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A review by cjblates
The King's Witch by Tracy Borman
4.0
Full review at https://sapphistication.wordpress.com/2018/09/03/reviewing-the-kings-witch-by-tracy-borman/
The King’s Witch follows young noblewoman Frances Gorges as she navigates the transition from the reign of Queen Elizabeth I to that of King James I. Frances was a favourite of the old Queen, and her skills in herbalism and healing were called upon to aid the ailing ruler in her final days – but the new King is on a witch hunt, sanctioned by God, and when Frances is thrust into court by her uncle, she unwittingly becomes a target. Serving as a companion for King James’s daughter, she finds herself a favourite of the young princess and her mother – but the Lord Privy Seal’s loathing for Frances and her family and his desperation to secure favour from the new King put Frances and those she loves in peril.
He forces Frances to watch the hanging of a witch, and it’s the single most upsetting scene in this entire book.
Now I’ll admit, while I love history this is not a period I know a HUGE amount about, other than the details of witch-hunting (on which I have, for my own purposes, done quite a bit of research as of late). A Tudor fan in school, I comparatively know very little about the ruler that followed and the goings-on of his court. Borman is a historian, and from her writing you can tell she has a wealth of knowledge about the era – foods, clothes, makeup, all are painstakingly rendered real through Frances’s eyes. There were a few moments where the extent of the focus on these minor aspects began to shift it from fiction to historical, but more often than not they served to aid the story as opposed to hinder its telling. This attention to detail paid off in full when we as readers are first witness to the decadence and hypocrisy of King James’s court. A man with often puritanical beliefs and laws, we see his parties filled with salaciously clad guests – most memorably a woman wearing a large ribbon who is shortly thereafter very naked – and his young, handsome favourites openly spending more time in the company (and bed) of the King than his wife the Queen. King James is portrayed in a thoroughly unflattering light. Physically unattractive, rude, cruel and vulgar. His reaction to his wife’s miscarriage is one of disgust and loathing, and his invasive involvement in trialling witches is downright sinister. It suddenly became much more understandable that people had tried to kill him.
The King’s Witch follows young noblewoman Frances Gorges as she navigates the transition from the reign of Queen Elizabeth I to that of King James I. Frances was a favourite of the old Queen, and her skills in herbalism and healing were called upon to aid the ailing ruler in her final days – but the new King is on a witch hunt, sanctioned by God, and when Frances is thrust into court by her uncle, she unwittingly becomes a target. Serving as a companion for King James’s daughter, she finds herself a favourite of the young princess and her mother – but the Lord Privy Seal’s loathing for Frances and her family and his desperation to secure favour from the new King put Frances and those she loves in peril.
He forces Frances to watch the hanging of a witch, and it’s the single most upsetting scene in this entire book.
Now I’ll admit, while I love history this is not a period I know a HUGE amount about, other than the details of witch-hunting (on which I have, for my own purposes, done quite a bit of research as of late). A Tudor fan in school, I comparatively know very little about the ruler that followed and the goings-on of his court. Borman is a historian, and from her writing you can tell she has a wealth of knowledge about the era – foods, clothes, makeup, all are painstakingly rendered real through Frances’s eyes. There were a few moments where the extent of the focus on these minor aspects began to shift it from fiction to historical, but more often than not they served to aid the story as opposed to hinder its telling. This attention to detail paid off in full when we as readers are first witness to the decadence and hypocrisy of King James’s court. A man with often puritanical beliefs and laws, we see his parties filled with salaciously clad guests – most memorably a woman wearing a large ribbon who is shortly thereafter very naked – and his young, handsome favourites openly spending more time in the company (and bed) of the King than his wife the Queen. King James is portrayed in a thoroughly unflattering light. Physically unattractive, rude, cruel and vulgar. His reaction to his wife’s miscarriage is one of disgust and loathing, and his invasive involvement in trialling witches is downright sinister. It suddenly became much more understandable that people had tried to kill him.