Penny Junor

I don't know why I bothered with this author. The last time I had touched anything by her had been about the late Princess of Wales and that had been when her book had come out. At the time, Diana was still alive and still young. She just had the heir to the throne.

Penny Junor is a cousin, I believe, of Prince Charles. I am not exactly sure in what line of the tree she sits but nevertheless, she is a member of the royal family.

When I had my hands on Diana's biography, I realized that her book did not paint Diana in any way in good light. In fact, her book was more derisive and filled with contempt toward the late Princess of Wales.

So, when I saw she had done one of Camilla, I was curious - how would she paint the Duchess of Cornwall? I suspected that she would try to soften her image and try to dissuade readers that she was not the villain in the marriage between Charles and Diana, that it was actually Diana herself.

I was not disappointed when I cracked open the book and found that my assessment was correct, but also I saw it more about Charles than really Camilla. I started to wonder if Penny Junor was in love with her own cousin.

EWWWW!

But I am being serious about this because every book I have come across with her has been nothing more than praise about him. ALL. OF. THEM.

There is never anything from her that paints him in a different light. None of her books offer that. It is all praise.

On the other side of her spectrum, Diana is all that has been a problem. Diana is what kept Camilla away. Diana was a crybaby. Diana's mental illness was nothing more than a temper tantrum. She never bothered to see the other side of Diana, never bothered to go into the depth of looking for why she acted the way she did. Did she even bother interviewing those that knew Diana better?

Nope.

If it made Charles to be the bad guy, she did not want it. At all.

I knew she had been waiting for the moment. The right moment to give Camilla her spotlight and try to rehabilitate her images. I mean, why not? She is going to be Queen and she had to soften the woman's image just enough for the British people to see that Camilla is better queen material than what Diana would have been.… (más)

If there was one woman who encapsulated the 1960s Rock N’Roll culture, it was Pattie Boyd. She had the look we all strived for, she was a top model with George Harrison of the Beatles as her first husband and Eric Clapton as her second. The songs “Something”, “Layla” and “Wonderful Tonight” were written about and for her. Her memoir, entitled Wonderful Tonight fills in the details of her extraordinary life which as wonderful as it was, did have some sharp ups and downs.

The book details her unconventional childhood, her early days of modelling in London and how she and George met and fell in love. It also tells us about the end of this marriage and how Eric Clapton was there waiting in the wings for her. Unfortunately, Eric suffered from an addictive personality and drugs and alcohol played a large part in destroying their marriage. After her marriages, Pattie spent time regaining her self and has become a well known photographer. She remained good friends with both George and Eric.

While reading Wonderful Tonight I felt that Pattie was being very careful not to insult or point fingers at anyone which resulted in a fairly mild and amiable story, but she is pretty honest when turning the pen upon herself which resulted in a story that was well worth reading. Assisted by author Penny Junior, this book is a fascinating look at the life of an influential “dollybird” of the 1960s.… (más)

What a mess, both in the writing of the book and in Pattie's life. Despite the fact that Patti had an experienced writer help her, the book sounds very hokey and amateurish. The story jumped all over the place. I got sick of all the repetition of drinking and drugging, affairs, expensive houses and exotic vacations. There was very little self reflection on Pattie's part. As a feminist I would be more interested in why she made certain choices and how she fought to take care of herself while suffering under the stress of substance abusing and philandering husbands.
… (más)