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A pretty decent read, although it had its flaws. My copy stands at around 600 pages and there could have easily been 200+ cut from that with all the repetition (usually about her need for land) and angst. The repetition is a pain, it slows down the story each time, we get it, she needs property to feel secure, I don't need to be told 10 times. It is reminiscent of another historical fiction writer who uses a similar tactic *coughs* Philippa Gregory *coughs*. I read O'Brien's book on Katherine Swynford and found the same problem but I couldn't finish that. The romances were pretty good and there's nothing too steamy if you're not into that. I've never read anything about Alice Perrers before, non-fiction or fiction, so I don't know how much of this matches up to what she was like. I'd recommend this as a fairly quick read, the writing style is for the most part engaging and is easy to read.
Interesting enough to keep me reading but occasionally repetitive and slow. Didn't know much about the reign of Edward III, and Alice's story was a good introduction to it. A good book, but not earth shattering. Worth reading if you're interested in royal British history. Probably won't be on my 'to re-read' shelf.
Yawn. Too much telling, not enough showing. The character were flat and boring. I honestly can't even remember anything that happened in the middle of this novel.
I do not really know what happened, it could have been growing all week. I was all come on, 600 pages? Why is that needed? Cos honestly nothing happened in the book.
I started to read, it felt ok, but then I started to skim and skimmed to the end. I could have worked through it and given it a good rating but it was a library book which means...I gave up and skimmed. I have too many books. I need awesome, if the library do not give me awesome I go all eh.
I am also not a fan of the this is me, the narrator, I am old now and telling my story. I want to live in the moment. I do not want the narrator as a old woman there with me at the same time looking back.
The book deserved more, I could just not deliver this time.
I started to read, it felt ok, but then I started to skim and skimmed to the end. I could have worked through it and given it a good rating but it was a library book which means...I gave up and skimmed. I have too many books. I need awesome, if the library do not give me awesome I go all eh.
I am also not a fan of the this is me, the narrator, I am old now and telling my story. I want to live in the moment. I do not want the narrator as a old woman there with me at the same time looking back.
The book deserved more, I could just not deliver this time.
Three and a half stars. I didn't really enjoy this book all that much. Alice as a narrator was annoying and repetitive. Questioning everything even when the truth was thrown in her face. I can see how the author was trying to make Alice a strong woman who just had a lot of enemies. But what she made her was an annoying child even into her thirties. Age wasn't really discussed in the book so it was hard to tell how old she was through all of this except through the aging of Edward. But she acted like a spoiled child most of the time.
4 stars - It was great. I loved it.
I have read little historical fiction set in the 1300’s, and nothing that I can recall of King Edward III and his royal mistress, Alice Perrers. Nor had I read anything by this author prior to this book. It was wonderful on all fronts - engaging and with well fleshed out characters. I will be looking for other works by this author.
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Favorite Quote: I had shown that their hostility meant nothing to me. I would make no excuses, I would not retaliate, I would keep my own counsel. They would see that I had no fear of them. For the first time I learned the true power of self-control.
First Sentence: ‘Today you will be my Lady of the Sun,’ King Edward says as he approaches to settle me into my chariot.
I have read little historical fiction set in the 1300’s, and nothing that I can recall of King Edward III and his royal mistress, Alice Perrers. Nor had I read anything by this author prior to this book. It was wonderful on all fronts - engaging and with well fleshed out characters. I will be looking for other works by this author.
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Favorite Quote: I had shown that their hostility meant nothing to me. I would make no excuses, I would not retaliate, I would keep my own counsel. They would see that I had no fear of them. For the first time I learned the true power of self-control.
First Sentence: ‘Today you will be my Lady of the Sun,’ King Edward says as he approaches to settle me into my chariot.
I enjoyed reading this book, though there were a few places where it read like a trashy romance novel.
Before this book, I only knew Alice Perrers as Edward III's "evil" mistress, vaguely aware that she was supposed to have been power-mad, greedy, and vicious. The portrayal of Alice in this book is quite different. She simply has the sensibilities of a modern woman, living in the 1300s.
Abandoned at birth and left to the brutal rearing of a convent, it's a rags-to-riches story. But not an ordinary one. Given the circumstances of Alice's early life, she grows up unwilling and unable to trust others and determined to rely on her wits alone to secure a future for herself and later her children. Unlike most royal mistresses, Alice doesn't advance simply because she's beautiful, talented, or otherwise able to catch the eye of important people. Instead, she rises because she is blunt, clever in business, determined, and fiercely independent. Even though these characteristics run counter to the rules society tries to impose.
In fact, it turns out that her wiliness, the thing that sets her apart from other women, is the very thing that brings her to the attention of royalty. And it's intriguing to watch Alice navigate King Edward's III's medieval world where her attitudes and actions, ones that would now be considered commonplace and acceptable, were challenged and perceived as threats. It certainly explains why she has come down through history with such a bad reputation.
Before this book, I only knew Alice Perrers as Edward III's "evil" mistress, vaguely aware that she was supposed to have been power-mad, greedy, and vicious. The portrayal of Alice in this book is quite different. She simply has the sensibilities of a modern woman, living in the 1300s.
Abandoned at birth and left to the brutal rearing of a convent, it's a rags-to-riches story. But not an ordinary one. Given the circumstances of Alice's early life, she grows up unwilling and unable to trust others and determined to rely on her wits alone to secure a future for herself and later her children. Unlike most royal mistresses, Alice doesn't advance simply because she's beautiful, talented, or otherwise able to catch the eye of important people. Instead, she rises because she is blunt, clever in business, determined, and fiercely independent. Even though these characteristics run counter to the rules society tries to impose.
In fact, it turns out that her wiliness, the thing that sets her apart from other women, is the very thing that brings her to the attention of royalty. And it's intriguing to watch Alice navigate King Edward's III's medieval world where her attitudes and actions, ones that would now be considered commonplace and acceptable, were challenged and perceived as threats. It certainly explains why she has come down through history with such a bad reputation.
Rating: 3.5 stars
The King’s Concubine is about King Edward III, Queen Philippa, and Alice Perrers, the king’s infamous mistress. The book follows Alice’s life from her time at Barking Abbey, her short, unconsummated marriage to Janyn Perrers, and her renewed time at the convent before Queen Philippa sees something in her and saves her from that life by making her one of her damsels. Alice sympathizes with the queen and becomes loyal to her, showing her various kindnesses because of her sense of right and the queen rewards her for it by raising her position.
The queen suffers from pain and swollen limbs and despite Edward’s love for her, she can no longer perform her wifely duties. That is where her plan for young Alice Perrers comes in. Even though it pains her, Philippa asks Alice to be with the king. She would rather have someone who is loyal to her and who she trusts and chooses to be with the king rather than some court lady who would gloat about her position.
Philippa explains that she already told Edward to take a lover since she cannot withstand it anymore. All she has to do is get Alice to agree and place her in Edward’s way.
I really liked Alice’s strength and audacity. I admired how she kept her counsel in moments of great self-control and how she knew when the moment was right for her to speak her mind in a way that it would be to her benefit.
I have always heard of Alice Perrers and since she is a bit before my usual time period, I never learned more about her than the bare basics. I knew she was linked to King Edward and that she was one of the many despised mistresses throughout English history. That was about it. No one knows much about her early life and if Alice knew, she never let on to anyone. I must have heard bad things about her in the course of my education and reading, so I went into this thinking she was another upstart who wanted power. Of course, The King’s Concubine is ficiton and I do not know enough about this time period or of Alice Perrers to know what historians say about her or to form my own judgement based solely on facts, but I do believe that she enjoyed the power, but what she always wanted most out of life was security.
I was stunned when, in the book, Queen Philippa told her that she already urged Edward to take a lover and that she planned to put Alice in that position. It was a precarious position for Alice. The king desired her and she was the queen’s closest confidante, but everyone else thought she was a greedy nobody who was undermining the sweetest and most pious queen of the time, who was well-loved. Since there is a negative stigma attached to Alice Perrers, I am sure that if this fiction was true, the two parties who planned it kept their secrets so closely guarded that today we have no way of knowing. I think, by doing this, Anne O’Brien created an aura of mystery around Alice and the whole situation which just makes me want to read more about her and learn the facts and the inferences.
The King’s Concubine is very interesting, but it was a bit slow for me to read because of the extremely small print and the never-ending chapters. If I cannot read a book straight through (which is most of them), I prefer to take a break when I reach the next chapter and with this book, that next chapter never seemed to come. That was the only part that discouraged me a bit and made me keep putting down the book. But I did feel like I learned a lot about the Alice Perrers that O’Brien created and the one history remembers through the reactions of court, even though it was fiction.
Recommended for those who enjoy historical fiction and want to read a positive spin on Alice Perrers.
Read this review in its original format here.
The King’s Concubine is about King Edward III, Queen Philippa, and Alice Perrers, the king’s infamous mistress. The book follows Alice’s life from her time at Barking Abbey, her short, unconsummated marriage to Janyn Perrers, and her renewed time at the convent before Queen Philippa sees something in her and saves her from that life by making her one of her damsels. Alice sympathizes with the queen and becomes loyal to her, showing her various kindnesses because of her sense of right and the queen rewards her for it by raising her position.
The queen suffers from pain and swollen limbs and despite Edward’s love for her, she can no longer perform her wifely duties. That is where her plan for young Alice Perrers comes in. Even though it pains her, Philippa asks Alice to be with the king. She would rather have someone who is loyal to her and who she trusts and chooses to be with the king rather than some court lady who would gloat about her position.
Philippa explains that she already told Edward to take a lover since she cannot withstand it anymore. All she has to do is get Alice to agree and place her in Edward’s way.
I really liked Alice’s strength and audacity. I admired how she kept her counsel in moments of great self-control and how she knew when the moment was right for her to speak her mind in a way that it would be to her benefit.
I have always heard of Alice Perrers and since she is a bit before my usual time period, I never learned more about her than the bare basics. I knew she was linked to King Edward and that she was one of the many despised mistresses throughout English history. That was about it. No one knows much about her early life and if Alice knew, she never let on to anyone. I must have heard bad things about her in the course of my education and reading, so I went into this thinking she was another upstart who wanted power. Of course, The King’s Concubine is ficiton and I do not know enough about this time period or of Alice Perrers to know what historians say about her or to form my own judgement based solely on facts, but I do believe that she enjoyed the power, but what she always wanted most out of life was security.
I was stunned when, in the book, Queen Philippa told her that she already urged Edward to take a lover and that she planned to put Alice in that position. It was a precarious position for Alice. The king desired her and she was the queen’s closest confidante, but everyone else thought she was a greedy nobody who was undermining the sweetest and most pious queen of the time, who was well-loved. Since there is a negative stigma attached to Alice Perrers, I am sure that if this fiction was true, the two parties who planned it kept their secrets so closely guarded that today we have no way of knowing. I think, by doing this, Anne O’Brien created an aura of mystery around Alice and the whole situation which just makes me want to read more about her and learn the facts and the inferences.
The King’s Concubine is very interesting, but it was a bit slow for me to read because of the extremely small print and the never-ending chapters. If I cannot read a book straight through (which is most of them), I prefer to take a break when I reach the next chapter and with this book, that next chapter never seemed to come. That was the only part that discouraged me a bit and made me keep putting down the book. But I did feel like I learned a lot about the Alice Perrers that O’Brien created and the one history remembers through the reactions of court, even though it was fiction.
Recommended for those who enjoy historical fiction and want to read a positive spin on Alice Perrers.
Read this review in its original format here.
adventurous
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
🌟🌟🌟🌟.5/5
A wonderful and insightful novel about the life of Alice Perrers. Even as an orphan in a convent, Alice always knew she was destined for greatness. Through a chance meeting, she is thrust into lady-in-waiting to Queen Philippa and eventually becomes mistress to King Edward III.
Over the course of thirteen years, she becomes the trusted lover and confidante to the King who heavily leans on her for support. Her wits and status earn her many enemies and very few allies as she strives to make a comfortable future for herself in the event of the King's death.
It took me some time to finish this book. I set it aside for months but when I picked it up again, I was thrust back into the intrigue of Alice's life. From accusations, trials to unexpected events, I blazed through the final 150 pages or so.
This was the first time ever hearing of Alice Perrers and the author did not disappoint in bringing this character to life! I adored this novel! It had the perfect amount of romance and suspense!
A wonderful and insightful novel about the life of Alice Perrers. Even as an orphan in a convent, Alice always knew she was destined for greatness. Through a chance meeting, she is thrust into lady-in-waiting to Queen Philippa and eventually becomes mistress to King Edward III.
Over the course of thirteen years, she becomes the trusted lover and confidante to the King who heavily leans on her for support. Her wits and status earn her many enemies and very few allies as she strives to make a comfortable future for herself in the event of the King's death.
It took me some time to finish this book. I set it aside for months but when I picked it up again, I was thrust back into the intrigue of Alice's life. From accusations, trials to unexpected events, I blazed through the final 150 pages or so.
This was the first time ever hearing of Alice Perrers and the author did not disappoint in bringing this character to life! I adored this novel! It had the perfect amount of romance and suspense!