The English Roses admonishing her older provocative self. Madonna's narration was described by Ginny Dougary as "bossy". She also found parallels with the singer's childhood in "The English Roses". "Slate"s Polly Shulman found the book to be "charmless, didactic" and egoistic since she felt it revolved around Madonna and her daughter. Shulman added that ""The English Roses" is a dull little thing, though not incompetent. Madonna does understand the basic structure of storytelling—perhaps too well", with multiple cliches present while making the titular characters "so passive that they might as well be good." David Kipen of the "San Francisco Chronicle" humorously said that
Blood and Roses (book) for the BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction in 2005. It was also awarded the Beatrice White Prize for outstanding scholarly work in the field of English literature before 1590, by the English Association in 2006. Blood and Roses (book) Blood and Roses: One family's struggle and triumph during the tumultuous Wars of the Roses, by Helen Castor, is a narrative based on the Paston letters of 15th century England. The book traces five generations of the Pastons, an influential family from the Norfolk village of the same name. Based largely on an extensive collection of correspondence, "Blood and Roses"