Untam'd Desire

I found this book to be better than the reviews. But to appreciate it, one needs to be familiar with the people Haynes mentions, otherwise it can be confusing. Once you know who'se who, this book comes alive with details never mentioned anywhere else. The Earl of Essex, Penolope Rich, his sister, and many others have surprising secrets revealed about them. I would highly recommend for people doing research in this area. The writing is much better than one review mentions. In a way, it's the Elizabethan equivalent of People Magazine

For some reason, I expected this book to be a bit dull. Also -- I don't know much about Elizabethan England, so based on some of the reviews I was hesitant. I did find it a bit too... complex at times. There were several points where I had to reread paragraphs a few times to understand his meaning and other times he would familiarly reference material he didn't quote. I'm not sure if the problem is that parts of his orginal manuscript were cut, or if he is just so familiar with his material that he doesn't always realize that his readers don't have Everad Guilpin's bawdy epigrams in from of them. But he has such an obvious love for and knowledge of his material that its not a burden to try to follow his sometimes complex writing style to find the wonderful nuggets of information within. Thanks to him, I have added to my "to read" list (sometimes a bad thing, but these are references I have been looking for). While his focus is on sex, he pulls it into the wider culture of Elizabethan England and brings details I've always wanted to know into a sharper focus. Exactly what I wanted -- I hope his other books are just as enjoyable because I'll be looking into them.

Good all around read- discusses the subject matter in depth while remaining in good taste. Introduction is of particular interest.