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aceinit's review against another edition
3.0
No one can accuse this book of being dry. In fact, it is so colorful in places that I can’t help but wonder to what extend some of the “facts” presented have been elaborated upon. Though history is certainly not dull, I still could not escape the fact that certain descriptions were a bit too colorful.
Though I enjoyed the book, it is put together in an erratic manner. Chapter skip back and forth between monarchs and their mistresses, with very little regard to chronology and even tacking all of what they have to say about a particular woman at one time. We skip from Madame de Pompadour to Nell Gwynn to Madame du Barry and, sometimes, right back to Madame de Pompadour again. We travel from England to France, back to England and on to Prussia in the span of a few short pages.
Unless one is familiar with all of the players and periods of history covered here, this lack of organization can cause the figures discussed to quickly run together. And, in the case of some mistresses such as Nell Gwynn, the events relayed to the reader con contract themselves from one chapter to the next. First, she is described as paying her own way through life with no help from her royal lover. Later, it is mentioned that she received a royal stipend that, while not as generous as some others received, was certainly nothing to laugh at.
The book would have greatly benefitted from a more consistent and linear presentation, which, in turn would have cut down on inconsistencies mentioned about certain mistresses or royals. It is an entertaining but highly scattered read, and one that, to me, must be taken with a grain of salt.
Though I enjoyed the book, it is put together in an erratic manner. Chapter skip back and forth between monarchs and their mistresses, with very little regard to chronology and even tacking all of what they have to say about a particular woman at one time. We skip from Madame de Pompadour to Nell Gwynn to Madame du Barry and, sometimes, right back to Madame de Pompadour again. We travel from England to France, back to England and on to Prussia in the span of a few short pages.
Unless one is familiar with all of the players and periods of history covered here, this lack of organization can cause the figures discussed to quickly run together. And, in the case of some mistresses such as Nell Gwynn, the events relayed to the reader con contract themselves from one chapter to the next. First, she is described as paying her own way through life with no help from her royal lover. Later, it is mentioned that she received a royal stipend that, while not as generous as some others received, was certainly nothing to laugh at.
The book would have greatly benefitted from a more consistent and linear presentation, which, in turn would have cut down on inconsistencies mentioned about certain mistresses or royals. It is an entertaining but highly scattered read, and one that, to me, must be taken with a grain of salt.
homa99's review against another edition
4.0
What I learned was that, back in the day, the fundamental order of operations, in terms of position went a little something like this:
pope
king
mistress at her peak
...
bastard son of king
legit son of king
...
sack of shit
...
mistress at all other times
queen
sack of shit on fire
pope
king
mistress at her peak
...
bastard son of king
legit son of king
...
sack of shit
...
mistress at all other times
queen
sack of shit on fire
nderiley's review against another edition
3.0
Entertaining enough but the organization frustrated me. The chapters are by category instead of person and consequently one ends up reading about the same few people over and over again throughout the chapters intertwined enough with new comers to make it confusing
lwbean's review against another edition
medium-paced
This book was an organizational disaster, not to mention it was easily the most sexist book I’ve ever read. Lacking all depth, reflection, and proper citations. Don’t waste your time unless you like reading various descriptions about how awful women “are.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infertility, Body shaming, Xenophobia, Infidelity, Sexism, Bullying, Fatphobia, and Racism
emilyrandolph_epstein's review against another edition
5.0
An intriguing look at 500 years of royal mistresses. As someone who enjoys writing court intrigue, this book held a lot of inspiration. The one thing I felt it lacked was a more worldly perspective as it was solely focused on European courts
dwarrowdams's review against another edition
The “hurr durr the Dark Ages” angle of the introduction started this off on the wrong foot, and the bit I did read seemed very speculative and gossip-y.