Gilt by Katherine Longshore
My March review was for Gilt by Katherine Longshore
I've read and seen several adaptations/historical fiction novels and films of the Tudors, and so was excited to receive this book for the Early Reader program.
The author does a pretty good job of portraying the occurrences of the times in a way that they could translate to modern times, which is what the whole teaser on the back of the book promises. However, since there was so much talk about women's 'captivity' and helplessness, and the use of so many terms that are completely outdated, such as the dress parts: kirtles and codpieces, and gabled hoods, etc., that it really didn't completely equate modern reality. If you ignore the teaser's promise of modernity, then the story itself plays out really well.
It is a fairly quick read, even though it isn't a short book. The author keeps you intrigued to find what will happen next, even though we already know the ultimate ending of the story.
Catherine Howard is overlooked in many of the summaries of Henry and his wives, simply because she wasn't as exciting as Anne Boleyn, didn't make as much impact as Catherine Parr's influence to restore his daughters to succession, or give him a male heir like Jane Seymour did. However, Catherine Howard's story is anything but boring, full of the intrigue in court, romantic entanglements, and of course, the same horrific ending that Anne Boleyn suffered.
It is this intrigue and romance that the author centers her story around. Our narrator is Kitty, a friend of Catherine's and not a completely passive observer as she has intrigues of her own. We are treated to three years of life with Catherine and Kitty, the first year centering on their time living with the duchess, the second, and the bulk of the book is life at court, during Catherine's time as queen, and lastly, we stay with Kitty in the Tower during her imprisonment.
Some of the most interesting aspects of the story are left out due to point of view. There was just no way to include Kitty in Catherine's capture of Henry, or her rendezvous with Thomas Culpepper, or to see what went on during her questioning and subsequent beheading.
This would be better if the story weren't so centered on Cat, but as even our narrator admits, her life was all about Cat and what Cat wanted, so when Cat is taken out of the story, it falls flat and somewhat boring.
It was sadly lacking as a love story, as the message in the end seemed to be that there was no need, or opportunity for real love in anyone's life.
I understand that when dealing with real people and history the author is somewhat limited to fact, but there were enough liberties taken elsewhere that a little bit of positivity could have been easily inserted and greatly helped the overall story. Also, some characters were completely villianized without a hint of redeemable qualities whatsoever. That works for children's books, but not when using real people in historical fiction.
Perhaps the author wants to continue, as there is a promise of more novels, though it doesn't specify that it would continue with these characters.
Overall a good fun read, but not one to learn history by, and at least for me, not one for reading over and over.
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