the final 15 makes for interesting reading.
Muscling in on the likes of Stephen King and James Patterson are, yes you guessed it, E.L. James, Suzanne Collins and J.K. Rowling. The first two authors are better known by their series’ titles, Fifty Shades of Grey and The Hunger Games, and given their books have been topping the charts week in and week out for yonks, it’s really no surprise that they’ve made some serious dosh.
At one point, E.L. James was making $1.3 million per week for the Fifty Shades series from the books alone. Now the movie rights have been sold, she’s netted another $5 million.
The real surprise is J.K. Rowling. This time her inclusion on the list is a lot less about the Harry Potter series and much more about the $8 million advance she received for her first adult novel, The Casual Vacancy due for Australian release in October.
For all that, James Patterson is still Number One with earnings of $94 million last year, followed by Stephen King with $39 million, Janet Evanovich $33 million, John Grisham: $26 million and children’s author Jeff Kinney, $25 million. Stephanie Meyer still made it into the list at #13 earning $14 million on the back of her Twilight series but I bet she wishes she had a slice of the fan fiction income generated by Fifty Shades.
| Page 1 of 2 | next >> |
14 Responses to this article
-
Jacqueline August 17, 2012
do you know where the photo of that library on the first page was taken? I want to go and live there!!!
-
Meredith August 17, 2012
NO! I wish I did. I collect gorgeous photos on a book theme to use for this column and not all of them have credits. Next time I’ll try and remember to jot it down so I can tell you. it is divine though, isn’t it?
-
-
Debra August 17, 2012
Hopefully Ms James takes the money and runs!!! Because if those so poorly written books aren’t the greatest and most astounding fluke of all time, I just don’t know what is.
-
Meredith August 17, 2012
I don’t disagree with you Debra. I wonder if she gets a share of the movie takings or if it was just a one off payment for the rights. I think I’d rather watch re-runs of M*A*S*H* than pay 18 of my hard earned dollars to see the outcome of that creative endeavour. Actually, that’s insulting to M*A*S*H*, still a great show. Mx
-
-
Mary August 17, 2012
You might not like 50 Shades and it is not the best book ever written and you can poo poo all you like, but the fact remains she has sold millions and milliions and millions of copies. I have read that it is over 40 million. I guess she must have found a gap in the market that millions of women were waiting to be filled. Good luck to her. I wonder how many of you that poo poo the books have actually read them. Are you too consertive and are offended by anything other than beige stories? You should read something outside your comfort zone. Or are you just snobs who think mainstream popular novels are below you so you refuse to read them because they insult your intellect?
-
Meredith August 17, 2012
It’s not the subject matter that “insults my intellect” Mary but the bad writing. Life’s too short to read poorly written books when there are so many wonderful writers deserving of attention.
To be fair to E.L. James, she did only publish the books as fan fiction. I bet she never realised where this journey would take her.
I’m no expert on porn, soft, hard or otherwise but I did read The Story of O which was much better written and far more eye-opening than 50 shades, especially considering it was written in the 50s and I read it when I was an impressionable 20 something year old. And one that REALLY opened my eyes was William S. Burroughs’ Cities of the Red Night.
Perhaps others can chip in with some erotica/ porn recommendations (or warnings!) Mx
-
-
MichelleP August 17, 2012
Re: historical fiction…you must read Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series. First in the series is Cross Stitch (in the USA it is called Outlander) The next book in the series is being released early 2013 so you have time to read all 8 (or 9?) so you’re ready for the new one when it comes out. DG has been my favourite author ever since I picked up Cross Stitch about 15 years ago.
-
Louisa August 17, 2012
I don’t understand the phenomenum that is 50 shades. I read a long excerpt in a magazine at the hairdressers and thought it was awful. The Delta of Venus written by Anais Nin in, I think, the 1930s is wonderful erotica. The Erotic Writers and Readers’ website has some excellent fiction too.
-
Mary August 17, 2012
I wonder why 50 Shades is getting so much attention. There are thousands of badly written books out there and certainly crime and thrillers that have much more graphic sex, death and torture in them but yet don’t rate a mention. Why does a book about a couple who enjoy a bit of submissive sex get so much. The book isn’t all about sex, I think the appeal is also in their relationship. I will read those books you mentioned Meredith. I have also read the Crossstitch series but even though I have enjoyed them I hope this is the last one.
-
Meredith August 18, 2012
Who knows why 50 Shades is getting all the attention? But let’s put it in perspective. James has sold 40 million odd copies which have probably been read by say 120 million people. But A Tale of Two Cities( Charles Dickens), The Lord of the Rings (JRR Tolkein), The Hobbit (JRR Tolkein) , And Then There Were None (Agatha Christie) The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery) and Dream of the Red Chamber (Cao Xueqin) have each sold more than 100 million copies and they are only single volumes. Don Quixote has sold more than 400 million- mind you, it was first published in 1605, so he has a bit of a head start on James.
Measuring James’ success (and she is successful!) against series of books, it looks like this:
Harry Potter (JK Rowling) 450 million
Goosebumps (RL Stine) 350 milion
Perry Mason (Erle Stanley Gardner) 300 million
Berenstain Bears (Stan & Jan Berenstain) 260 million
Choose Your Own Adventure (various authors) 250 millionSo it looks to me that if we are to be fair to Ms James, we need to evaluate her sales figures in about 50 years time and see how she stacks up then!
Mind you, based on these numbers, I’m thinking budding writers should maybe focus on books for kids, crime, fantasy or “quality” fiction rather than jumping on the erotica bandwagon.Mxx
NB All my numbers come from Wikipedia
-
-
Mary August 18, 2012
Yes I think she got lucky with these books. Can you believe that women have left their marriages after reading 50 Shades because they realised their marriage was dull and they wanted more excitement in their relationships. If her books have that much influence I hope she chooses her next subject carefully.
-
Meredith August 19, 2012
What an intriguing thought Mary! Perhaps it is the men who should be reading 50 Shades so they have an inkling of what their missus is missing out on. Too funny by half.
Mind you I did long to be Dorothea from George Eliot’s Middlemarch for a while in my 20s. It seemed so much more glamorous than my own mundane existence- and it probably was (sadly)
Perhaps we should suggest that as a Hoopla question- which fictional character would you gladly swap lives with?
-
-
Mary August 19, 2012
Ha ha we would have men changing their man sheds into playrooms.
