Notes to a Future Self

It was World Book Night last night, I went to the theatre.
It wasn't intentional, it just happened to be a good night to go out. I give (well, lend and sometimes sell) people books all the time, so though I think World Book Night is a good idea I didn't feel like getting involved personally.


Notes to a Future Self was written by Lucy Caldwell, who is also a novelist.
The play tells the story of Sophie, a 13 year old with terminal bone cancer. Sophie (full name Philosophy Rainbow) and her sister Calliope have been brought up in communes all over the world by their new-age mother Judy. When Sophie became ill Judy took her daughters back to Birmingham to stay with Daphne, her traditional, Christian mother.

It was a short performance only about an hour and twenty minutes. It was one that had the audience switching between laughter and sadness. There were funny moments and bits that made me want to cry throughout the performance. The play felt naturalistic and was very emotional, with both profanity and profundity.

The play is narrated by Sophie, who is like a ghost in her own life. The audience never sees the sick child in bed, because Sophie doesn't want us to see that. Instead we see a girl who enthusiastically describes her current life, her past experiences and who walks undetected into the private moments of her family as they come to terms with their new situation and the upcoming loss.
The 4 actresses are all on stage almost the entire time, each inhabiting their own part of the simple, minimalist set. A pattern is established, focusing on dinner at five. A ticking clock indicates the passage of time and the monotony of an existence which is made up of waiting. Repetitive dialogue establishes a refrain which is later broken down as Sophie deteriorates and the others must think of what is to come next.

Further info can be found here.

Soulless

A friend with similar tastes to my own recently lent me a couple of books she thought I would appreciate. She was quite right.

Soulless by Gail Carriger

This first book in the Parasol Protectorate series is a funny, romantic and supernatural steampunk novel that only made me want to read more. It is witty and somehow irreverent despite the very Victorian focus on manners, style, social niceties and not wearing awful hats.

The setting is well constructed, creating a world in which vampires and werewolves (and ghosts, oh my!) live in the open as part of society, without it being a horror setting. There is a system in place for those of the supernatural set (as immortals/undead are known) and they are for the most part respectable - although where would pseudo-Victorian society be without social stratification.

The main character, one Miss Alexia Tarabotti, is a wonderfully witty heroine. A 26 year old spinster whose unfortunate marital state starts with obvious Italian heritage, continues with a silly mother and proceeds with intelligence, an inquiring mind and an acerbic conversational manner. The author lists P. G. Wodehouse and Jane Austen as influences, and you can see these plainly enough. However I wish that there had been a character like Alexia in Pride and Prejudice, that book could have done with someone who wasn't afraid to whack people upside the head with a parasol.*

The mystery plotline is intriguing and well-done, although there's limited focus on the investigation work, the ploy relies more and things happening and matters coming to light. However I suspect that this is likely to change in subsequent books as the heroine is put in a better position for sleuthing and field work. Despite a very different tone it reminded somewhat of George Mann's Newbury and Hobbes series (which I also recommend - it's also steampunk but has a more restrained attitude and a sinister supernatural feel to it).

The romance is interesting and the reader can feel the emotions involved, which in my opinion is what makes literary romance work. The romantic scenes are handled in an interesting and fairly novel fashion that manages to be amusing as well as odd. As someone who is not fond of sexual scenes I felt that the author was smart to make me amused and bemused while describing what the characters were doing. It makes a nice change from reading romantic scenes that are presumably supposed to be sexy and erotic, but actually just leave me waiting for the plot to begin again. In this case it did very much feel like a part of the plot.

All in all a pretty good book. I look forward to reading more.


* Pride and Prejudice can be made more interesting by the addition of almost anything. The fact that the most popular mash-up involved zombies, the blandest type of undead, was just fitting really.

Life intervened

I had every intention of blogging before now, but I've had a very knackering week at work. Combined with less sleep than usual this has led to a distinct lack of creative output.
You would think that, as an avid reader, boxes of new books would be an enjoyable sight for me -especially as I suggested some of them. However the problem with working with what you love is that sometimes it is just work.
New books rather lose their appeal when you know that every one of them needs processing, on top of what you're already supposed to be doing. Especially when certain high street book chains have incredibly unhelpful and hard to use invoices.

That said, all this has not dulled my desire to read one bit, after all it's not the fault of the books that this happened. In fact my desire for escapism meant I put down the non-fiction and picked up a fantasy novel loaned to me by a friend whose taste is fairly similar to my own.

I expect normal service (such as it exists after 4 months -one of which was blighted by technical problems) to resume in a matter of days.

Return of the History Mug - Early Normans

I'm reading David Starkey's Crown and Country. A history of England told through the monarchy.

So far I've read from the departure of the Romans through the Anglo-Saxon period, the Vikings and the Norman Conquest to Henry II.
Thomas Becket's just been made Archbishop of Canterbury and I have a bad feeling about it. Funnily enough, so did he.

I don't know much about the Anglo-Saxon period, most king lists start at 1066 so it tends to get overlooked. Turns out it involved a lot of people called Æthel-something, ruling mostly by consent of the people. The Staffordshire Hoard was mentioned as one of the most important finds in the last 50 years. I didn't see the Hoard when it was first in my local museum, mostly due to the massive queue. It was nice to see that so many people were interested in it though.


Earlier (20th November 2010) I mentioned my History Mug, which has pictures of the Kings and Queens of England since 1066. The pictures generally show something about each monarch, but sometimes I'd like more info. It occurred to me today that this book could give me some answers.

Early Norman Kings

William the Conqueror was known as William the Bastard. Partly because his parents never married each other and partly because he trashed the north of England sowing death and destruction as he went.

William II is shown being shot through the lung while hunting in the New Forest. His companions ran off, so a peasant had to clear his body away. The exact circumstances aren't known, but his brother Henry rushed off and became king ever so quickly.

Henry I made himself a popular king, rather than just being some French bloke who ruled the country. He linked himself with earlier kings, like Edward the Confessor, and set up an effective administration, including many Anglo-Saxon traditions. As King of England he took Normandy from yet another older brother and rebalanced his father's previous conquest. The book probably indicates his reputation as an intelligent, scholarly king.

The Windup Girl

This is probably the best science fiction book I've read since The Margarets by Sherri S. Tepper.
Admittedly I don't read all that much science fiction. I consider myself an SF fan, I like sci-fi TV and film, but when it comes to reading matter fantasy is my main love and I don't tend to read outside that genre as much as perhaps I should. I like soft science fiction* and although I have read hard SF I tend to find that if I do I also read something else at the same time, so I can feel like I understand something I'm reading.

The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi

The book is set in Bangkok in the future. There are no dates, which is probably a shrewd move on the part of Bacigalupi, as anything with a date can become dated, and those with a historical frame of mind (like myself) are likely to find fault with whatever date is given. As far as I can tell it is set about three generations after the fuel ran out. Our time is referred to as the Expansion, a golden-age when people and goods and all sorts of food were transported all over the globe. A time of plenty and decadence before plagues and genetic tinkering ravaged eco-systems and wiped out so many species of flora and fauna. There is a sense of dystopia to the setting, of mass starvation, of diminished population, of corporate greed and political factioning. However it doesn't feel like a regular dystopia, in fact I've never come across one like it. My view of a dystopia is something cold and industrial (which is probably a cultural, if not personal, thing), the future Bangkok of the book is definitely un-industrial, it's squalid and crowded and mostly it's hot.

The heat and humidity are very palpable in the book. Whilst several of the characters are Thai or Chinese, there is a farang (foreigner) from America who is obviously uncomfortable in the tropic climate. There is also the eponymous windup girl, one of the genetically-engineered beings who are created by the Japanese. They are prone to over-heating in any high temperatures and are designed to be kept by the rich who can afford climate control, being in Bangkok is agony for her most of the time. The setting seemed exotic and different to other settings I've read about. I don't know much about modern Thailand- and the author does warn that this work of fiction is not to be taken as a reflection of it- but it was interesting to learn random Thai words and see how the Kingdom was viewed by both the native and foreigner characters.

The world is revealed through the events of the story, info-dumping is kept to a minimum. The plot starts out fairly slowly, but as the reader is invested in the characters and finding out more about the setting this doesn't matter. Getting information and building a picture of what's happening early on is just as interesting as the fast paced action and sudden changes of fortune that come later in the book. The plot is basically a political thriller, seen through the eyes of non-politicians. The story features factions and trade disputes and dwells on the conflict between entrepreneurship and traditionalism, but it doesn't feel like you're reading about these things because it's all so absorbing and fascinating. The author makes us care about these things because the characters do, and the characters are in most cases so invested in these things that they become matters of life or death.


Characters
Anderson Lake is an American factory owner in Bangkok, or at least that's what he seems to be. He's on a mission and is desperate to accomplish it. Despite having an American character (with a name like that, there's few other places he could be from) there is very little about America in the book. I'm not even certain that it's what we would recognise as the US anymore. The main references are made about the Midwest calorie companies, global corporations that control the world's food supply, or try to.

Hock Seng is a Chinese refugee from Malaysia (known as a yellowcard). Once a rich man he's survived a sudden reversal of fortune which has made him paranoid and opportunistic. You can't help but feel sorry for the old man who is simply trying to perpare for the next time his world gets swept out from underneath him.

Emiko is New People, otherwise known as a windup -created and trained by the Japanese to be a pleasing servant. Like Hock Seng she has sunk low and realises that despite the luxury in which she used to exist, she has never had any say in her own fate. Classed as illegal goods in Thailand she lives in discomfort and survives by being abused and degraded for others' entertainment.

Jaidee is a passionate man. A Captain in the Environment Ministery he sees it as his job to protect the Kingdom from disease and famine which are so rife in the outside world. Resolute and incorruptible, it's surprising how good-humored and swashbuckling Jaidee is. Certainly from early on he is one of the more dynamic characters.

Kanya is Jaidee's Lieutenant. Dour and serious she is initially overshadowed by Jaidee's exuberance, but soon comes into her own. Kanya is not perhaps the most likeable character but it's hard not to sympathise with the position she's in, even if it is of her own making.


This book won a Nebula, (joint)Hugo and Locus award. I can see why. I definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good adventure story and doesn't mind being made to think too.

Raised by Wolves

Raised by Wolves by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

I quite like werewolves as a type of supernatural creature. I especially like the kind that shift into full wolves, rather than the scary, vaguely-wolflike monsters that come out exclusively during full moons. I definitely like werewolves more than vampires, I may blog about that at a later date.

This book is not that romantic. Despite appearance and marketing the focus isn’t on a relationship but on solving a mystery and tackling danger. However paranormal romance is the bread and butter of teen/young adult publishing at the moment, so I can see where the marketing decision came from.

The plot, after initially giving the reader space to understand the rules of werewolf society, is a good one, going quickly in unexpected directions. Once you realise that it isn’t going to turn into a romance you have a decent intrigue and action story. The heroine’s viewpoint defines the entire thing, and it’s necessarily very teenage in tone, but that’s the target audience so fair enough. Long held secrets are revealed and a change of scenery leads to investigation and danger. The ending is not at all what I’d imagined it would be, and it’s good when a book pleasantly surprises you.

The story is told in first-person point of view by Bronwyn, usually known as Bryn. Bryn is a 15 year old human who has been raised by werewolves ever since she was 4, when she lost her family in a rogue attack. The author has created a separate werewolf society which exists alongside, but hidden from, our own. The idea of the Pack –involving loyalty, hierarchy and psychic bonds- isn’t unusual, but Barnes has made the idea her own. For example female werewolves are very, very rare; most werewolves take human mates, who will most likely die in childbirth as werewolf babies are tough on human bodies. The alpha of a Pack is undisputed leader with a form of psychic control over all members, and punishments for disobedience are brutal.

So far so patriarchal, one might think.

However this world is seen through the eyes of a teenage girl who seems mostly normal and remarkably confident and self-assured. Though Bryn is officially adopted by iron-willed, centuries-old alpha Callum, she is raised by Ali, a young human woman. This allowed Bryn to grow up with human ideas and modern thinking. Though bonded to the Pack, Bryn keeps her end of the psychic link closed tight. She is her own person with her own mind, and she wants to keep it that way. She doesn’t get involved in dominance games or hierarchy, even though these things are the fabric of her world. It’s easy to like Bryn for her determination and ability to remain so independent. Her headstrong stubbornness gets her in to trouble, but it also makes her interesting and means that she is very much her own person. This is something which I think is important in teenage female leads.

Then Chase enters the scene, a lad who survived an attack and has inexplicably become a werewolf himself. I kept expecting that the relationship would become romantic, it never really did. There’s psychic bond which isn’t really explained and the whole thing gets odd quite quickly. The two teens psychically claim each other “but in a non-freaky, non-ownership, we-both-retain-our-independence kind of way”. Chase wants to think of Bryn as his mate, but Bryn is thoroughly freaked out by the idea, and that’s that. There’s hugging, comforting, shared dreams and the useful ability to see into each others minds, but anything sexual is incredibly understated, and certainly isn’t seen that way by Bryn. This is good as it plays with reader expectations, but it does leave one without a convenient word or label for what’s going on. Perhaps that’s the point.

Chase is not a very distinct character. He starts out as a mystery then becomes Bryn’s and though the reader sees through his eyes and into his memories you don’t get much sense of who he was when he was human. The main supporting cast are caring adoptive-mother Ali and Bryn's two best friends. Devon is a strapping but flamboyant teenwolf who likes drama far more than basketball. This makes him a little unusual in werewolf circles, which is probably why he and Bryn (the token human) are friends. Bryn’s other friend Lake is unusual because she’s a female werewolf. She’s uncomplicated and forthright and loves weaponry, a hobby that comes in useful as the action ramps up. Devon and Lake have known Bryn all their lives which is probably why their personalities shine through much stronger than newcomer Chase.

Altogether I thought this book was intriguing. The author has created a male-dominated society with its own rules and customs, but was also able to feasibly create a confident and interesting female lead within that context. As it had been pitched as romantic I was initially confused by the lack of relationship stuff, but once the mystery and investigation elements got going I was sucked into that plotline. The werewolves and supernatural elements are treated as normal, there isn’t much sensawunder but the plot doesn’t need it. In general I think this book would appeal to readers of both genders – but I suspect the way its been marketed would put most boys off.

10 reasons why the Watch books are not like JK Rowling

The Watch series by Sergei Lukyanenko (The Night Watch, The Day Watch, The Twilight Watch & The Last Watch) is an excellent fantasy series and one which I recommend to anyone who like complex, exciting stories and new/different settings. The 2 films based on the the first two books are also good, with plenty of action, although they differ from the novels.

Here is the cover of the second book. It is an excellent example of the bollocks that gets written on book covers. The quote in the bottom left-hand corner seems to suggest that this book (and the 2 sequels, which have the same cover quote) is like the work of JK Rowling, except that it is Russian. It is a grossly misleading and unhelpful quote. These books are very different to Rowling's and while it's possible to enjoy the work of both authors I wouldn't recommend them to the same people. For example I wouldn't recommend Rowling to someone who enjoys dark fantasy, horror or thrillers, just as I wouldn't recommend Lukyanenko to a nine year old. Plus it's somewhat infuriating, as a fantasy fan, to see that apparently the entire genre can be summed up as 'like JK Rowling'.


10 commonly-known facts about the Harry Potter books and comparative facts about the Watch series:

The protagonist is a teenage wizard.	The main protagonist is an adult magician. The 2nd book features different protagonists, they are also adults, one is female.
The books are mostly set in a magical school, the entirety takes place in Britain.	Set in Moscow mostly, also Prague, Uzbekistan and Edinburgh. The closest thing to a school is a youth camp which is the setting for less than 9% of the series.
Most of the characters are children, the main adults are parents/guardians or teachers.	Almost all the characters are adults, some centuries old. There are 2 main teenage/young adult characters, and a toddler.
Magic exists but is practised in secret.	Ok yes that’s broadly the same, but it’s also true of dozens of things.*
Performing magic requires wand-waving, pseudo-Latin spells, potions, charms and magical artefacts.	Others perform magic as an act of will, usually without accoutrements. Although training improves their abilities, Others’ are limited by their magical ‘race’. Magic can involve formal processes and rituals. There are some magical artefacts.
Witches and Wizards fly around on broomsticks and owls deliver their post.	I’m almost certain there aren't any flying broomsticks in the books. One character does spend time in owl form, but I don’t think she delivers anything.
There are magical creatures including: centaurs, dragons, hippogriffs, giants, three-headed dogs and werewolves.	Some magical creatures (vampires, werewolves, shape-shifters, incubi/succubi) are actually different races of Others. There are a few creatures created by magicians, but there don’t seem to be any independent, non-humanoid magical creatures.
The main antagonist is a Great Evil who must be stopped at all costs.	There are Light Others (who tend to be selfless) and Dark Others (who tend to be self-serving), opposing sides that cannot win without wiping themselves out. Peace and balance are the most important things and they are maintained by the Watches and the Inquisition. Each side has their own opinions and philosophies which are explored in the books. On the surface the concept seems black and white, but there is a hell of a lot of grey (see next point).
A character who doesn’t like the hero and pretends to work for the bad-guys, whilst actually working for the good-guys is as morally grey and complex as it gets.	The Night Watch (Light Others who police Dark ones) track down Dark forces, they also issue them with licences. A licensed vampire can freely drink human blood. The Day Watch (Dark Others who police Light ones) have the same rights and responsibilities, and can legally stop an unlicensed Light magician from using magic to positively influence humans. Add to this that the Watch Directors use humans, Others and even their own Watch members as pawns in their plans –which frequently to involve deceit, misdirection and manipulation – and you have stories with complex moral greys.
After hardships and loss Good triumphs over Evil.	After some very serious challenges to the order of things, to magic and life itself,  the status quo and balance are preserved, meaning that humans and Others can continue existing. Although the Night Watch (in Russia at least) is left stronger than the Day Watch.

There you go 10 reasons and I didn't even include the obvious bit about one being an adult book and one being written for children.


* Admittedly it's more like 9 reasons why the Watch books aren't like JK Rowling. But pretty much every low, contemporary or historical primary-world fantasy has magic existing secretly among us.
You might as well say that Terry Brooks' Word & Void trilogy is 'JK Rowling, American style', or that Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl series is 'JK Rowling, Irish style', or perhaps that Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere is 'JK Rowling, British Jewish London style'. In fact I'm fairly sure that both Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising Sequence and Jill Murphy's Worst Witch series are 'JK Rowling, preceding-her-by-2-decades style'.
And you know what, I think all the above books have more in common with JK Rowling than the Watch series does.

Beaton-tastic

I'm going to talk about the work of 2 women. They share a surname but as far as I know they aren't related -though it might be cool if they were (actually it'd be cooler if they teamed up somehow, relatives or not).


Kate Beaton
Kate Beaton is Canadian web-comic-maker (web-comicer? web-comictress? web-comictrix?) who is interested in history, just about ALL history. This in itself is impressive. The fact that she turns history, personal experience, pop-culture musings, nostalgia and vintage book covers into hilarious web comics is pretty bloody amazing. Thanks to Kate Beaton's line drawings I have giggled, laughed aloud, smiled and also learned some stuff.

Her website is called Hark! A Vagrant
She also has a blog at Livejournal
Some of my favourite comics:
Herodotus the Father of Lies - because let's face it writing about flying snakes, griffins and how to steal gold from giant ants is fun, but not historical.*
Sexy Tudors - because (if you believe television) history was very glamorous and sexy, and not at all full of dirt and disease. *nods*
Mystery Solving Teens - why did everyone believe those strange, hippy-van-driving kids over local adults?


Clare Beaton

Elusive Moose published by Barefoot Books

Clare Beaton is a British artist and illustrator who works mostly with felt. Her work is AMAZING! She has done a variety of things but I'm most fam,iliar with her work for Barefoot Books. These are very simple picture books that teach children about different animals and environments, but the pictures are so delightful and well done I find myself sitting and studying them.

The first Clare Beaton book I read was Elusive Moose. The eponymous moose wasn't blue, but the pictures and artwork were fantastic.
Further titles include Hidden Hippo, Secret Seahorse, Who are you, Baby Kangaroo? and One Moose and Twenty Mice. The latter book title includes two of my favourite animals. Clare has also written some informative books about working with felt, they too are for children, but it was still interesting.
Her website is simple, but features more fascinating and colourful artwork.


* I don't recommend reading Herodotus unless you are inclined to read historical writings (if so give him a try), but if you can find a good summary online it should be amusing.

More Tales of the City

After reading the first book in this series I thought I'd give the others a go, over time. Then I saw the television version -which helped me understand the book better- and prematurely discovered one character's secret. This meant, as I said in my post on 13th December, I had to read the next one. And now I have.

More Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
I read this book very quickly. It isn't large and has fairly short chapters, plus the writing contains very little filler and is somehow conducive to quick reading. However the main reason I read the book so quickly, at times ignoring piles of comics to keep reading, is that it was just so compelling.

The story starts a couple of months after the end of the first book. The cast returns, and some new characters are introduced. Again I found that some of the US 70s references went over my head, but I think I'd picked up a reasonable amount from the previous book. Plus the writing is such that the tone of dialogue perfectly is clear even if the specific reference isn't familiar. At least I've heard of Candace Bergen and Eva Gabor, even if my idea of them is several decades ahead of that in the book. Given my lack of interest in celebrity culture I might be equally clueless reading a modern novel with too many contemporary references.*

Knowing part of the plot actually wasn't a problem. The reveal comes fairly early on, and knowing about it meant that I could see how the author built up certain situations and I could anticipate what would happen. If timed well anticipation of upcoming scenes or situations can be a powerful thing in a book, it's how a book retains its re-read value.
There were other mysterious plot elements. Most prominent was the one surrounding the missing memories of an amnesiac character, which led to some self-conscious, amateur detective work by some of the returning characters. There were also several fairly dramatic events, which I won't spoil, but which tugged at the emotions.

There didn't seem to be as many loose ends at the end of this book. I'm not sure how closely the next one will follow on, but as long as the characters and the writing remain at the same standard I'll be happy to read.


* Many adverts have 'famous' people in them, but half the time I assume they're ad actors because I don't recognise them. That group of mates playing together on the Wii ad, turns out they're a band! I also forget that a lot of music in adverts comes from popular songs, so then I get confused when I hear 'that ASDA song' playing on a pub jukebox.

The King's Speech

I'm back. My laptop has a new power supply and I don't have to use my husband's computer anymore.


My first cinema outing of the new year was to see The King's Speech, which has won/been nominated for various awards, and which I've been looking forward to since before Christmas.

I am interested in history, this is no surprise to anyone who knows me. I've enjoyed studying all sorts of different historical periods, but by the time I was 16 I'd decided I wasn't that interested in modern history. Because modern history -as taught to me in both History and English lessons- was mostly World Wars. However over the last few years I've developed a growing interest in the bits of twentieth century history that aren't 1914-1918 and 1939-1945. In a way Downton Abbey and The King's Speech came along at just the right time for me.


The film was excellent. The look, the feel, the acting, the emotions, it all just worked.

I've always quite liked the quirkiness of Helena Bonham Carter and the characters she has played. Yet here she was returning to period-drama, which defined her early career. Instead of playing a waif or ingenue, or a quirky gothic type she played a woman who was at the very heart of the British upper-class/royal establishment. She was excellent. She really captured the polite iciness of Elizabeth towards Wallis Simpson.

Colin Firth was brilliant as well, something which came as a pleasant surprise. I tend to think of him as a romantic lead, with the exception of Shakespeare in Love, so I was interested to see what he would be like with such a strong character role. He was wonderful. Bertie (King George VI) was a challenging part and he really rose to the occasion. Going from a loving father, to a frustrated stammerer, to a formal prince and later reluctant king, Firth -well directed with a wonderful script- showed different facets of the man who never wanted to be king. The voice was obviously a major part of his performance, and Firth made those stutters and stammers feel real, as well as doing a good imitation of the posh but somehow small voice of the prince. It was interesting to see him play a character who was so lacking in charisma, but he always kept dignity in the role and never became ridiculous or bumbling.

Geoffrey Rush was excellent, but then I generally expect Geoffrey Rush to be excellent. He was excellent even in Pirates of the Caribbean 3 when he'd been given lines that didn't make any sense. So seeing him working with such a good script is a real treat.

I'd also like to take a moment to mention Timothy Spall in a supporting role playing Winston Churchill. Now Spall is an actor who has played a variety of parts, many of them comedic, some of them grotesque. However I've often felt that, though he's not a big name, he must be a good actor. Seeing him as Churchill (pre-WWII MP and newly-made Lord of the Admiralty Churchill) just felt like a good piece of the casting. In fact I'd quite like to see him play Churchill again. If any TV or film people could arrange it that'd be just lovely.


I knew various bits and pieces about the abdication, about Edward VIII's love for Wallis Simpson, about the horror the British establishment felt about the whole situation. I knew that the Queen Mother had never liked Mrs Simpson back when she was still the Duchess of York, and that when she was Queen she referred to her as "that woman". Then again apparently Wallis Simpson referred to her sister-in-law, the Queen of England, as "Cookie". Clearly these were two women who were never going to get along.
It was a constitutional crisis, the first one since the madness of George III. Personally I think the constitutional crises -historical ones at least- are interesting, which is probably why I love Stuart History so much.

I heartily recommend this film to anyone who enjoys drama and strong character-based story-telling.