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The King's Mistress
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.
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.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published August 6, 2009
About the author
Emma Campion
2 books76 followersEmma Campion is a pseudonym of the popular historical crime writer Candace Robb. The King's Mistress & A Triple Knot grew out of the deep research for her Owen Archer series. The first is a biographical novel about Alice Perrers, the second about Joan of Kent, two fascinating women in the court of King Edward III. Candace/Emma has read and researched medieval history for many years, having studied for a Ph.D in Medieval and Anglo-Saxon Literature. She lives in Seattle and medieval York.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 257 reviews
December 3, 2019
Often depicted as the vile gold-digger mistress of King Edward III, Emma Campion successfully portrays Alice Salisbury in a sympathetic light (in my opinion); a woman who had very little choice regarding the men in her life. Interesting look into this woman's life!
July 10, 2010
Daughter of a wealthy London merchant, Alice catches the eye of Janyn Perrers and the two marry despite her mother’s rather irrational objections. The marriage is definitely a love match, but Janyn and his mother have a deep dark secret that has something to do with the dowager Queen Isabella and while it has brought them great wealth, it also brings great danger to those who keep the old Queen’s secrets. When Janyn mysteriously disappears (no spoiler, that’s on the book jacket) Alice seeks protection of Edward III and his queen, Philippa. A commoner, the noblewomen at court shun her, but the Queen loves Alice’s knowledge of clothing and fabric, and as for the King? I’m guessing the book’s title will indicate to you where the rest of the story goes, no?
If you are familiar with the period you know what happens next and if not you don’t want me spoiling it for you. While I appreciated the author’s effort to portray one of history’s most vilified women in a more favorable light, I think she did herself a disservice by doing a complete 180 and turning Alice into something a wee bit too sugary sweet. Would someone with her business acumen really worry much over a profitable wardship offered by the King because people might think ill of her? The first person narrative (admittedly not my favorite) doesn’t help much either and I felt the author painted herself into too many corners trying to justify events so that all the bad things that happened were always someone else’s fault. I’d rather see a more well-rounded character, warts and all.
As for the story and pacing itself? IMHO too much time is spent on Alice’s marriage with Janyn, along with all those pages upon pages of oohing and aahing over the fabrics. I would have liked to know more about the merchant’s role in purchasing and marketing cloth rather than hearing about the next pretty dress and headdress. Better yet, fast forward to Alice entering the royal household and then give us a few flashbacks to flesh out the back story. I also found myself scratching my head when the Big Mystery is finally revealed, why anyone would be so hell-bent on murder because of *that* I can’t quite fathom.
In the end, this was on OK book, good but certainly not great, with very little character development and far too much telling instead of showing. Since the story is told from Alice’s point of view and she’s not always in the thick of things some of the more important events in this period are skimmed over a bit too quickly, i.e. the Peasant’s Revolt was over and done with in three pages. Kudos to the author for attempting to shed new light on such a heinous woman, but in the end just too much sugar for my tastes. 3/5 stars and I recommend getting it from the library first and then buy it if you love it.
If you are familiar with the period you know what happens next and if not you don’t want me spoiling it for you. While I appreciated the author’s effort to portray one of history’s most vilified women in a more favorable light, I think she did herself a disservice by doing a complete 180 and turning Alice into something a wee bit too sugary sweet. Would someone with her business acumen really worry much over a profitable wardship offered by the King because people might think ill of her? The first person narrative (admittedly not my favorite) doesn’t help much either and I felt the author painted herself into too many corners trying to justify events so that all the bad things that happened were always someone else’s fault. I’d rather see a more well-rounded character, warts and all.
As for the story and pacing itself? IMHO too much time is spent on Alice’s marriage with Janyn, along with all those pages upon pages of oohing and aahing over the fabrics. I would have liked to know more about the merchant’s role in purchasing and marketing cloth rather than hearing about the next pretty dress and headdress. Better yet, fast forward to Alice entering the royal household and then give us a few flashbacks to flesh out the back story. I also found myself scratching my head when the Big Mystery is finally revealed, why anyone would be so hell-bent on murder because of *that* I can’t quite fathom.
In the end, this was on OK book, good but certainly not great, with very little character development and far too much telling instead of showing. Since the story is told from Alice’s point of view and she’s not always in the thick of things some of the more important events in this period are skimmed over a bit too quickly, i.e. the Peasant’s Revolt was over and done with in three pages. Kudos to the author for attempting to shed new light on such a heinous woman, but in the end just too much sugar for my tastes. 3/5 stars and I recommend getting it from the library first and then buy it if you love it.
March 14, 2015
Read it, enjoyed it... but would not recommend it for translation... Something is lacking... Philippa Gregory is much better... But I will follow the author...
March 12, 2018
As women of the modern age we often take for granted our rights - to choose who we marry, to own property, to participate in the direction of our lives and in the lives of our children.
While Emma Campion does use a large amount of the artistic license allowed in historical fiction,her telling of the life of Alice Perrers does illustrate the fact that women of this time lacked choice and, therefore, their fates were determined by the men in their lives. They could then be used as a public scapegoat - utilising the vehicles of wanton behavior (or, even more horrifying, witchcraft ) despite the suffocating constraints in their lives bearing witness to their lack of complicity.
While I felt that the story dragged a bit in the middle and included much unnecessary detail, I found myself very interested in the story of Alice Perrers and what may of actually happened behind the political machinations of court life.
While Emma Campion does use a large amount of the artistic license allowed in historical fiction,her telling of the life of Alice Perrers does illustrate the fact that women of this time lacked choice and, therefore, their fates were determined by the men in their lives. They could then be used as a public scapegoat - utilising the vehicles of wanton behavior (or, even more horrifying, witchcraft ) despite the suffocating constraints in their lives bearing witness to their lack of complicity.
While I felt that the story dragged a bit in the middle and included much unnecessary detail, I found myself very interested in the story of Alice Perrers and what may of actually happened behind the political machinations of court life.
May 10, 2010
In this novel Alice Perrers, a merchant’s daughter who became mistress to the much older Edward III, tells her own story. I can’t argue with Emma Campion's decision to take a revisionist approach to Alice, who has gone down in history as ambitious, grasping and greedy. Mistresses were often demonised and blamed for all the ills of the country: it was, in fact, one of their functions to be a scapegoat and divert criticism which would otherwise fall on the king or queen. And there is evidence that Alice has been maligned. But unfortunately, I felt Emma Campion went too far in her attempt to rehabilitate Alice Perrers. Her version of Alice is so bland I found it hard to take any interest in her. Campion goes to great lengths to exonerate Alice from any wrong-doing: for example, her first marriage to merchant Janyn Perrers is portrayed as a happy union, with Alice completely content with her domestic duties and devoid of ambition (although not business sense). This doesn’t square very well with her becoming the king’s mistress, so it is made clear both that her husband orders her to join the court against her will and that he is distancing himself from her. But Alice is also shown as feeling some attraction to King Edward – I think because a totally loveless relationship would have seemed distasteful. Then later on even Queen Philippa makes it clear that she approves of Alice becoming Edward’s mistress – in fact she all but throws her into his arms. The author makes every effort to put Alice in a good light but I felt it had the effect of leaching colour, conflict and plausibility from the story.
It takes Alice nearly 300 pages to reach the King’s bed and up till that point the plot is dominated by some cloak-and-dagger machinations which I didn’t find at all convincing. Unfortunately, the pace doesn’t pick up once she becomes a royal mistress. There is far more narrative than dramatisation and while I felt a good deal of the accounts of Alice’s movements, day-to-day activities, clothes and dreams could have been cut, elsewhere opportunities for dramatisation and character development were missed. With a couple of exceptions (Queen Philippa; King Edward) the characterisation doesn’t go very deep.
Why three stars rather than two? The writing felt stilted at first but flowed better as the book went on. A great deal of research obviously went into it and there’s lots of luscious detail, especially about clothing. I enjoyed the depiction of Alice’s life as a lady-in-waiting to the Queen, which was vivid and realistic. I also liked the way Alice’s relationship with King Edward was treated, and this is, after all, the heart of the book. There’s a moving account of Edward’s slide into dementia, and with his death, Alice’s troubles are just beginning. The last section of the book picks up the pace as she is hounded by Parliament and threatened with marriage to a man she loathes and fears.
But overall a frustrating read as I felt it could have been so much better.
Full review and quotes at The Misadventures of Moppet: http://bit.ly/c1ccy0
It takes Alice nearly 300 pages to reach the King’s bed and up till that point the plot is dominated by some cloak-and-dagger machinations which I didn’t find at all convincing. Unfortunately, the pace doesn’t pick up once she becomes a royal mistress. There is far more narrative than dramatisation and while I felt a good deal of the accounts of Alice’s movements, day-to-day activities, clothes and dreams could have been cut, elsewhere opportunities for dramatisation and character development were missed. With a couple of exceptions (Queen Philippa; King Edward) the characterisation doesn’t go very deep.
Why three stars rather than two? The writing felt stilted at first but flowed better as the book went on. A great deal of research obviously went into it and there’s lots of luscious detail, especially about clothing. I enjoyed the depiction of Alice’s life as a lady-in-waiting to the Queen, which was vivid and realistic. I also liked the way Alice’s relationship with King Edward was treated, and this is, after all, the heart of the book. There’s a moving account of Edward’s slide into dementia, and with his death, Alice’s troubles are just beginning. The last section of the book picks up the pace as she is hounded by Parliament and threatened with marriage to a man she loathes and fears.
But overall a frustrating read as I felt it could have been so much better.
Full review and quotes at The Misadventures of Moppet: http://bit.ly/c1ccy0
November 24, 2013
Did you ever think I would like this?
Every once in a while someone suggests that since I like history so much I would like [insert name of recent historical fiction phenom here] and I gently say "it's not really my thing..."
So in the spirit of fictionpalooza, I decided to test "what was my thing."
This isn't my thing.
First off, the cover pictured here is not what is in the book from the library that showed up on my nook. Instead it is every historical fiction book ever. Some chick draped in velvet looking off to the distance no doubt contemplating her woe. Right then I thought, "wow, this is not going to be my thing."
Some truisms about historical fictions featuring women protagonists:
-They talk about clothing...a lot
-Everyone famous in the time period know each other. Alice Perrers totally childhood buddies with Geoffrey Chaucer.
-If they become mistresses, they are deeply disturbed by becoming mistresses and saddened that life has given them so few choices. I mean, I get that some might have felt that way, but I would venture a few felt they were pretty lucky to have a powerful protector. Maybe "mistress" isn't something you'd put on your resume, but it's better than "poor and scavenging for food."
-The protagonist is always omigod completely innocent of any greed, and that stuff she gets for sleeping with the king...she feels horrible...really.
One of my other problems is that the book's stated goal is to rehabilitate Alice Perrers in the eyes of human kind. Lovely goal. And although I will buy that maybe she wasn't completely and utterly awful, it's going to take more than "but she could have been nice...see, these things still could have happened if she was nice." Like Jane Boleyn (see previous review of a non-fiction book about her), the only way we can get to "but she could be nice" is we have to accept she was completely and almost laughably powerless in her own fate.
So there's our choice. Alice could have gotten wealthy by manipulating the affections of a doddering old man who took a shine to her. Or, she was wanted by the king, who just really really loved her, and her only choice given her undeniable love was to become his mistress and accept a lot of gifts from him. Oh, and that horrible story about Alice ripping the rings off of Edward III's dead hands...yeah, just trying to get the signet ring with their initials off his hand so she could give to her/Ed's son.
It was mildly entertaining, although a bit droning. Alice (in this book) was about as interesting as warm milk, and about as sleep inducing. And she made sure you knew how powerless she was...REPEATEDLY. "But what could I do" (Sed quid ago? in Latin) should be her motto, embroidered on everything. But if you read it, I suppose you could be reading worse things (Twilight, I'm looking at you) and it's not a bad story. Just don't confuse it with fact.
So yeah...not my thing.
Every once in a while someone suggests that since I like history so much I would like [insert name of recent historical fiction phenom here] and I gently say "it's not really my thing..."
So in the spirit of fictionpalooza, I decided to test "what was my thing."
This isn't my thing.
First off, the cover pictured here is not what is in the book from the library that showed up on my nook. Instead it is every historical fiction book ever. Some chick draped in velvet looking off to the distance no doubt contemplating her woe. Right then I thought, "wow, this is not going to be my thing."
Some truisms about historical fictions featuring women protagonists:
-They talk about clothing...a lot
-Everyone famous in the time period know each other. Alice Perrers totally childhood buddies with Geoffrey Chaucer.
-If they become mistresses, they are deeply disturbed by becoming mistresses and saddened that life has given them so few choices. I mean, I get that some might have felt that way, but I would venture a few felt they were pretty lucky to have a powerful protector. Maybe "mistress" isn't something you'd put on your resume, but it's better than "poor and scavenging for food."
-The protagonist is always omigod completely innocent of any greed, and that stuff she gets for sleeping with the king...she feels horrible...really.
One of my other problems is that the book's stated goal is to rehabilitate Alice Perrers in the eyes of human kind. Lovely goal. And although I will buy that maybe she wasn't completely and utterly awful, it's going to take more than "but she could have been nice...see, these things still could have happened if she was nice." Like Jane Boleyn (see previous review of a non-fiction book about her), the only way we can get to "but she could be nice" is we have to accept she was completely and almost laughably powerless in her own fate.
So there's our choice. Alice could have gotten wealthy by manipulating the affections of a doddering old man who took a shine to her. Or, she was wanted by the king, who just really really loved her, and her only choice given her undeniable love was to become his mistress and accept a lot of gifts from him. Oh, and that horrible story about Alice ripping the rings off of Edward III's dead hands...yeah, just trying to get the signet ring with their initials off his hand so she could give to her/Ed's son.
It was mildly entertaining, although a bit droning. Alice (in this book) was about as interesting as warm milk, and about as sleep inducing. And she made sure you knew how powerless she was...REPEATEDLY. "But what could I do" (Sed quid ago? in Latin) should be her motto, embroidered on everything. But if you read it, I suppose you could be reading worse things (Twilight, I'm looking at you) and it's not a bad story. Just don't confuse it with fact.
So yeah...not my thing.
January 3, 2019
King’s Mistress is okay fiction. Alice is sympathetic, it’s easy to get caught up in her story, and if you want to escape to another place and time, this book can be a door.
April 9, 2011
There are a couple of things that make crafting a believable, romantic fictional account of Alice Perrer's story hard to do. First, the author has her work cut out for her in trying to persuade the reader that Alice is not as bad as her contemporaries made her out to be. History has accused Alice of taking advantage of a senile king for her own financial and political gain, and of usurping the position of a beloved dead queen, taking her place beside the king as the queen would have, even wearing the queen's jewels in public. After Edward's death she was tried by Parliament for "crimes against the king and kingdom", stripped of her holdings and banished from England.
Second, by the time Alice becomes Edward's mistress he's an old man, and the author has to try really hard to make an old man sexually attractive and to make the reader believe that a woman as young and vibrant and beautiful as Alice would enjoy bedding him. For the most part I think she succeeds here, but there were one or two descriptive phrases that made me cringe a little!
Campion excels at using Alice's story to depict the plight of medieval women, at the mercy of the men in their lives, and Alice's mantra: When had I choice to be other than I was?, pretty much sums it up. And though I think Campion's portrayal of Alice is probably fairly accurate, I think she took Alice too far in the other direction. Alice is a little too perfectly good and selfless, especially in the face of such circumstances. But she's very likeable, and I was really rooting for her.
Be forewarned: some of the plot points in this story are completely fictional. I don't mind that as long as they are believable within the confines of the time period and the author is up front about it, and in this case she is. Overall I enjoyed this book. I thought it was well written and easy to lose myself in, and I enjoyed reading about some of these historical figures from another viewpoint, since Katherine by Anya Seton is really the only novel I had previously read about this time period. I look forward to future novels from this author.
Second, by the time Alice becomes Edward's mistress he's an old man, and the author has to try really hard to make an old man sexually attractive and to make the reader believe that a woman as young and vibrant and beautiful as Alice would enjoy bedding him. For the most part I think she succeeds here, but there were one or two descriptive phrases that made me cringe a little!
Campion excels at using Alice's story to depict the plight of medieval women, at the mercy of the men in their lives, and Alice's mantra: When had I choice to be other than I was?, pretty much sums it up. And though I think Campion's portrayal of Alice is probably fairly accurate, I think she took Alice too far in the other direction. Alice is a little too perfectly good and selfless, especially in the face of such circumstances. But she's very likeable, and I was really rooting for her.
Be forewarned: some of the plot points in this story are completely fictional. I don't mind that as long as they are believable within the confines of the time period and the author is up front about it, and in this case she is. Overall I enjoyed this book. I thought it was well written and easy to lose myself in, and I enjoyed reading about some of these historical figures from another viewpoint, since Katherine by Anya Seton is really the only novel I had previously read about this time period. I look forward to future novels from this author.
October 11, 2010
Apparently Alice Perrers is some sort of notorious figure of her time but given my lack of knowledge on Yorks and Lancasters and Tudors and whatever, I’d never heard of her. I read a highly praising review of The King’s Mistress on a book review blog and given my enjoyment of both The Other Boelyn Girl and The White Queen I ordered this in from my local library.
When the book opens Alice is barely 12 but ready to be paraded in Church in a pretty gown ‘emphasizing her body’s readiness to bear children’ to acquire a husband. As often as I read novels set in this time, I can never really get my head around marrying off 12 and 13yo girls, often to men significantly their senior, as in this novel. Alice’s first husband, Janyn Perrers is about 33 and she just 13 when they wed -and connsumate that marriage. Luckily for Alice, this is a match that shines well on her. She loves Janyn and he loves her and it seems to be a mostly happy and prudent match, despite the overshadow of the patronage of the Dowager Queen Mother, Isabella. Often referred to as the ‘she-fox’ due to a plot where her and her lover overthrew her husband the former King, Isabella is a notorious figure of this time and is feared and reviled by much of the population. Mother to the current King, Edward III, she lives in a sort of exile (but seems to mostly move around however she wants) after the King beheaded her lover for treason against his father, King Edward II. Isabella is very generous to Janyn and his family, something that worries Alice, and with good reason. Although the bulk of the reason for the Queen Mother’s generosity is mostly hidden from her nearly her whole life, she still feels the weight of it and the fear that it will bring danger.
She’s right of course, because what sort of novel would this be if there weren’t a few dead husbands and political plots along the way? Widowed at 18 or 19, she is taken into the household of Queen Philippa, the wife of King Edward III as an advisor in her wardrobe. Alice’s father was a merchant cloth dealer and he taught her well about fabrics and weaves and cuts and what is suitable. Her husband Janyn, also a merchant, furthered her education and Queen Philippa comes to respect and court her counsel. She works as a servant to Queen Philippa and is taken into her protection, sacrificing her infant daughter to a royal household so that she may be raised safely, and not become a victim of the danger that claimed the life of her husband.
Although in mourning for her husband, Alice soon finds herself drawn to the charismatic King Edward III. Although significantly her senior (somewhere in his late 40s, Alice is about 19 or 20) he apparently possesses a great charm and vitality which draws her eye and excites her. He too seems interested in her, spending time with her. Queen Philippa soon draws her further into her confidance and she becomes one of her favourite ladies in waiting. Alice’s relationship with her own mother was tenuous and disintegrated into nothing and Queen Philippa is almost looked upon by Alice as a maternal figure. She praises many time Queen Philippa’s class, grace, patience and elegance. She fails to see at first that she is being groomed as a mistress for King Edward III until she is moved into private apartments.
Although wracked with guilt at betraying Queen Philippa, she cannot deny her attraction to the King and the two become lovers. It seems an unconventional relationship, based on more than just a bored King’s wanderlust. Queen Philippa had a horse riding accident which injured her pelvis, meaning no more relations (or babies) and although King Edward obviously still loves and respects her, he does the whole ‘man with needs’ spiel and enjoys the benefits of being a man in charge having both his diplomatic, well liked and respected Queen and his beautiful (very) young lover at his beck and call.
Despite the disappearance of her husband and his eventual death, life is still considered dangerous for Alice and she is considered to be under the King and Queen’s protection. Her daughter Bella is removed from her and raised in a royal household for her own protection. The secret that her late husband’s family bore for the former Queen Mother was so big that her safety was still threatened. So she lives out her days accompanying the Queen, choosing her wardrobe, concealing the Queen’s growing physical problems with clever cuts and stitching and being the King’s mistress. She bears him several children and that goes on for about 15-odd years until the death of the King, which comes several years after the death of the Queen.
From then on life is a while different ball game for Alice. The common people loathe her for being the King’s mistress and for rising above her station, usurping their beloved Queen (or so they all believe) and it is alleged that she used her position with the King to obtain huge amounts of property and jewels. She is forced to fight for what is rightfully hers, the legacy she has for her daughters and the way in which she will have to sacrifice herself in order to at least try and have a chance to keep her property is heartbreaking for her.
While this novel was basically quite enjoyable story, my biggest problem with it is that it absolutely crawls along pace-wise. It’s called The King’s Mistress so right away you know that she’s going to be exactly that but it doesn’t happen until about halfway, perhaps more, throughout the book. You get so bogged down in the details of the dresses, fabrics, cuts, cloths, the social intricacies of the royalty and those beneath them that at times it feels like there is no story. It’s just Alice saying ‘And I woke up and then I did this and then the Queen summoned me and then we did this and then I went hunting and falconing and then it was time to eat and then I went to the King and then I went to sleep”. And it feels like pages and pages of that, over and over. And the big secret that Alice’s husband and his family were keeping for the Queen Mother? Well, I don’t know a whole lot about the royal family and the uprisings and overthrowings and the family backstabbing but when the secret all finally came out I found myself thinking Huh? Is that it? Seriously? Which given the whole novel is kind of build around this secret, is probably not a good thing. At all.
For me, this novel is at best a social dictation on the times of 1350-1400. I didn’t feel at all invested in the mystery and danger surrounding Alice and most of the time I forgot it was there until Alice moaned about missing her children or someone reminded her that she was in grave danger and had to remain under the protection of the King. But for a portrayal of the times it it is set in, I feel it has great strengths. Alice was a gifted social observer and although she mentions many times that she feels a fish out of water at Court and with all its intricacies, she gives a great insight to what life must’ve been like for any young female plucked from obscurity and given a place to serve in Court at the whim of the Crown. I didn’t really -get- the charisma and aura that was made much of regarding King Edward III and his apparent irresistability to a young and pretty woman such as Alice. Alright, he was the King and he seems to have been portrayed as quite kindly and likable and not at all creepy but I still couldn’t see the great attraction for Alice. In contrast, I did see Alice’s love for Janyn and I was a bit sorry he died actually because I enjoyed their marriage far more than I enjoyed her liason with the King, which was mostly uninteresting to me. He could’ve been any older man, the fact that he was the King didn’t really add much to the story other than him tossing her a few jewels each time she gave birth to one of his illegitimate children!
A novel that was enjoyable enough so that I kept reading until the finish, but not something that I would read again, nor did I ever really feel like I had to keep turning those pages. So-so.
When the book opens Alice is barely 12 but ready to be paraded in Church in a pretty gown ‘emphasizing her body’s readiness to bear children’ to acquire a husband. As often as I read novels set in this time, I can never really get my head around marrying off 12 and 13yo girls, often to men significantly their senior, as in this novel. Alice’s first husband, Janyn Perrers is about 33 and she just 13 when they wed -and connsumate that marriage. Luckily for Alice, this is a match that shines well on her. She loves Janyn and he loves her and it seems to be a mostly happy and prudent match, despite the overshadow of the patronage of the Dowager Queen Mother, Isabella. Often referred to as the ‘she-fox’ due to a plot where her and her lover overthrew her husband the former King, Isabella is a notorious figure of this time and is feared and reviled by much of the population. Mother to the current King, Edward III, she lives in a sort of exile (but seems to mostly move around however she wants) after the King beheaded her lover for treason against his father, King Edward II. Isabella is very generous to Janyn and his family, something that worries Alice, and with good reason. Although the bulk of the reason for the Queen Mother’s generosity is mostly hidden from her nearly her whole life, she still feels the weight of it and the fear that it will bring danger.
She’s right of course, because what sort of novel would this be if there weren’t a few dead husbands and political plots along the way? Widowed at 18 or 19, she is taken into the household of Queen Philippa, the wife of King Edward III as an advisor in her wardrobe. Alice’s father was a merchant cloth dealer and he taught her well about fabrics and weaves and cuts and what is suitable. Her husband Janyn, also a merchant, furthered her education and Queen Philippa comes to respect and court her counsel. She works as a servant to Queen Philippa and is taken into her protection, sacrificing her infant daughter to a royal household so that she may be raised safely, and not become a victim of the danger that claimed the life of her husband.
Although in mourning for her husband, Alice soon finds herself drawn to the charismatic King Edward III. Although significantly her senior (somewhere in his late 40s, Alice is about 19 or 20) he apparently possesses a great charm and vitality which draws her eye and excites her. He too seems interested in her, spending time with her. Queen Philippa soon draws her further into her confidance and she becomes one of her favourite ladies in waiting. Alice’s relationship with her own mother was tenuous and disintegrated into nothing and Queen Philippa is almost looked upon by Alice as a maternal figure. She praises many time Queen Philippa’s class, grace, patience and elegance. She fails to see at first that she is being groomed as a mistress for King Edward III until she is moved into private apartments.
Although wracked with guilt at betraying Queen Philippa, she cannot deny her attraction to the King and the two become lovers. It seems an unconventional relationship, based on more than just a bored King’s wanderlust. Queen Philippa had a horse riding accident which injured her pelvis, meaning no more relations (or babies) and although King Edward obviously still loves and respects her, he does the whole ‘man with needs’ spiel and enjoys the benefits of being a man in charge having both his diplomatic, well liked and respected Queen and his beautiful (very) young lover at his beck and call.
Despite the disappearance of her husband and his eventual death, life is still considered dangerous for Alice and she is considered to be under the King and Queen’s protection. Her daughter Bella is removed from her and raised in a royal household for her own protection. The secret that her late husband’s family bore for the former Queen Mother was so big that her safety was still threatened. So she lives out her days accompanying the Queen, choosing her wardrobe, concealing the Queen’s growing physical problems with clever cuts and stitching and being the King’s mistress. She bears him several children and that goes on for about 15-odd years until the death of the King, which comes several years after the death of the Queen.
From then on life is a while different ball game for Alice. The common people loathe her for being the King’s mistress and for rising above her station, usurping their beloved Queen (or so they all believe) and it is alleged that she used her position with the King to obtain huge amounts of property and jewels. She is forced to fight for what is rightfully hers, the legacy she has for her daughters and the way in which she will have to sacrifice herself in order to at least try and have a chance to keep her property is heartbreaking for her.
While this novel was basically quite enjoyable story, my biggest problem with it is that it absolutely crawls along pace-wise. It’s called The King’s Mistress so right away you know that she’s going to be exactly that but it doesn’t happen until about halfway, perhaps more, throughout the book. You get so bogged down in the details of the dresses, fabrics, cuts, cloths, the social intricacies of the royalty and those beneath them that at times it feels like there is no story. It’s just Alice saying ‘And I woke up and then I did this and then the Queen summoned me and then we did this and then I went hunting and falconing and then it was time to eat and then I went to the King and then I went to sleep”. And it feels like pages and pages of that, over and over. And the big secret that Alice’s husband and his family were keeping for the Queen Mother? Well, I don’t know a whole lot about the royal family and the uprisings and overthrowings and the family backstabbing but when the secret all finally came out I found myself thinking Huh? Is that it? Seriously? Which given the whole novel is kind of build around this secret, is probably not a good thing. At all.
For me, this novel is at best a social dictation on the times of 1350-1400. I didn’t feel at all invested in the mystery and danger surrounding Alice and most of the time I forgot it was there until Alice moaned about missing her children or someone reminded her that she was in grave danger and had to remain under the protection of the King. But for a portrayal of the times it it is set in, I feel it has great strengths. Alice was a gifted social observer and although she mentions many times that she feels a fish out of water at Court and with all its intricacies, she gives a great insight to what life must’ve been like for any young female plucked from obscurity and given a place to serve in Court at the whim of the Crown. I didn’t really -get- the charisma and aura that was made much of regarding King Edward III and his apparent irresistability to a young and pretty woman such as Alice. Alright, he was the King and he seems to have been portrayed as quite kindly and likable and not at all creepy but I still couldn’t see the great attraction for Alice. In contrast, I did see Alice’s love for Janyn and I was a bit sorry he died actually because I enjoyed their marriage far more than I enjoyed her liason with the King, which was mostly uninteresting to me. He could’ve been any older man, the fact that he was the King didn’t really add much to the story other than him tossing her a few jewels each time she gave birth to one of his illegitimate children!
A novel that was enjoyable enough so that I kept reading until the finish, but not something that I would read again, nor did I ever really feel like I had to keep turning those pages. So-so.
March 18, 2020
Say Hello to Alice Salisbury,
AKA the patron saint of medieval saints
Alright that might have been a mild exaggeration.
But in all honesty, this portrayal of the infamous, devious and financially savvy Alice Perrers is incredibly bland and colourless. Alice is a complete Mary Sue with no real or discernible flaws. She is Perfection incarnate.
She is sweet, devoted, compassionate, insufferably superior and thus she holds no interest for the reader. Where has the tenacious and pragmatic social schemer of history escaped to?
I mean, would Alice have really have agonised over to accept a profitable wardship and earn plenty of cash in the bargain? Would she really have squirmed at the thought of exerting influence over the King? Another thing I found laughable was Campion's theory of Alice Salisbury and Geoffrey Chaucer being OMG BFFs from childhood! WTH?! Utterly ludicrous.
Perhaps I'm too cynical and jaded but I was intensely disappointed with this book. The end was a travesty IMHO. Far too sugary and reminiscent of fairy tales. My eyes nearly rolled out my head! Fanciful nonsense comes to mind.
All in all, not the worst book I've ever, not by a long shot. Still, it seems, that finding a decent Alice Perrers novel is going to be difficult. I felt that the book was over-long and meandering and focused on superficial and faintly ridiculous theories. 3/10 stars
AKA the patron saint of medieval saints
Alright that might have been a mild exaggeration.
But in all honesty, this portrayal of the infamous, devious and financially savvy Alice Perrers is incredibly bland and colourless. Alice is a complete Mary Sue with no real or discernible flaws. She is Perfection incarnate.
She is sweet, devoted, compassionate, insufferably superior and thus she holds no interest for the reader. Where has the tenacious and pragmatic social schemer of history escaped to?
I mean, would Alice have really have agonised over to accept a profitable wardship and earn plenty of cash in the bargain? Would she really have squirmed at the thought of exerting influence over the King? Another thing I found laughable was Campion's theory of Alice Salisbury and Geoffrey Chaucer being OMG BFFs from childhood! WTH?! Utterly ludicrous.
Perhaps I'm too cynical and jaded but I was intensely disappointed with this book. The end was a travesty IMHO. Far too sugary and reminiscent of fairy tales. My eyes nearly rolled out my head! Fanciful nonsense comes to mind.
All in all, not the worst book I've ever, not by a long shot. Still, it seems, that finding a decent Alice Perrers novel is going to be difficult. I felt that the book was over-long and meandering and focused on superficial and faintly ridiculous theories. 3/10 stars
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 25, 2017
There are always two sides to every story. Of course, when considering the story of women in history - especially those women who've been considered scandalous - the only stories we tend to hear are from those who have the proverbial axe to grind.
Such has been the fate of Alice Perrers, the infamous mistress of King Edward III. History hasn't been kind towards her, claiming that her manipulation of an old man, and her greed was nearly bankrupted England. Worse, she was a commoner who flaunted her status as mistress.
In The King's Mistress, Alice Perrers is a young woman who has to learn to live by her wits. Thrust into a world of royal privilege and political machinations, she has to learn to protect herself and her children. Sometimes a pawn in a larger game, sometimes an astute businesswoman. Loyal to the king and her family. So loyal that it becomes dangerous, and she ends up as scapegoat for a dysfunctional royal family. Some choices were out of her hands; other decisions had long term ramifications.
Was she victim or villainess? My take was that she was a woman fending for herself in a world that afforded women few, if any, rights. Even royal women were circumscribed.
Such has been the fate of Alice Perrers, the infamous mistress of King Edward III. History hasn't been kind towards her, claiming that her manipulation of an old man, and her greed was nearly bankrupted England. Worse, she was a commoner who flaunted her status as mistress.
In The King's Mistress, Alice Perrers is a young woman who has to learn to live by her wits. Thrust into a world of royal privilege and political machinations, she has to learn to protect herself and her children. Sometimes a pawn in a larger game, sometimes an astute businesswoman. Loyal to the king and her family. So loyal that it becomes dangerous, and she ends up as scapegoat for a dysfunctional royal family. Some choices were out of her hands; other decisions had long term ramifications.
Was she victim or villainess? My take was that she was a woman fending for herself in a world that afforded women few, if any, rights. Even royal women were circumscribed.
March 26, 2018
I had mixed feelings about this one. I enjoyed the writing style, and learning more about Alice Perrers' eventful life. I'm not especially well read on this period of history, but it's clearly a revisionist portrait of Alice, and I think the author sometimes wrote herself into a corner in her attempts to make Alice a sympathetic character. I also think there was too much "telling" and not enough "showing," and there was very little in the book about the historical context and issues of the times. That may be in part due to the first person narration - if Alice didn't see the effects of the Black Death and the unrest of the peasants, there's no way to present it to the reader.
I've read several of the author's mysteries under the name of Candace Robb (the Owen Archer and Margaret Kerr series), and the Owen Archer series is set roughly in the same time period. I felt there was more historical context and character development in that series than in this book. It isn't necessarily fair to compare ongoing developments in a series to what can be done in one book, since the canvas is so much larger, but I had high expectations for this book based on how much I liked the Archer series.
I've read several of the author's mysteries under the name of Candace Robb (the Owen Archer and Margaret Kerr series), and the Owen Archer series is set roughly in the same time period. I felt there was more historical context and character development in that series than in this book. It isn't necessarily fair to compare ongoing developments in a series to what can be done in one book, since the canvas is so much larger, but I had high expectations for this book based on how much I liked the Archer series.
September 12, 2021
An enjoyable read about a historic period that I am not so familiar with.
I did find it strange that the author would thank herself for her research in the acknowledgements (her other pen name is Candace Robb).
I did find it strange that the author would thank herself for her research in the acknowledgements (her other pen name is Candace Robb).
December 31, 2020
DNF @ 45%
Loved the book cover but was bored to tears by the story and bland characters, especially the MC. After a few months, i tried to continue reading it but after a chapter I was done for good.
Loved the book cover but was bored to tears by the story and bland characters, especially the MC. After a few months, i tried to continue reading it but after a chapter I was done for good.
August 17, 2010
Wow! What a book!! Cudo's to this author, she has taken a story of Alice Perrers (known mistress) of King Edward III, and has woven a can't put down book so rich in history and so readable. There are books that you pick up and sort of skim through, not this one. I would have to slow myself down again and read as many of the words as I could, so I wouldn't miss anything.
You'll not find yourself bored with this book. I was just so disappointed when it was over. The story at the end of how the author came to write the book, giving Alice a voice was as interesting.
My thanks to the author, she had me carrying this book every where I went for days so that I could finish it, have it available to pick up and get a few more pages in, when nothing else was going on. I lived the story and it was fascinating!
Here is the information from the back of the book:
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....
Do yourself a favor and pick this one up!!!
You'll not find yourself bored with this book. I was just so disappointed when it was over. The story at the end of how the author came to write the book, giving Alice a voice was as interesting.
My thanks to the author, she had me carrying this book every where I went for days so that I could finish it, have it available to pick up and get a few more pages in, when nothing else was going on. I lived the story and it was fascinating!
Here is the information from the back of the book:
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....
Do yourself a favor and pick this one up!!!
July 9, 2010
The cover on this book looks fabulous and believe me the story in between is equally captivating. The story is paced perfectly from beginning to end and leaves you wondering how people could actually live like this at any time period.
There is so much that goes on with the story here of Alice Salisbury and it shows you the innocence, kindness, love, anger, hatred and so many more emotions that we as humans take for granted every day without thought as to how it will affect others. I do believe that even though during the reign of King Edward and Queen Philippa things were anything short of quiet and peaceful, the subjects of the King and Queen's knew more how to take care of themselves and use their wits than we do today.
Our story starts off with Alice Salisbury, a merchant's daughter who is only thirteen is betrothed to marry and does indeed marry a rich merchant within six months that is twenty years her senior. Alice's husband is kind, gentle and very caring of her but he is also keeping a secret that will in effect plague Alice for most of her life. Thank goodness she is made of stronger stuff than those that were born with silver spoons in their mouths.
As the story progresses, Alice is summoned to be part of Queen Philippa's household and is groomed by the Queen herself for a very important role that will take Alice down some dark and dangerous avenues. This all takes place without Alice's even recognizing a hint of what the Royals are up to and will test her in every capacity that a woman can indeed be tested.
I found the story to be breath taking in every sense of the word. From the descriptions of horses to houses to castles to the very clothes that the Royals wore kept me entranced and struggling to put the book down. Even now as I write this my mind wanders to the possibilities of what I would've done if caught in the same life shackling situation. A must read for anyone who loves a good book.
There is so much that goes on with the story here of Alice Salisbury and it shows you the innocence, kindness, love, anger, hatred and so many more emotions that we as humans take for granted every day without thought as to how it will affect others. I do believe that even though during the reign of King Edward and Queen Philippa things were anything short of quiet and peaceful, the subjects of the King and Queen's knew more how to take care of themselves and use their wits than we do today.
Our story starts off with Alice Salisbury, a merchant's daughter who is only thirteen is betrothed to marry and does indeed marry a rich merchant within six months that is twenty years her senior. Alice's husband is kind, gentle and very caring of her but he is also keeping a secret that will in effect plague Alice for most of her life. Thank goodness she is made of stronger stuff than those that were born with silver spoons in their mouths.
As the story progresses, Alice is summoned to be part of Queen Philippa's household and is groomed by the Queen herself for a very important role that will take Alice down some dark and dangerous avenues. This all takes place without Alice's even recognizing a hint of what the Royals are up to and will test her in every capacity that a woman can indeed be tested.
I found the story to be breath taking in every sense of the word. From the descriptions of horses to houses to castles to the very clothes that the Royals wore kept me entranced and struggling to put the book down. Even now as I write this my mind wanders to the possibilities of what I would've done if caught in the same life shackling situation. A must read for anyone who loves a good book.
January 16, 2011
"When had I a choice to be other than I was?"
So begins this fictional autobiography of Alice Perrars' life.
And that's about where I stopped caring overly much.
That's harsher than I mean to be, because the book was okay, but I have very, very little tolerance for excuses. And this was a running theme throughout the book. That's where my biggest problem lay.
I have to say that I don't recall ever coming across Alice Perrars before. She was married to a merchant but then became Edward III's consort. Apparently, the people blamed her for a lot of things that the king did and that went wrong in the country, but "what choice had she?"
It's been months since I finished reading this, so all I can say is that, aside from the excuses that turned me off, Alice had an interesting life. She rose higher than any commoner should have been able to. In this book, she didn't ask for any of it. She only wanted a quiet life with her children away from the public eye.
The other thing that I didn't like was the amount of detail. It took me forever to get through this book! It felt like every little possible meeting with the king and/or queen was detailed here. I quickly lose interest if a book is moving too slow.
Historical England is always interesting to me, so the book still gets three stars. Those who don't mind excuses will probably be more interested than I was.
So begins this fictional autobiography of Alice Perrars' life.
And that's about where I stopped caring overly much.
That's harsher than I mean to be, because the book was okay, but I have very, very little tolerance for excuses. And this was a running theme throughout the book. That's where my biggest problem lay.
I have to say that I don't recall ever coming across Alice Perrars before. She was married to a merchant but then became Edward III's consort. Apparently, the people blamed her for a lot of things that the king did and that went wrong in the country, but "what choice had she?"
It's been months since I finished reading this, so all I can say is that, aside from the excuses that turned me off, Alice had an interesting life. She rose higher than any commoner should have been able to. In this book, she didn't ask for any of it. She only wanted a quiet life with her children away from the public eye.
The other thing that I didn't like was the amount of detail. It took me forever to get through this book! It felt like every little possible meeting with the king and/or queen was detailed here. I quickly lose interest if a book is moving too slow.
Historical England is always interesting to me, so the book still gets three stars. Those who don't mind excuses will probably be more interested than I was.
July 14, 2010
I’ll admit, I don’t know much about history. I had never heard of Alice Perrers and was unaware that she was a real person when I began this book. The tale is fictional, but it is written by Emma Campion who “did her graduate work in medieval and Anglo-Saxon literature and is the world's foremost scholar on Alice Perrers.” So I can only imagine that Perrers lived an extraordinary life.
The book was very well written and Campion put in such detail, you can tell she truly cared about the subject and the enormous amount of characters within the story. My only issue was trying to keep so many characters with the same names or similar names straight. Often times I was confused by who someone was or thinking they were someone else because of these name issues. Though the details of Alice’s life were amazing, I felt so very sorry for someone ever having been put into the position she had and having no choice in the matter, time and time again. Alice’s character was brought alive by Campion’s words and linking her to people like Geoffrey Chaucer was a very redeeming quality within the story. I think history buff’s and historical fiction lovers will adore this story.
The book was very well written and Campion put in such detail, you can tell she truly cared about the subject and the enormous amount of characters within the story. My only issue was trying to keep so many characters with the same names or similar names straight. Often times I was confused by who someone was or thinking they were someone else because of these name issues. Though the details of Alice’s life were amazing, I felt so very sorry for someone ever having been put into the position she had and having no choice in the matter, time and time again. Alice’s character was brought alive by Campion’s words and linking her to people like Geoffrey Chaucer was a very redeeming quality within the story. I think history buff’s and historical fiction lovers will adore this story.
May 4, 2011
This was such a great book. My first real foray into the life of King Edward III and his mistress, Alice Perrers and it was quite enthralling. Campion does an excellent job of portraying the plight of a woman in the 14th century. Women had so very little choice of who they would marry. And then, if the king wants you as his mistress, well then you better bow to his wishes. Alice had no choice in any aspect of her life...everything was decided for her. You could say that she was carried along by fate. But she remained a strong woman in her own right and had many children, who were her life. I really admired her and look forward to reading more about her. Emma Campion is the world's foremost scholar on Alice Perrers. I can see why she was able to write such a wonderful book.
December 12, 2016
3.5* The handling of the historical events was fine and the book read well. My issues are mainly with the perfection of the main character: I knew going in that the book would be sympathetic to Alice, which is fine, but she was such a Mary Sue. Multiple men in love with her at a time, captures the heart of rakes, knows what to say to everyone, beautiful, beloved by children, loves animals... it just goes on. Hardly anything was ever her fault, and she had excuses or tragic stories if it was. She's also awesome at everything, from mercantile interests to hawking and riding to managing a king/kingdom. I did feel for her, the way she was trapped by society in the end (the court system was horrendous), but that couldn't redeem her character for me.
April 13, 2011
Initially, I had hope...
I had hoped that this might be a book full of good juicy twists and sublime characters that are interesting and witty to outsmart the readers, obviously I was wrong.
The story was lacking in a powerful narrative sense, and the moral of the story was almost non-existent. I often wondered whilst reading this book if I'd just wasted my money on something that to-this-day, I still do not understand.
I now know that I wanted to spend my money on buying the red dress on the cover, instead of buying the book itself. That would make more sense
I had hoped that this might be a book full of good juicy twists and sublime characters that are interesting and witty to outsmart the readers, obviously I was wrong.
The story was lacking in a powerful narrative sense, and the moral of the story was almost non-existent. I often wondered whilst reading this book if I'd just wasted my money on something that to-this-day, I still do not understand.
I now know that I wanted to spend my money on buying the red dress on the cover, instead of buying the book itself. That would make more sense
September 22, 2017
There were times I thought the writing was a little simple perhaps? Or maybe rather that the character's thoughts were simple? But wow what a development! And Emma Campion has an awesome imagination to have created such a story with so few details. Kudos to her for giving recognition that a commoner and a woman would probably have had little choice in the roles she was cast and shining light on the little control women had over their own life! Very glad to have read about an English monarchy I had little knowledge of, if any!
May 6, 2018
Ormai e' diventata una moda scrivere romanzi storici come se si scrivesse su Novella 2000:l'idea, quella di dare voce ad Alice Perrers, e' ottima, e lo svolgimento della storia e' molto interessante, peccato che il linguaggio non e' proprio all'altezza!
August 22, 2010
Well-written historical fiction; compassionate story about the mistress.
January 29, 2020
Alice Perrers expects to make a blissful marriage with her husband, Janyn, but he has many secrets, amongst them a dangerous connection to the dowager queen, Isabella of France. When this danger comes to threaten their family, Alice is placed in the household of Philippa of Hainault, Queen of England, where she will be a virtual prisoner for her own safety – and come to love the king.
I felt I was in a prime position to like Emma Campion’s The King’s Mistress. I was interested in a novel about Alice Perrers, the notorious mistress of Edward III who was blamed for the ruin of the country during his final years, especially one that looked at being a redemptive take on one of the most reviled women of the fourteenth century. I don’t know too much about Edward III’s reign or Alice which meant I wasn’t likely to get upset over the historical accuracy or a characterisation choice. While I can’t say that I liked Campion’s second novel, A Triple Knot, it had definite strengths and I was more hopeful about her first novel since I had very little prior investment in Alice.
For me, however, The King’s Mistress suffered from three main issues – Alice’s characterisation, the big mystery at the centre of the novel and the ending – that effectively ruined any chance I had of enjoying it.
While I like the idea of a more sympathetic take on Alice Perrers, I read this book with a dawning sense “oh yeah, that’s why all the reviews said she was too ‘sugary sweet’”. Alice is an idealised, “perfect” woman who is responsible for absolutely none of the things she has historically assigned blame for.
Or, um, actually anything at all.
Everything is either some mass conspiracy involving her husband, Janyn, and Isabella of France, Edward III giving Alice presents against her wishes, another mass conspiracy to make poor, innocent Alice a scapegoat for the failures of Edward III’s last years or because her second husband is just an out-and-out arsehole. Yes, I want Alice Perrers rehabilitated but I don’t want her declawed and defanged and made into this tragic victim that gets swept along by the personalities and conspiracies of the royal court. She only wanted to be loved! She wanted none of this! She has no agency!
Even the one thing that she does that seems actually pretty bad to me (visiting a plague-ravaged city to find out about her family during the Black Death and then coming back to the royal court, potentially bringing the disease back with her) is treated as Very Good and Brave and Philippa of Hainault was Wrong to forbid her from doing it, but luckily Edward III sorted that out so Alice saw no repercussions for her act of bravery.
…
No, I don’t think Edward III would be chill about Alice potentially exposing his family to the Black Death (THE BLACK DEATH!), especially since one of his daughters died from the plague. No, I don’t think he would chide Philippa of Hainault for forbidding one of her ladies in waiting from going into a plague-ravaged city. In fact, if I was Edward III, boner for the pretty lady or not, I’d be furious at Alice. At the very, I’d put her in quarantine and then dismiss her because she risked the life of my beloved wife, my beloved daughter, my wife’s ladies (which includes my son’s beloved wife), my friends, the royal court, and, oh yeah, my own life. Seriously. No. If you’re going to insist Alice is oh so grave and good for going to her family, make her stay there until the contagion’s finished and she’s not going to infect anyone. I don’t give a shit about how noble your intentions are, Alice Perrers, you don’t risk exposing a large group of people to a devastating contagion just so you can check on your family and then come back to live in the safety and isolation of court.
But whatever, Perfect Heroine gotta Perfect Heroine and do nothing wrong ever.
(And, no, there was no real need for the novel to have this subplot – I doubt there’s any evidence Alice Perrers ran off to London during the plague. Campion could easily deal with the Black Death in a much less stupid way but she opts for Alice running off to check on her family and coming back all “what if I get in trouble for breaking the rules and potentially infecting the entire royal court with the Black Death :( but Edward III saved me from a tongue-lashing and neither I or the court got infected, yay!”)
A big theme in this novel is Alice’s lack of choice. And yes, I think Campion’s on the money when she talks about Alice – a young woman, the daughter of a merchant – being unlikely to have manipulated her way into being the king’s mistress. But Campion writes Alice’s relationship with Edward III as a romance and there’s no coercion or reluctance involved in its establishment, only the strength of their love and attraction to each other. So when Alice starts up her continual refrain of how she didn’t have a choice in having an affair with the king, it rings false. She wasn’t forced into it. She may have felt the power of love/sex compelled her it wasn’t like anyone held her a gun to her head or Edward coerced her in anyway. No violence, no rape, no blackmail, no threats. Just two people who fall in love and want to have sex so they do. There’s not even the slightest hint of a “he’s the king, I can’t really say no to the king” internal monologue.
It’s a relationship she willingly entered into and therefore she had a choice. I could buy it if Alice was an unreliable narrator who abjures all blame for her action but Campion keeps talking about Alice’s lack of choice in her author’s note and we’re expected to believe she had no choice in willingly entering into an affair with the married King of England and therefore is absolved of all responsibility.
And then there’s the thing where Edward III is like “I got you presents!” and Alice is like “you shouldn’t give me this, it’ll make people think I’m abusing my position” and Edward is like “how dare you not appreciate my presents” until Alice is forced to accept them. It’s just weak. Campion could easily have written Alice as a woman who, having never had any significant wealth in her life, gets a bit giddy and greedy with the lavish gifts, but no, she always knows it’s the wrong thing to do but gets overruled by Edward at all times. Because she must have no agency or choice or ever put a foot slightly wrong and all other characters exist to be really the one at fault, never Alice.
In fact, the big mystery of the novel seems to purely exist to prove Alice has no responsibility in anything that ever happens to her, as it’s the reason she is unwillingly forced to leave her husband and enter the royal court where she unwillingly meets Edward III and unwillingly falls desperately in love and lust with him and unwillingly has a desperate love affair with him which features her unwillingly accepting extravagant gifts from him before being made an unwilling scapegoat after his death.
I mean, I found it hard to believe that anyone would be like “nooo I don’t want to be part of the queen’s household noooo” to begin with. And then the mystery is finally revealed and it’s… flat-out absurd.
It’s just so absurd that I find it laughable. It seems only to exist for the purpose of making Alice a powerless victim and we’ve already covered how I feel about that.
After Edward III dies, Alice marries William Wyndsor (or Windsor) who is characterised as that type of deluded arsehole that, when a woman turns him down, becomes obsessed with having her and ruining her life. Which is… perhaps unfair to the historical William Wyndsor, as we have no proof he was a manipulative rapist who was out to punish Alice Perrers for not wanting to marry/sleep with him. It also feels like this last plot exists to further drive in how tragic and powerless poor ickle Alice was and how her real love was this later marriage that Campion invented for her.
Some minor criticisms: I found the novel slow to get started and thought maybe the first hundred or so pages could be condensed, especially around Alice’s family dynamics that aren’t that important overall and repetitious lavish descriptions of clothing. There were parts of the novel that stretched credibility, such as Alice being childhood BFFs with Geoffrey Chaucer and while I understood the appeal of Alice and Joan of Kent talking, their sugary-sweet BFF relationship reeked of unbelievability.
I also found myself grinding my teeth when Blanche of Lancaster popped up to tell Alice how she understands Alice’s grief for her dead husband because she just lost her father but Alice should do what the queen says. Because everyone in this novel is out to manipulate Alice or hurt her or prop up Alice’s innocence and victimhood.
I found this book quite well-written on a prose level and I appreciate Campion’s goal in rehabilitating Alice. I just didn’t care for the end result. I don’t think rehabilitation means much when you remove every flaw or sin and beat them with the perfect stick until they’re all shiny and faultless and there’s more than one ludicrous mass conspiracy to explain why they never have responsibility for anything at all.
I felt I was in a prime position to like Emma Campion’s The King’s Mistress. I was interested in a novel about Alice Perrers, the notorious mistress of Edward III who was blamed for the ruin of the country during his final years, especially one that looked at being a redemptive take on one of the most reviled women of the fourteenth century. I don’t know too much about Edward III’s reign or Alice which meant I wasn’t likely to get upset over the historical accuracy or a characterisation choice. While I can’t say that I liked Campion’s second novel, A Triple Knot, it had definite strengths and I was more hopeful about her first novel since I had very little prior investment in Alice.
For me, however, The King’s Mistress suffered from three main issues – Alice’s characterisation, the big mystery at the centre of the novel and the ending – that effectively ruined any chance I had of enjoying it.
While I like the idea of a more sympathetic take on Alice Perrers, I read this book with a dawning sense “oh yeah, that’s why all the reviews said she was too ‘sugary sweet’”. Alice is an idealised, “perfect” woman who is responsible for absolutely none of the things she has historically assigned blame for.
Or, um, actually anything at all.
Everything is either some mass conspiracy involving her husband, Janyn, and Isabella of France, Edward III giving Alice presents against her wishes, another mass conspiracy to make poor, innocent Alice a scapegoat for the failures of Edward III’s last years or because her second husband is just an out-and-out arsehole. Yes, I want Alice Perrers rehabilitated but I don’t want her declawed and defanged and made into this tragic victim that gets swept along by the personalities and conspiracies of the royal court. She only wanted to be loved! She wanted none of this! She has no agency!
Even the one thing that she does that seems actually pretty bad to me (visiting a plague-ravaged city to find out about her family during the Black Death and then coming back to the royal court, potentially bringing the disease back with her) is treated as Very Good and Brave and Philippa of Hainault was Wrong to forbid her from doing it, but luckily Edward III sorted that out so Alice saw no repercussions for her act of bravery.
…
No, I don’t think Edward III would be chill about Alice potentially exposing his family to the Black Death (THE BLACK DEATH!), especially since one of his daughters died from the plague. No, I don’t think he would chide Philippa of Hainault for forbidding one of her ladies in waiting from going into a plague-ravaged city. In fact, if I was Edward III, boner for the pretty lady or not, I’d be furious at Alice. At the very, I’d put her in quarantine and then dismiss her because she risked the life of my beloved wife, my beloved daughter, my wife’s ladies (which includes my son’s beloved wife), my friends, the royal court, and, oh yeah, my own life. Seriously. No. If you’re going to insist Alice is oh so grave and good for going to her family, make her stay there until the contagion’s finished and she’s not going to infect anyone. I don’t give a shit about how noble your intentions are, Alice Perrers, you don’t risk exposing a large group of people to a devastating contagion just so you can check on your family and then come back to live in the safety and isolation of court.
But whatever, Perfect Heroine gotta Perfect Heroine and do nothing wrong ever.
(And, no, there was no real need for the novel to have this subplot – I doubt there’s any evidence Alice Perrers ran off to London during the plague. Campion could easily deal with the Black Death in a much less stupid way but she opts for Alice running off to check on her family and coming back all “what if I get in trouble for breaking the rules and potentially infecting the entire royal court with the Black Death :( but Edward III saved me from a tongue-lashing and neither I or the court got infected, yay!”)
A big theme in this novel is Alice’s lack of choice. And yes, I think Campion’s on the money when she talks about Alice – a young woman, the daughter of a merchant – being unlikely to have manipulated her way into being the king’s mistress. But Campion writes Alice’s relationship with Edward III as a romance and there’s no coercion or reluctance involved in its establishment, only the strength of their love and attraction to each other. So when Alice starts up her continual refrain of how she didn’t have a choice in having an affair with the king, it rings false. She wasn’t forced into it. She may have felt the power of love/sex compelled her it wasn’t like anyone held her a gun to her head or Edward coerced her in anyway. No violence, no rape, no blackmail, no threats. Just two people who fall in love and want to have sex so they do. There’s not even the slightest hint of a “he’s the king, I can’t really say no to the king” internal monologue.
It’s a relationship she willingly entered into and therefore she had a choice. I could buy it if Alice was an unreliable narrator who abjures all blame for her action but Campion keeps talking about Alice’s lack of choice in her author’s note and we’re expected to believe she had no choice in willingly entering into an affair with the married King of England and therefore is absolved of all responsibility.
And then there’s the thing where Edward III is like “I got you presents!” and Alice is like “you shouldn’t give me this, it’ll make people think I’m abusing my position” and Edward is like “how dare you not appreciate my presents” until Alice is forced to accept them. It’s just weak. Campion could easily have written Alice as a woman who, having never had any significant wealth in her life, gets a bit giddy and greedy with the lavish gifts, but no, she always knows it’s the wrong thing to do but gets overruled by Edward at all times. Because she must have no agency or choice or ever put a foot slightly wrong and all other characters exist to be really the one at fault, never Alice.
In fact, the big mystery of the novel seems to purely exist to prove Alice has no responsibility in anything that ever happens to her, as it’s the reason she is unwillingly forced to leave her husband and enter the royal court where she unwillingly meets Edward III and unwillingly falls desperately in love and lust with him and unwillingly has a desperate love affair with him which features her unwillingly accepting extravagant gifts from him before being made an unwilling scapegoat after his death.
I mean, I found it hard to believe that anyone would be like “nooo I don’t want to be part of the queen’s household noooo” to begin with. And then the mystery is finally revealed and it’s… flat-out absurd.
It’s just so absurd that I find it laughable. It seems only to exist for the purpose of making Alice a powerless victim and we’ve already covered how I feel about that.
After Edward III dies, Alice marries William Wyndsor (or Windsor) who is characterised as that type of deluded arsehole that, when a woman turns him down, becomes obsessed with having her and ruining her life. Which is… perhaps unfair to the historical William Wyndsor, as we have no proof he was a manipulative rapist who was out to punish Alice Perrers for not wanting to marry/sleep with him. It also feels like this last plot exists to further drive in how tragic and powerless poor ickle Alice was and how her real love was this later marriage that Campion invented for her.
Some minor criticisms: I found the novel slow to get started and thought maybe the first hundred or so pages could be condensed, especially around Alice’s family dynamics that aren’t that important overall and repetitious lavish descriptions of clothing. There were parts of the novel that stretched credibility, such as Alice being childhood BFFs with Geoffrey Chaucer and while I understood the appeal of Alice and Joan of Kent talking, their sugary-sweet BFF relationship reeked of unbelievability.
I also found myself grinding my teeth when Blanche of Lancaster popped up to tell Alice how she understands Alice’s grief for her dead husband because she just lost her father but Alice should do what the queen says. Because everyone in this novel is out to manipulate Alice or hurt her or prop up Alice’s innocence and victimhood.
I found this book quite well-written on a prose level and I appreciate Campion’s goal in rehabilitating Alice. I just didn’t care for the end result. I don’t think rehabilitation means much when you remove every flaw or sin and beat them with the perfect stick until they’re all shiny and faultless and there’s more than one ludicrous mass conspiracy to explain why they never have responsibility for anything at all.
November 14, 2023
This book was an interesting and fresh take on history. Alice Perrers is always portrayed as a money-grabbing opportunist who took advantage of Edward III's dotage to extort all she could for herself and her family.
This story turns things around and looks at things from Alice's point of view. The over-arching refrain is, 'What choice did I have?'
Betrothed as a young woman to a man whose family has secrets, Alice is taken under the crown's protection when he goes missing. There, she catches the eye of the king and the rest, as they say, is history. Or is it?
I can understand that unprotected women in that era were subject to being controlled and coerced, wholly dependent on the goodwill of any who would provide for them. And which of us would refuse the protection of a king, even if it does come with some dubious small-print. But there were times when Alice's character seemed contradictory. A merchant's daughter and wife, and brought up to understand business, am I really to believe she did not see the end-game devised for her by the powerful men who held her fate in their hands?
Most of all, I found the 'big secret' of the Perrers family to be too flimsy to justify all the supposed consequences of it. No spoilers here, but it seemed to me that of all the people the Perrers needed to fear, Edward III would be top of the list. So why place Alice in his hands? This matter was a foundation stone of the whole premise, but too wobbly for my liking.
However, the (American) writer did a great job of producing an authentically English historical novel, avoiding all the Americanisms that jar so with UK readers. Apart from one. We visit our houses, properties, manors, estates, cottages, hovels, mansions, farms ... but not 'homes'.
This story turns things around and looks at things from Alice's point of view. The over-arching refrain is, 'What choice did I have?'
Betrothed as a young woman to a man whose family has secrets, Alice is taken under the crown's protection when he goes missing. There, she catches the eye of the king and the rest, as they say, is history. Or is it?
I can understand that unprotected women in that era were subject to being controlled and coerced, wholly dependent on the goodwill of any who would provide for them. And which of us would refuse the protection of a king, even if it does come with some dubious small-print. But there were times when Alice's character seemed contradictory. A merchant's daughter and wife, and brought up to understand business, am I really to believe she did not see the end-game devised for her by the powerful men who held her fate in their hands?
Most of all, I found the 'big secret' of the Perrers family to be too flimsy to justify all the supposed consequences of it. No spoilers here, but it seemed to me that of all the people the Perrers needed to fear, Edward III would be top of the list. So why place Alice in his hands? This matter was a foundation stone of the whole premise, but too wobbly for my liking.
However, the (American) writer did a great job of producing an authentically English historical novel, avoiding all the Americanisms that jar so with UK readers. Apart from one. We visit our houses, properties, manors, estates, cottages, hovels, mansions, farms ... but not 'homes'.
August 11, 2018
I really enjoyed this book. In history, I've not been a fan of Alice but I've enjoyed her in fiction. It's easy to forget that notorious women are written into history through the eyes of men.. Usually men who have reason to dislike the woman. The only other book I've read about Alice was by Anne O'Brien (which was one of my favorites by the author). Anyway, in that book, Alice was portrayed as shrewd, ambitious and ruthless up until the end while in this book, she was portrayed as overly innocent and the opposite of ambitious---honestly both books were different in many aspects. I imagine the true Alice is somewhere in between.
I admit, I am more interested in her now than ever before. I wish that we had more concrete historical info on her.
I admit, I am more interested in her now than ever before. I wish that we had more concrete historical info on her.
June 9, 2020
Written well with plenty of depth and detail this is a wonderful retelling of what Alice Perrars life may have been like.
Women's lives were hard and court life fraught with dangers so she was really stuck between a rock and a hard place, manipulated by the men in the Royal circles.
Women's lives were hard and court life fraught with dangers so she was really stuck between a rock and a hard place, manipulated by the men in the Royal circles.
March 3, 2024
Beautifully written, complex story of a strong woman constrained by society and damned for that by them.
July 25, 2010
Alice Perrers, a commoner born into a family of merchants, was the notorious mistress of King Edward III of England. She has gone down in history as an oft-reviled woman who didn't know her place among a court full of her "betters", most of whom came from families that could claim ancient noble descent. Alice was a new historical character for me and I enjoyed reading this fictionalized account of her side of the story. The author bio listed for Emma Campion on the Random House website states that she is the world's foremost scholar on Alice Perrers. I like to do some research into new historical characters I read about in fiction that interest me, and Alice Perrers was no exception. In doing so I discovered that the author really strove towards as much historical accuracy as possible, which I always admire. But whereas Alice was portrayed by chroniclers as "a shameless, impudent harlot," Emma Campion has come to find that Alice was yet another very real woman who has been unjustly vilified in historical accounts, and set to giving Alice a voice of her own.
People were so aghast at a commoner having been so favored by the king over the years that those who envied her were determined to see her brought down, sullying her name in records and portraying her as a grasping, manipulative gold-digger who took advantage of an aging king. Some accounts even go so far as to accuse her of stripping the rings from King Edward's fingers before his dead body was even cold, scurrying away from the palace with her treasures. After reading some of the terrible suppositions Alice's contemporaries made about her, I found it really interesting to read fictionalized but possible justifications for actions made by Alice that could clearly have been misconstrued and misjudged by the public. The author gives very plausible explanations for events the public took to be of Alice's design, often repeating the phrase "When had I the choice to be other than what I was?"
I felt this book was slow going at points. In an effort to stick to an accurate timeline, the author probably sacrificed making this book a more plot-driven novel. The title is somewhat misleading, as for the majority book, Alice is not yet the King's mistress (and though the title might imply it, this not a bodice-ripper, either - thank goodness!). One of the story lines of the book I found most interesting begins well before Alice has met Edward yet, and involves a bit of a real historical mystery. This was one of the plot points that did hold my interest, and it was probably the most exciting part of the book for me. Campion really thrives in this historical thriller-type of writing, an area in which she's had some practice since she also writes historical mysteries under the name Candace Robe.
In the opening of each of the four sections of the book, Alice is looking back on her life and inwardly contemplating how she came to be in her current position. These brief interludes as well as a few other areas of the book struck me as trite in expression. And I hate to say it, because I enjoyed the book overall, but the scene where Edward and Alice first consummate their passion is borderline cheesy. There was also overuse of certain words throughout the book ("sanguine", "escarlette") that I found distracting. Granted, Alice was the daughter of a cloth merchant, but I felt there were too many references to clothing and fashion mentioned in the book. I'm sure that those of the 14th century who could afford to do so were keen on looking their best, but there was just too much of an emphasis on the way people dressed. It felt a bit forced - almost as if an editor had encouraged the author to include more references to fashion because he/she felt that doing so might make the Medieval story appeal to modern readers (total speculation on my part, but some of the references seemed really overly deliberate to me).
I found it fascinating how similarly Alice's story mirrors that of Criseyde from “Troilus and Criseyde” by Geoffrey Chaucer. The parallel is no mere coincidence - Chaucer was a dear childhood friend of Alice's in the book, and it has often been thought that she was his inspiration for "The Wife of Bath's Tale" in The Catebury Tales. His inclusion as a character and confidant to Alice in The King's Mistress was skillfully done, and I enjoyed reading the excerpts from "Troilus and Criseyde" that marked the opening of each new chapter in the book. Despite some criticisms, I think this is a commendable historical fiction debut and I will be interested to read Emma Campion's next novel. In her fabulous guest post from yesterday, she mentioned that she's currently working on an account of Joan of Kent. Joan was one of my favorite characters from The King's Mistress so I will look forward to reading it. Crown publishers/TLC Book Tours was kind enough to offer readers of this blog a copy of The King's Mistress for giveaway so be sure to enter before 7/25!
People were so aghast at a commoner having been so favored by the king over the years that those who envied her were determined to see her brought down, sullying her name in records and portraying her as a grasping, manipulative gold-digger who took advantage of an aging king. Some accounts even go so far as to accuse her of stripping the rings from King Edward's fingers before his dead body was even cold, scurrying away from the palace with her treasures. After reading some of the terrible suppositions Alice's contemporaries made about her, I found it really interesting to read fictionalized but possible justifications for actions made by Alice that could clearly have been misconstrued and misjudged by the public. The author gives very plausible explanations for events the public took to be of Alice's design, often repeating the phrase "When had I the choice to be other than what I was?"
I felt this book was slow going at points. In an effort to stick to an accurate timeline, the author probably sacrificed making this book a more plot-driven novel. The title is somewhat misleading, as for the majority book, Alice is not yet the King's mistress (and though the title might imply it, this not a bodice-ripper, either - thank goodness!). One of the story lines of the book I found most interesting begins well before Alice has met Edward yet, and involves a bit of a real historical mystery. This was one of the plot points that did hold my interest, and it was probably the most exciting part of the book for me. Campion really thrives in this historical thriller-type of writing, an area in which she's had some practice since she also writes historical mysteries under the name Candace Robe.
In the opening of each of the four sections of the book, Alice is looking back on her life and inwardly contemplating how she came to be in her current position. These brief interludes as well as a few other areas of the book struck me as trite in expression. And I hate to say it, because I enjoyed the book overall, but the scene where Edward and Alice first consummate their passion is borderline cheesy. There was also overuse of certain words throughout the book ("sanguine", "escarlette") that I found distracting. Granted, Alice was the daughter of a cloth merchant, but I felt there were too many references to clothing and fashion mentioned in the book. I'm sure that those of the 14th century who could afford to do so were keen on looking their best, but there was just too much of an emphasis on the way people dressed. It felt a bit forced - almost as if an editor had encouraged the author to include more references to fashion because he/she felt that doing so might make the Medieval story appeal to modern readers (total speculation on my part, but some of the references seemed really overly deliberate to me).
I found it fascinating how similarly Alice's story mirrors that of Criseyde from “Troilus and Criseyde” by Geoffrey Chaucer. The parallel is no mere coincidence - Chaucer was a dear childhood friend of Alice's in the book, and it has often been thought that she was his inspiration for "The Wife of Bath's Tale" in The Catebury Tales. His inclusion as a character and confidant to Alice in The King's Mistress was skillfully done, and I enjoyed reading the excerpts from "Troilus and Criseyde" that marked the opening of each new chapter in the book. Despite some criticisms, I think this is a commendable historical fiction debut and I will be interested to read Emma Campion's next novel. In her fabulous guest post from yesterday, she mentioned that she's currently working on an account of Joan of Kent. Joan was one of my favorite characters from The King's Mistress so I will look forward to reading it. Crown publishers/TLC Book Tours was kind enough to offer readers of this blog a copy of The King's Mistress for giveaway so be sure to enter before 7/25!
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