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A review by emilyacres
The King's Witch: Frances Gorges Historical Trilogy, Book I by Tracy Borman
2.0
Thank you to the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Set in 1603 England, in the time of restoration after the death of Queen Elizabeth and the beginning of the rule of King James, a cruel, fear-ridden and impetuous man. In this time the court, under the direction of King James, saw Catholics as the enemy and witches as a very real and terrible danger. Here we meet Frances Gorges, a young lady for whom this time presents great peril, seeing as she has all the traits of a witch; unmarried, outspoken and a great aptitude in healing. Frances can only hope to stay far from court in the safe confines of her family's estate where she can spend her time gathering plants in the adjacent forest and help the lives of the villagers. Unfortunately for Frances she has no say when she is unwillingly whisked away by her distantly-related Uncle, the scheming and uncaring head of family who sees in Frances his own advancement at court, leaving Frances in the exact position she was trying to avoid.
This novel was written by a historian and you can tell, for better and for worse. The history surrounding this book was by far my favorite part. Reading about this tumultuous time was both suspenseful and fascinating. This historically accurate novel was also able to paint a painful portrait of women in court at the time which created a real sense of claustrophobia and lack of agency that isn't always associated with those of high social standing. I liked reading about Frances as a vehicle for describing women of this era. I also quite enjoyed the romance-aspect of the book, despite not lingering on it overly-long, I thought it was charming and looked forward to the parts where it was included.
The writing itself isn't particularly descriptive which occasionally left me feeling like the physical setting was foggy, not quite being able to make out the details. I think this lack of description also came in to play with character building. Despite really enjoying Frances as an example for women of her time I didn't really feel a connection with her. Perhaps this is just the other side of the same coin. As someone who loves atmospheric novels I felt that this one could have used a wee bit more description to fully illustrate the setting. I think Tracy Borman did a great job drawing me into the history and was able to keep my attention the whole time so I do plan on continuing with the series when the next book comes out.
‘Ah, but such great ladies have always found ways to trick their husbands into believing that they are compliant, when all the while it is they who wield all the power.’
Set in 1603 England, in the time of restoration after the death of Queen Elizabeth and the beginning of the rule of King James, a cruel, fear-ridden and impetuous man. In this time the court, under the direction of King James, saw Catholics as the enemy and witches as a very real and terrible danger. Here we meet Frances Gorges, a young lady for whom this time presents great peril, seeing as she has all the traits of a witch; unmarried, outspoken and a great aptitude in healing. Frances can only hope to stay far from court in the safe confines of her family's estate where she can spend her time gathering plants in the adjacent forest and help the lives of the villagers. Unfortunately for Frances she has no say when she is unwillingly whisked away by her distantly-related Uncle, the scheming and uncaring head of family who sees in Frances his own advancement at court, leaving Frances in the exact position she was trying to avoid.
This novel was written by a historian and you can tell, for better and for worse. The history surrounding this book was by far my favorite part. Reading about this tumultuous time was both suspenseful and fascinating. This historically accurate novel was also able to paint a painful portrait of women in court at the time which created a real sense of claustrophobia and lack of agency that isn't always associated with those of high social standing. I liked reading about Frances as a vehicle for describing women of this era. I also quite enjoyed the romance-aspect of the book, despite not lingering on it overly-long, I thought it was charming and looked forward to the parts where it was included.
The writing itself isn't particularly descriptive which occasionally left me feeling like the physical setting was foggy, not quite being able to make out the details. I think this lack of description also came in to play with character building. Despite really enjoying Frances as an example for women of her time I didn't really feel a connection with her. Perhaps this is just the other side of the same coin. As someone who loves atmospheric novels I felt that this one could have used a wee bit more description to fully illustrate the setting. I think Tracy Borman did a great job drawing me into the history and was able to keep my attention the whole time so I do plan on continuing with the series when the next book comes out.