Finished: Katherine (Seton) A historical fiction account of the relationship between Katherine Swynford (aka Catherine de Roet) and John of Gaunt. I dove into this book because up until the reading of this book, I had Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt in my genealogy charts as my 19th great-great grandparents through their daughter, Joan Beaufort. Of course, reading this book made me drag out all my genealogy stuff and low and behold, I think I've come across one bad link that negates our connection to Joan Beaufort. And...the bad link looks pretty legitimate, i.e., I don't think the link exists. As it turns out, my 10th great-grandfather, Nicholas Wyatt, is almost undoubtedly NOT the son of Hawte Wyatt, who then takes us directly back to John of Gaunt, third son of King Edward III. Pooh! Oh well...the book, itself, was pretty good and I kept the pages turning in between taking breaks to look up ancestors. :-) I now know what "historical fiction" is! There is a lot of assumption made as to the actual conversations and intimate actions that take place between the characters, like John and Katherine...to the point where all that is mostly made up. However, all the historical facts are spot on. In all, a very interesting type of story. I don't think I've read a historical fiction before except for Shakespeare's interpretations of all the "histories". I enjoyed reading about John and Katherine's relationship, though she was his mistress for years and years, and I don't condone that. Though, back in that time with all the political, loveless marriages, I guess having a mistress on the side was more common. Anyway, I've loved delving into the history of that time, both when I've read Shakespeare's plays and now Katherine. And...I think I'm actually starting to keep some characters straight, hee hee. It was interesting to see young Henry of Bolingbroke, future King Henry IV, legitimate son of John of Gaunt and Blanche, be born and raised and running around with the other kids in this story. Also interesting to see the pasty, effeminate young King Richard come to power and, at the end of the story, banish Henry of Bolingbroke. I can then kind of pick up in my mind Henry IV, Part I of Shakespeare's and relish the story of Henry of Bolingbroke coming back to challenge Richard for the crown! In all, a good read...but seems like it took me forever with all the tangents I took. :-)