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The Wenches


  • Mary Jo Putney

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  • Jo Beverley
    Word Wench 2006-2016

  • Edith Layton
    Word Wench 2006-2009

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June 2023

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« And the Wieners Are ... | Main | Edith Layton: His Dark and Dangerous Ways & Interview, Part the Second »

Comments

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liz m

The Fireflower should be required reading. Well, ok, the start of the required reading. (Am I the only person that shifts the shelf to do faceouts on authors I like when I'm shopping?)

My spouse & brother tease me about my Tudor/WW2 obsessions. They got me once by talking about a book called Hitler's Dog. I fell for it completely - "Really? What's the angle? Hm. What happened to his pets after the war? Were they.... oh, you're laughing." It's now family shorthand for my obsessing on some obscure historical point.

I prefer this to the view of one of Spouse's bosses. we were standing at Warwick Castle when the man turned to me and said "So why is this place a big deal? What the happened here? I don't get it." I suddenly realized I did NOT want to spend the day giving the engineers a tour and quickly convinced Spouse to hire them audio guides and break me loose from the pack.

Maya

Wowsers. Edith has two children who are professional comedians. Must be intimidating to try and make a joke in that house! Fiercely high bar.

I love that the daughter-in-law has been immortalized. Gives Edith limitless cred in the Bank of Mothers-in-Law! I must remember this one day when my schoolaged sons present me with brides of their own...

Maya

Me again. Forgot to say: taking myself out of draw due to winning a previous Edith title (thanks again!). Just came to say hi and love the toddler dance class concept.

Maggie Robinson

I'm on page 251 of HDADW and love every word. When I was 4 I took ballet, tap and tumbling. Mostly I tumbled. Bless anyone who can bring order out of the chaos that are preschoolers!

Crystal B.

Hi Edith. Great interview. Your daughter-in-law sounds like an amazing lady. His Dark and Dangerous Ways sounds great. I loved the excerpt.

Minna

Great interview!

Clare

I agree with Maya, the dance class concept sounds wonderful. An Irish author, Maeve Binchy, wrote Evening Class - set in contemporary style. I enjoy her books but felt she chickened out a bit with this one; it was like several short stories on the different students. She might have been better off to focus on the teacher as you are doing.
As to Perkin - I am amazed you found that in the UK, but then one might have to be a fan of Richard III to know of this and anyway, the Tudor usurper (:) that followed Richard erased much of the history of all who went before him.
Clare in Cork, Ireland - really wanting to know what did happen to the Princes in the Tower.

Edith

Oh, doesn't Mary Jo write beautifully?
She makes me sound so interesting I wish I knew me better.

And Liz - a Brit writer (name escapes me at the moment, once wrote that the best seller of all time would be: "Hitler's Cat's Golfing Guide."

Maya - Felber dinners used to be such fun that noone tasted what they were eating. (Lucky for me, eh?)

Crystall and Minna - Isn't that Mary Jo something else?

Magie - So glad you're enjoying it.

And Clare - read CRIMSON CROWN to find out what really happened to the Princes in the Tower -that's what the book is about. (There's a love story too, of course.)

Edith

(and never post anything before second cup of coffee.) Sorry for the misprints!

Valerie L.

I'd be happyt to shop in the Perkin Warbeck Shoppe! As an avowed Ricardian I wish there were more GOOD medievals being written now. Looking forward to reading your newest, Edith.

maryjoputney

From MJP:

Liz, LOL about Hitler's Dog. I think that would be pretty interesting. :) And no, you are NOT the only person who does face outs in bookstores for favorite authors.

Clare, by all means read Edith's THE CRIMSON CROWN if you can find a copy. It's a real stunner. Personally, I figure Henry VII offed them, but then, I read Tey's DAUGHTER OF TIME at an impressionable age and I thought she made a very good case. I like Edith's version better, though. :)


Mary Jo

Janice

Hello, Edith. I have my copy of His Dark and Dangerous Ways; in fact I fell asleep reading it last night. This annoyed me at the time because I was caught up in your tale, but sometime around 3 am my eyes refused to cooperate and stay open.

You can always tell a great guy if he knows when to order you a bucket of ice; it means he's paying attention to you instead of his own ego :) I will probably finish the story after breakfast, and then it'll go on the keeper shelf, next to all the other Laytons.

When's your next one out?

Susan/DC

I too have a hard time with Henry VII from having read Tey's "Daughter of Time" at an impressionable age. I also remember reading a book about Elizabeth Plantagenet, Edward IV's daughter who wound up married to Henry VII, telling her brothers to remember the menagerie when they were taken for safekeeping to the Tower. Then, years later after Henry has become king, one of the pretenders to the throne escapes by letting the lions in the menagerie loose -- the implication is that he just might have been one of the true princes.

As for "His Dark and Dangerous Ways", it sounds delightful. The imagery in the opening scene, complete with handsome hero, lovely heroine, and giggling children is vivid and just draws the reader right in. I look forward to reading it (although until they restore power to my house -- which we lost after a series of violent thunderstorms Wednesday -- I'm not going to get much reading done).

Edith

Janice, my next book is coming from AVON in December. "HIS CONVENIENT BRIDE."
Thanks for asking. I'll let you know more when I know more.

And thanks for the kind words, Susan/DC -hope your poeer comes back on soon.

But for now: BULLETIN!
I just found out that my Susie will be on cable this weekend, on a new "light hearted look at the news" show on CNN- Headline News:
"NOT JUST ANOTHER CABLE NEWS SHOW."
It will be broadcast on Saturday, Sunday and Monday at different times.
You can find out All on her blog:

http://felberfrolics.blogspot.com/

Ain't that grand?

Maureen

What a lovely excerpt. It reminds me of my daughter in her dancing class when she was little and they all had such fun.

Virginia

I love the book. It reminded me that when I took my second son with me to his much younger sister's first dance recital, he looked at her afterwards and said solemnly, "You were the worst bird of all."

Edith

Maureen, Loved your comment.
Virginia, shared yours with my daughter and we laughed a lot.
Now _ Bulletin # 2!!

Just heard from our Adam - if you are up early tomorrow, Suncay - he'll be on the CBS morning show - barring being bumped by a major news break. He'll be on Moe Rocca's segment which will be about WAIT, WAIT, DON'T TELL ME, the NPR news quiz - a "behind the scenes" look at the show - that Adam is often on.

Wow. I hope it's true that all things come in threes! I can't wait for next great news.

It's been while, we sure can use some!

Anne with an e

HDADW sounds like it is as delightful as all of you other offerings. I would accept a copy if my name were chosen! :)
So, are you more proud of your literary chidren or your physical children? (I think I know the answer!) ;)

talpianna

For the fate of the Princes in the Tower, I go with RICHARD III by Paul Murray Kendall (biography) and THE SUNNE IN SPLENDOR by Sharon Kay Penman (novel about the whole House of York). I also love Josephine Tey's THE DAUGHTER OF TIME, but its conclusions have been voided by a later examination of the bones found in the Tower that proves that her timeline won't work.

Edith, do you think that HITLER'S CAT'S GOLFING GUIDE would outsell LINCOLN'S DOCTOR'S DOG these days? Here, check out some Kitlers:

http://www.catsthatlooklikehitler.com/cgi-bin/seigmiaow.pl

Finished the book yesternight. LOVED it, as usual. Just realized I have a couple of your books I haven't read yet--because the cats have hidden them under the bed. Everybody's a critic...

Do drop by for tea; we can discuss Richard III. And I'll serve Simnel cake:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simnel_cake

maryjoputney

From MJP:

Talpianna, I love that Kitler site! Going there is always good for smiles.

Mary Jo

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