Wednesday Wanderings visits Knight of Passion

Welcome to Wednesday Wanderings! Last week we visited The Season,
http://historicalromancereleases.com/wordpress/

And the winner is Mary Ann! Please send your mailing address to sos.america@yahoo.com.  I am still looking for Paty Jager as the winner from our visit to Coffee Time Romance.

Today we travel further back in English History to Medieval Times as we celebrate Margaret Mallory’s latest release, Knight of Passion,

http://www.margaretmallory.com/knight_of_passion.html

It is the 3rd book in the All The King’s Men series and received 4 ½ stars from Romantic Times.

Why does Medieval History fascinate us? Honor, duty, and country. Readers appreciate the “knight in shining armor” who seeks truth, justice, and the beautiful lady (foreshadowing for Superman?)

For those readers who are fans of  Showtime's The Tudors, Margaret's website provides the family history of King Henry VIII - it helps the viewer (and reader) understand Henry's motives, including his quest for a male heir and spare:

http://www.margaretmallory.com/owen_tudor.html

Margaret’s website also takes us to real castles in her Knight series,

http://www.margaretmallory.com/musings.html

- Chateau Caen in Normandy, France. From Margaret’s website,

“This massive castle, which served as Henry V's headquarters for his "re-conquest" of Normandy, once belonged to his ancestor William the Conqueror. It was also in this castle that Richard the Lionheart gathered his knights before leaving on crusade."

From its website, http://www.chateau.caen.fr/ANGLAIS/

"Built on a pluvial valley site on a limestone plateau, Caen was for a long time under the direct influence of incoming tidal waters, hence its importance as a port. On an extremely favourable emplacement for human settlers, Caen has been inhabited for three millennia. Its spatial organization took its final shape between the 7th and 11th centuries.

The name of Caen - Catumagos - is thought to be of Gaulish origin, possibly meaning "the field of combat". It appears in written documents in around 1025, in the form Cadomus.  It was William the Conqueror, in around 1050-1060, who, in deciding to build a huge castle and two abbeys (Saint-Etienne and Trinité), was to make Caen the capital of western Normandy, endowing it with a whole set of prestigious monuments, most of which can still be seen to this day."

- Alnwick Castle in Northumberland, England. From Margaret’s website,

“Shortly after I finished my first draft of Knight of Desire, I lucky enough to go on a family vacation to Great Britain. The best day of the trip for me was when we visited Alnwick Castle, because that was where I had my hero spend much of his youth. It is such an amazing castle that I decided to use it in a scene in Knight of Pleasure as well.”

From its website, http://www.alnwickcastle.com/history

“Alnwick Castle is the second largest inhabited castle in England, and has been the home of the Percys, Earls and Dukes of Northumberland since 1309, making this year the 700 year anniversary.”

Visitors can tour the castle, participate in a Knight’s Quest, or watch the “Hotter than Potter” magic show, recognizing the castle’s appearance in the Harry Potter movies. In fact, Alnwick Castle is quite the Hollywood star, appearing in Elizabeth with Cate Blanchett(1998), Robin Hood with Kevin Costner (1991), Ivanhoe with James Mason (1982), Mary Queen of Scots with Vanessa Redgrave (1971), and Becket with Richard Burton (1964).

Thank you, Margaret, for sharing Chateau Caen and Alnwick Castle with us. What is your favorite castle – real or fictional, old or new, here or there? Leave a comment for the chance to win an autographed copy of Knight of Passion from Margaret.

Happy reading!

Kim Adams
SOS Military Liaison