Review: A Constant Heart by Siri Mitchell (TSS)
A Constant Heart
by Siri Mitchell
Born the daughter of a wealthy merchant, Marget thought her family had made a perfect match when she married the Earl of Lytham. Uniting her family’s wealth and the earl’s title will make Marget a countess and grant her a place at court…but it soon becomes clear that her husband and the other courtiers dislike her. All Marget wants is to find the love she found expressed in the sonnet the earl wrote for her when they became engaged, and she is willing to take whatever steps are necessary to make the marriage succeed.
Nicholas, the Earl of Lytham, had such a disastrous first marriage that he no longer feels he can trust any woman. When he sees his new bride for the first time, he is horrified by her beauty - for a beautiful woman cannot have a constant heart, and will never remain faithful. He stubbornly resists all evidence that his wife is a good woman, avoiding her both at court and in the home.
The feasts may be sumptuous and the gowns may be exquisite, but Siri Mitchell captures the loneliness of court life under a Queen. Women can be beautiful, but they cannot outshine the Queen, who must remain the focus of every man’s desire. As the women of the court seek to imitate Queen Elizabeth’s red hair and white skin - the only way the Queen will accept their presence - Mitchell reveals the detrimental effects lead cosmetics have on their health. There’s a brief moment where Marget starts to eat a nut, only to realize every other woman is having only custards or jellies; these references to the effects of lead poisoning help create an undercurrent of creepiness that pervades all of Marget’s experiences at court.
I thought that characterization of Nicholas was a little unstable at times. His irrational desire for an ugly wife - or at least, his irritation with Marget for being pretty - is quite ridiculous at times. I have trouble imagining that a guy would really make such a big deal about it…but men get pretty darn crazy when their pride is involved. He also seemed to have a few very sudden mood swings, and there would seem a disconnect between the Nicholas of one chapter and the next. But he had his adorable moments. There’s an incredibly cute scene at State dinner where the gathered courtiers are served a love salad, a dish in which each plant in the salad having a secret meaning, and Nicholas and Marget are finally able to converse through the plants. It was a very silly but very fun flirtation.
It’s a very fun story, and it was actually quite refreshing to read a book set in the Elizabethan court that was not about Elizabeth or one of her famous intimates. Viewing the court from the perspective of a minor courtier was an interesting change from the usual.
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