I’ll admit that this review is going to be fairly biased because I absolutely adore Margaret George’s books ever since picking up a copy of Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles a few years ago. Mary Stuart is one of my favourite historical characters and Ms George captured her character perfectly. Afterwards, I went straight out and bought her first book The Autobiography of Henry VIII but was disappointed. In fact it is the only one of her books that I’ve never finished and I feel it is mainly due to the fact that I’ve never really been interested in Henry VIII.

The third book The Memoirs of Cleopatra did much to restore my confidence and was a thrilling journey through Ancient Egypt and the life of one of history’s most intriguing females. I enjoyed it immensely, although I do have one word of caution, avoid the series that was made and just read the book.

So it was with great excitement that I noted the release of her latest book Mary Called Magdalene which I read almost in one sitting a few months back. (Yeah, I read it months ago, what’s your point?) I was a little nervous about the subject matter since I’m not a Christian and not in the habit of reading books about religious figures. All I remembered about Mary Magdalene was that she was supposed to be a harlot who washed Jesus’s feet and dried them with her long hair. In fact not much is known at all about this woman despite the fact that she remains the subject of much debate and controversy.

Mary, Called Magdalene strips away the legend and gives a very moving portrayal of a real woman trying to come to grips with her own being. As usual, Ms George’s historical research is so meticulous and accurate that you believe every word she writes is a factual account of Mary of Magdala’s life. I was so convinced the events I was reading actually happened that I was astounded to read the author’s notes at the back of the book revealing that much of Mary’s life was merely based on how women of the time would have lived.

If rich historical details aren’t enough for you, the book is also threaded with the supernatural as Mary fights to free her soul from demons and seeks to find redemption as one of Jesus’s disciples. Mary’s torment as she tries to cleanse her spirit is very moving and touching, as is her eventual exile from her own family.

It’s been a while since I found a book so enthralling that I literally could not put it down but I was completely hooked from start to finish. Margaret George is a master storyteller who has a great gift for cutting to the heart of a legend and portraying the real people.

I have to admit that my knowledge of the French Revolution is fairly limited to what I was taught at school and that was more or less biased towards the revolutionaries. The picture I had of Marie Antoinette was a selfish, frivolous woman who was summed up by the famous phrase she is reported to have uttered: “Let them eat cake!” I was about to be proven wrong!

While on a visit to Scone Palace in Perth, I spotted Marie Antoinette: A Journey by Antonia Fraser and I was intrigued. I already own a copy of Fraser’s biography about Mary Stuart which I thoroughly enjoyed, so my fingers were itching to open this book. Fraser’s books are impeccably researched and she paints a very vivid picture of life in the royal courts of Europe. Marie Antoinette is no exception - from practically the first page, Fraser debunks the myths that surrounded the much hated queen and portrays her as a real person. The first myth to be shattered was the discovery that she never once uttered the famous phrase: “Let them eat cake!” that has been so long and unjustly attributed to her. The young Marie Antoine was the fifteenth child of the formidable Maria Theresa, Empress of Austria. She was ill-educated and often starved of parental love until the day she suddenly came to her mother’s attention as potential marriage material. Antoine’s star rose after the death of one of her older sisters and the ravishment of another due to smallpox. Maria Theresa’s careful plans to marry her daughters into the Spanish and French courts were suddenly in jeopardy and she was forced to consider her youngest daughter as a future bride. After years of careful negotiation, the fourteen year old Antoine finally became the bride of Louis XVI and was destined to become the ill-fated last queen of France.

This book is a stunning account of a woman who has been much maligned by history and offers the reader a better understanding of not only her character but of the political climate of Europe at that time.