Well written, interesting, nicely paced, semi-well developed characters and interesting mix history and fiction. ( )

Historical novels (assuming they’re adequately researched) fill a couple of needs for me; one is they act as “palate cleaners” between more serious books, and secondly the really do help with keeping track of historical chronology. I mentioned in a review of Steven Saylor’s detective novels that although I read lots of conventional Roman histories I never realized that the same person could live through the Dictatorship of Sulla, the Servile Rebellion, the Cataline Conspiracy, and the Civil War until I read the adventures of Gordianus the Finder. Similarly, Sherry Jones’ Four Sisters, All Queens gives me a better handle on the chronology of the 13th century through the stories of the four daughters of Count Raymond Berenger IV of Provence; Marguerite, Eléonore, Sanchia and Beatrice become queens of France, England, Germany and Sicily. For example, I wasn’t aware the Second Barons’ War in England was going on at roughly the same time as the Seventh Crusade in Egypt. Jones’ accounts of the sister’s lives are, of course, completely invented; there’s precious little in the way of information about the sisters but Jones has them in dialogs with parents, each other, husband, friends and enemies. I found the book an easy enough read; Jones shifts the focus point to a different sister each chapter. Despite being a romance novel, it’s not a bodice ripper; the heroine’s love lives are barely mentioned. One potentially controversial section involves Sanchia; the most famous “blood libel” case involving Hugh of Lincoln took place during this time and Sanchia, who had previously been a sympathetic character, is now portrayed as a nasty anti-Semite; the shift is disconcerting (although likely historically accurate). ( )

Non è male ma è leggermente pesante. Inoltre descrive poco la vita quotidiana di quei tempi e si sofferma di più sulla vita dei personaggi.Si può leggere, alcune parti sono interessanti. ( )

This is what I wrote when I was about half way down.

I'm 54% done with Four Sisters, All Queens: And I am bored. Why? I should have just stuck with Philippa Gregory. It started slow, then it picked up and now I am confused with all the names and bored again. — Dec 17, 2013 05:17AM
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Okay so I am confused cause what happened was there were some parts that were really interesting and well written, but a lot of parts that were so boring.

I do not think I have ever experienced that so much, as I did with this book. Like a merry go round?

So not sure what to give this book. I hesitate between 2 or 3 stars. I go for 3 just because when it was interesting it was really interesting. ;) ( )

I tried to read it. I could only get through the first five chapters. It just wasn't a style I could get into. So when I read three other books rather than go back to it, its going back to the library. ( )