The King's Mistress by Emma Campion is a magnificent novel that tells the story of a medieval era historical figure, Alice Perrers. I completely lost myself in this brilliant telling of Alice's life story.
The writing is exquisite and I was completely taken back in time to meet Alice Perrers. The novel is written as if Alice is telling her own life story. She stole my heart from the very start and I was engrossed in her life and could not put the book down. I felt her pain and emotion and feel as if I know Alice.
In those times a woman's life was not her own. A daughter was a commodity that was bought and sold. A daughter's only value to her family was her ability to be married into a family that would benefit their family. Children were mostly raised by nurses and servants until they were old enough to show off as a potential husband or wife. And then the parents would bargain for the best deal. It all seems so strange to us. But, in order to understand many historical figures, I think we have to understand the way they were raised and the way things worked in those times.
I can only imagine how misunderstood and twisted Alice's tale has been over the centuries. It would be easy to distort and misunderstand her without knowing her entire story. The author, Emma Campion, has done so much research to learn the story behind Alice and her scandal.
I would very highly recommend this book! It is a historical novel about a real life historical figure. (It is not a Christian fiction title, for those of you who mostly read Christian books.) I was immersed in Alice's world and lost my heart to her and her story. The writing is fabulous, and the story reads like a novel with suspense, intrigue, romance and scandal. It was extremely well written and I would love to read more from this wonderful author!
Please read to the bottom of the post for information about TLC's giveaway of this great book!
Book Summary:
History has not been kind to Alice Perrers, the notorious mistress of King Edward II. Scholars and contemporaries alike have deemed her a manipulative woman who used her great beauty & sensuality to take advantage of an aging and increasingly senile king. But who was the woman behind the scandal? A cold-hearted opportunist or someone fighting for her very survival?
Like most girls of her era Alice is taught obedience in all things. At the age of fourteen she marries the man her father chooses for her, dutifully accepting the cost of being torn from the family she holds so dear and losing the love of her mother forever. Despite these heartbreaks Alice finds that merchant Janyn Perrers is a good and loving husband and the two settle into a happy life together. Their bliss is short-lived, however, unraveled the dark day a messenger appears at Alice’s door and notifies her of Janyn’s sudden disappearance.
Emma Campion paints a colorful and thrilling portrait of the court of Edward III–with all of its extravagance, scandalous love affairs, political machinations, and murder–and the devastating results of being singled out by the royal family. At the center of the storm is Alice, surviving by her wits in this dangerous world where the choices are not always of her own making. Emma Campion’s dazzling novel shows that there is always another side to the story.
This book releases TODAY, 7/6/10. You can buy this book here.
Author Bio:
EMMA CAMPION did her graduate work in medieval and Anglo-Saxon literature and is the world’s foremost scholar on Alice Perrers. She lives in Seattle.
Learn more about Emma on her website.
**You can enter the TLC contest and have a chance to win a copy of this fabulous book. Click here for the contest.**
This book was provided for review by The Crown Publishing G
roup.
Blessings,
2 comments:
Definitely going to check this one out! Sounds like just my kind of book.
What a fabulous review! I particularly like your use of the word 'exquisite'! Thank you so much for being on the tour. We really appreciate all the time you put into reading and reviewing The King's Mistress.
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