I first read this at 15 and then again in early adulthood and now in middle age once again. It's lifechanging. The moment you finish it you want to inhabit its world - or at least try and write your own story set in that world. There are brilliant descriptions of settings, movement, light and weather. Seton is immensely generous to minor characters, giving them headspace in the story in a way remniscient of Dickens. The first third of the book, Katherine alone making her way in the world, and then married but abandoned to the mad inhabitants of Kettlethorpe, is Gothic. The final third, her spiritual redemption, has tremendous emotional heft and is incredibly moving. I didn't quite cry this time but I have in the past. The middle part (if I was to find a fault) somewhat sags, as the chronicle-sourced narrative of Kings and Great Men takes centre stage. John of Gaunt is a variable character, and somewhat annoying with his self-obsessed fears. Until he mellows in maturity, there is little evidence of his attractiveness apart from his wealth and power. However this is a crucial feature of the book - she's the centre of it, not him or anyone else. Katherine with her beauty and humour and calmness, her vibrant interior life, is a leading lady like few others. And the trouble is, you can look in vain for anyone else like her in the rest of Anya Seton. Years ago I hopefully bought all her other books, but none of them comes close to KATHERINE. This book has launched many historical novelists. There is something about knowing that the world we live in - the ground we walk on, the light and the sky and water - was once inhabited by people whose lives were immeasurably more judgemental, violent and dramtic. The drama of history survives through old beams and old stones and old landscapes as a kind of stage set to drama. Years ago I made a pilgrimage to Lincoln Cathedral and Kettlethorpe in the hope of discovering those textures. Not much is left, but there is something. The rest is inside my head....
Gateway at Kettlethorpe Manor, the only part surviving from Katherine's time.
I first read this at 15 and then again in early adulthood and now in middle age once again. It's lifechanging. The moment you finish it you want to inhabit its world - or at least try and write your own story set in that world. There are brilliant descriptions of settings, movement, light and weather. Seton is immensely generous to minor characters, giving them headspace in the story in a way remniscient of Dickens. The first third of the book, Katherine alone making her way in the world, and then married but abandoned to the mad inhabitants of Kettlethorpe, is Gothic. The final third, her spiritual redemption, has tremendous emotional heft and is incredibly moving. I didn't quite cry this time but I have in the past. The middle part (if I was to find a fault) somewhat sags, as the chronicle-sourced narrative of Kings and Great Men takes centre stage. John of Gaunt is a variable character, and somewhat annoying with his self-obsessed fears. Until he mellows in maturity, there is little evidence of his attractiveness apart from his wealth and power. However this is a crucial feature of the book - she's the centre of it, not him or anyone else. Katherine with her beauty and humour and calmness, her vibrant interior life, is a leading lady like few others. And the trouble is, you can look in vain for anyone else like her in the rest of Anya Seton. Years ago I hopefully bought all her other books, but none of them comes close to KATHERINE. This book has launched many historical novelists. There is something about knowing that the world we live in - the ground we walk on, the light and the sky and water - was once inhabited by people whose lives were immeasurably more judgemental, violent and dramtic. The drama of history survives through old beams and old stones and old landscapes as a kind of stage set to drama. Years ago I made a pilgrimage to Lincoln Cathedral and Kettlethorpe in the hope of discovering those textures. Not much is left, but there is something. The rest is inside my head....
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