Telynor's Library, and then some

Sadly, I picked this one up to see if I could fight off a case of insomnia. That didn't happen. This rather short, nonfiction book is a slight, very fluffy accounting of princesses who didn't have a chance of happiness. Each one gets a page or two, a woodcut-looking illustration if they were lucky, and the author dishing up plenty of snark and snide as a bonus. Many of these ladies I had heard of, a few I knew fairly well, and quite a few were those on the fringes. The ones who claimed to be princesses and weren't, or various imposters -- most famously, Anna Anderson aka Anastasia -- give the most interesting stories. A few of the stories are just barely in the running as princess fodder. I was very surprised that there were quite a few omissions, most notably, the late Diana, Princess of Wales. Now for the bad news: the research here is slight at best. The author only gives one or two sources for each lady in this tale, and most of them rate as popular histories at best. Which is a shame. This could have been done so much better and much more interestingly if the author had only bothered to take the time and effort. But I guess she was trying to cash in on the Princess craze. Just two stars and a not recommended.