Synopsis: When had I choice to be other than I was?From childhood Alice Salisbury has learnt obedience in all things and at fourteen, dutifully marries the man...more When had I choice to be other than I was? From childhood Alice Salisbury has learnt obedience in all things and at fourteen, dutifully marries the man her father has chosen for her - at the cost of losing the love of her mother forever and the family she holds dear. But merchant Janyn Perrers is a good and loving husband and Alice soon learns to enjoy her marriage. Until a messenger brings news of his disappearance and she discovers that her husband had many secrets, secrets he didn't want her to know - but which have now put a price on her own head and that of her beloved daughter.
Brought under the protection of King Edward III and Queen Philippa, she must dutifully embrace her fate once more - as a virtual prisoner at Court. And when the king singles her out for more than just royal patronage, she knows she has little choice but to accept his advances. But obeying the king brings with it many burdens as well as pleasures, as she forfeits her good name to keep her daughter free from hurt. Still a young woman and guided by her intellect and good business sense, she learns to use her gifts as wisely as she can. But as one of the king's favourites, she brings jealousy and hatred in her wake and some will stop at nothing to see her fall from grace.
First Line: "When had I choice to be other than I was?"
Random Quote: "As time went on, King Edward coaxed me out of myself, instructing me on the handling of the hawks, discussing aspects of horsemanship. My delight in both grew as I gained confidence, and the release these activities provided from my constantly guarded behavior elsewhere perhaps made me reckless."
Review: I very much enjoyed this beautifully written and luxuriously paced book. Alice Perrers is not someone I was familiar with as I am less familiar with the time period of Edward III so it was interesting to delve into a part of history that was new to me. I also really enjoyed reading about someone in the merchant class. So often historical fiction deals almost exclusively with the high born - this is the third bit of historical fiction that I have read this year that captures the lives of people not born to the ruling classes (the other two are The Daughters of the Witching Hill
and Wolf Hall) - it's nice to see some different perspectives, it makes me feel as if I have a broader view of things.
King Edward III - Image via WikipediaAlice is the daughter of a cloth merchant and is, thusly, trained to notice fabrics and fabrics are, indeed, important throughout the book - as a memory device, as a way of making friends, as a means of denoting mood or status. It's a lovely way to thread a coherent through line and an aspect of the book that I loved.
I also loved being forced to look at and think about a different view of marriage. From Alice's early thoughts about marriage as a way to honor and strengthen her family to the various kinds of marriages we observe among the nobility marriage at that time was different than the way we think of it. I very much enjoyed the author's embrace of mores and means of the time period.
Lastly, I liked how ordinary Alice was - an ordinary woman making her life in extraordinary times as best she could. It's good to be reminded that sometimes an ordinary life is worth hearing about.
FTC Disclosure: Advance copy received for review from TLC Book Tours
Rating: Purple
Emma Campion’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:
Tuesday, July 6th: Life in ReviewWednesday, July 7th: Luxury Reading
Thursday, July 8th: Life is a Patchwork Quilt
Friday, July 9th: Hist-Fic Chick
Monday, July 12th: The Tome Traveller
Tuesday, July 13th: Novel Whore
Wednesday, July 14th: Rundpinne
Thursday, July 15th: Stiletto Storytime
Thursday, July 22nd: Ask Miss A
Thursday, July 22nd: The Book Faery Reviews
Monday, July 26th: Chaotic Compendiums
Monday, July 26th: The Feminist Review
Wednesday, July 28th: Devourer of Books
Monday, August 2nd: S. Krishna’s Books
Wednesday, August 4th: Peeking Between the Pages
Friday, August 6th: Historical-Fiction.com
Thursday, August 12th: Enchanted by Josephine
I am drooling over reading this! It sounds fantastic!!
ReplyDeleteI had to go check out your rating system again to see exactly what purple meant and was happy to see it means EXCELLENT!!
ReplyDeleteGreat review, thanks so much for being on the tour for THE KING'S MISTRESS!
@Lisa - My pleasure - I really enjoyed this book!
ReplyDelete@Coffee & a Book Chick - As you can see from my review, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
This sounds so fantastic! I want to read this one ;)
ReplyDeleteThis is really what I've been in the mood for lately, and I want to read it so bad now! Thanks for the heads up. :)
ReplyDelete