Katherine

KATHERINE: Anya Seton: Chicago Review Press: Fiction: 500 pages

In 1396 Katherine Swynford married John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, but the couple shared a long history together before their marriage. Katherine married a knight in John’s service at the age of 16 and shortly after the knight’s death, she became John’s mistress, bearing him four illegitimate children and working as a governess for his household.

This fictionalized account of John and Katherine’s well-documented love story spans decades, beginning with Katherine’s entrance into court life as a teenager, making for a long and sometimes slow-moving tale, but the events of Katherine’s life are fascinating and the book is steeped in the historical detail Anya Seton is known for.

MBC