Notable minor characters weave through the story - Geoffrey Chaucer, who was Katherine's brother-in-law, and the mystic Julian of Norwich.

Katherine - Historical Novel Society Katherine - Historical Novel Society

Katherine is widely regarded as Anya Seton's finest book, and is still a popular classic in its genre over 50 years after it was first published. HNS Awards have helped discover and launch the author careers of Michel Faber, Ruth Downie, Hilary Green, Martin Sutton, Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott, Nikki Marmery, Margaret Skea, Warwick Cairns, Katherine Mezzacappa and Elizabeth Macneal. but he is busy as hell plotting and scheming and what-all, plus he's got a political marriage to contend with, and he and Katherine raise his kids by his first wife, her kids, and their kids in a kind of modern blended family.

Like any cheesy romance, John of Gaunt’s childhood boo-boo puts him into Punish Everyone mode, which creates a Big Misunderstanding and leads Katherine to think he doesn’t love her anymore.

Katherine (Seton novel) - Wikipedia

Seton describes the window-dressing in too much detail but doesn’t describe the historical context in enough detail.One of the few examples of historical fiction that made the BBC’s poll, Katherine was published in 1954 and tells the story of 14th-century love affair in England between the eponymous Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster and third surviving son of Edward III. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Nearly everything about her is controversial: her ancestry, the important dates in her life, the number of children she bore, her character, what she looked like, and – above all – her relationship with her princely lover. For women in particular, living in a society dominated by the power of men, survival is itself is a triumph, surviving with a sense of self intact – as Katherine superbly does – is a great adventure, powerfully told.