Can't be beat for readability, BUT I just hit my first howler in Massie.
If you thought Orieux getting EC's name wrong (Marie Christine, was it?) was bad, wait till you hear that Frederick II's wife Sophia was the sister of George II, making Fritz G2's brother-in-law.
...
And this in 2011, when Wikipedia had been invented!
Still readable, though. As you said about the Winter Queen book, not a dull sentence to be found in what I've read of either author so far. Which makes Montefiore (who so far has not confused Fritz's wife and mother) an excellent candidate for my next German practice book.
Orieux: yes, "Marie Christine" was his mistake. And LOL about "Sophia the sister of G2" as Mrs. Fritz. Mind you, I feel a bit guilty laughing about both, since pre salon I was barely aware Fritz was married at all, but then, I wasn't writing books featuring him then. As you say, Orieux, writing pre Wikipedia, has the better excuse.
Orieux has two better excuses: he only confused her first name with a common (especially in France) one, not one person with a completely different person, and two, no Wikipedia in his day!
I can laugh totally guilt-free, though, lol, because I knew a fair bit about Fritz, EC, and their marriage already in high school days. Not as much as now (mostly thanks to you), of course! But enough that I wouldn't have called her Sophia and said that she was G2's sister. ;) (At the time, of course, I was writing a book that...I tried very hard not to let feature him, despite my Fritz-muse's desire to promote himself from tertiary character to primary character.)
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Re: Sodomy and Death Penalty. (Again.)
If you thought Orieux getting EC's name wrong (Marie Christine, was it?) was bad, wait till you hear that Frederick II's wife Sophia was the sister of George II, making Fritz G2's brother-in-law.
...
And this in 2011, when Wikipedia had been invented!
Still readable, though. As you said about the Winter Queen book, not a dull sentence to be found in what I've read of either author so far. Which makes Montefiore (who so far has not confused Fritz's wife and mother) an excellent candidate for my next German practice book.
He was married to....
Re: He was married to....
I can laugh totally guilt-free, though, lol, because I knew a fair bit about Fritz, EC, and their marriage already in high school days. Not as much as now (mostly thanks to you), of course! But enough that I wouldn't have called her Sophia and said that she was G2's sister. ;) (At the time, of course, I was writing a book that...I tried very hard not to let feature him, despite my Fritz-muse's desire to promote himself from tertiary character to primary character.)