Katherine Swynford

The Story of John of Gaunt and His Scandalous Duchess

By: Alison Weir

Narrated by: Judith Boyd

In this remarkable book, Alison Weir recounts one of the greatest and most remarkable love stories of medieval England. It is the extraordinary tale of an exceptional woman, Katherine Swynford, who became first the mistress, and later the wife, of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster.

But Katherine Swynford was much more than that. She was the mother of the Beauforts, and through them the ancestress of the Yorkist Kings, the Tudors, the Stuarts and every other sovereign since - a prodigious legacy which has shaped the history of Britain.

©2007 Alison Weir (P)2007 WF Howes Ltd

Critic reviews

"Weir provides immense satisfaction. She writes in a pacy, vivid style, engaging the heart as it does the mind." ( The Independent)
"Alison Weir's hugely popular history books are as gripping as novels." ( The Times, London)
"Alison Weir is one of our greatest popular historians." ( The Daily Mail)

Good non-fiction book

I've read several of Allison Weir's non-fiction biographies, and they're all meticulously researched, very detailed, and well written. This is no exception. It's a much a biography of John of Gaunt as of Katherine Swynford, probably because there is more detail about his life, and most of the information available on Katherine is through John. If you're interested in this period of English history, you'll probably find the detail interesting, but there was a lot more detail about the architecture than I wanted.
If you're looking for something along the lines of Anya Seton's novel, you'll be disappointed, as it is a detailed account of Katherine's life, but is presented as "just the facts." I found Weir's note about Seton and her novel that is at the end of the book quite interesting. The narrator was just right.

Too long

Although the first few hours of the book were extremely interesting giving an excellent idea of life in the 14th century Europe. I found that it tended to ramble on after a bit with just a report of the movements of John og Gaunt and Katherine without much additional colour. I abandoned it about 3/4 way through. I do feel that it gave a good insight into the life and poetry Geoffrey Chaucer, I knew very little about him and only knew some of the Cantebury Tales.

Boring with a capital B

If I could give this a zero I would... simply dreadful

Not worth my Credit

The first part of the book was just a history lesson that never ended. I loved her Elizabeth and Innocent Traitor books and was so disapointed to have wasted my time and my credit on this book.

surprisingly like non-fiction

I thought there would be a story, but instead it is a history book...at least up to chapter 2, which is all I could take.