Royal Pains

March 21, 2011
Royalty has always been good for stories of extremesâgood, bad, and infamous. In her latest exploration of aristocratic errors, Carroll (after Notorious Royal Marriages) looks at a handful of aristocrats who gained infamy through homicidally bad behavior (like Ivan the Terrible or Renaissance "Blood Countess" Erzsébet Báthory), serious sexual indiscretions (Prince Henry, Duke of Cumberland), or outright treason (King John and Richard III). Carroll writes comprehensive biographies of each, highlighting the implications and outcomes of their poor decisions; the results will leave readers alternatively horrified, amused, and disgusted. Despite repetitive and unimaginative prose, the information and brisk pacing make Carroll's book a treat, and readers with idle interest in the antics of the privileged classes will eat it up. The author tries to be fair when dealing with contending perspectives and is transparent about her own bias. Packed with gruesome details and brimming with wit, this is a wildly breezy read.

January 15, 2011

Novelist and chronicler of royalty Carroll (Notorious Royal Marriages, 2010, etc.) unearths the legendary bad behavior of some members of the royal class.

"Disobedience is my joy!" screams the dedication page of this workmanlike exposé. The quote is attributed to the late Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, whose romantic scandals of the 1960s and '70s gave her sister, Queen Elizabeth, a sour royal pucker. Margaret's shenanigans offer a somewhat lame conclusion to the tales of a dozen "bad seeds" chronicled here, including more notorious specimens such as Vlad the Impaler and Pauline Bonaparte. The subjects are endlessly fascinating, though the writing is fairly pedestrian and dry. King John thought nothing of betraying his father, Henry II, and became such a failure as king that his barons rose up to force him to sign the Magna Carta in 1215. The medieval Transylvanian count Vlad, on whom Bram Stoker based his Dracula character, so effectively used his impaling technique to display his ferocity that the invading Turkish sultan exclaimed in amazement that he "could not win the land from a man who does such great things and above all knows how to exploit his rule and that over his subjects in this way." Ivan the Terrible killed his own heir in a fit of rage and forced the miscarriage of his son's wife. Carroll also profiles a host of bratty ladies, including the comely Lettice Knollys, who lured away Elizabeth I's favorite, Robert Dudley, even though he had a well-established roving eye; Erzsébet Báthory, a Hungarian countess who "made the Marquis de Sade look like Mother Teresa" because of her penchant for torturing peasant girls just for fun; and the highly promiscuous Pauline Bonaparte, the favorite youngest sister to Napoleon.

Moments of fun mixed with a bit of edification.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

February 15, 2011
A collection of factual stories about 12 members of European royalty who represented some of the worst outcomes of inbreeding. From King John of England in the 12th century Vlad III of Wallachia (upon whom Bram Stoker based Dracula), Ivan the Terrible of Russia, and finally to Princess Margaret, younger sister of the present Queen Elizabeth II, the range of depravity described runs the gamut. There are sadists, psychopaths, and possible sex addicts, as well as those who are simply troublemakers. For those who enjoy reading about the scandals of the noble class, and want to learn more about the darker side of various royal families, this is a thoroughly enjoyable, quick read. Each persons environment is described so that the reader enjoys a sense of what was normal for a particular time period, and for most of these royals, they were far outside their norms. For those not familiar with royal families outside of Western Europe, there are a few standouts from other areas of Europe as well.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)