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A review by acrosstheskyinstars
The Dangerous Kingdom of Love by Neil Blackmore
4.0
This book tells the story of Francis Bacon, a gay man living in Jacobean England (and obviously a real-life historical figure) as he plots and schemes his way through the court of King James I. On his journey, he crosses paths with other notable historical figures, the biggest name of which is William Shakespeare.
The story starts when Francis’ enemy, who also happens to be the lover of the King begins plotting. Francis, in his need to secure his position at court, devises an opposing plan. He will team up with the Queen and find a young love interest for the King to take his enemy’s place. (For anyone wondering about the problematic nature of this relationship, I can’t tell you it’s not in anyway problematic, but the person chosen is above the modern age of consent.)
In the course of Francis scheming, he fails to account for one thing: human nature. It becomes very clear that our main character is a natural plotter, but he fails to recognize the human element in the people he plots against. This leads to his ultimate downfall.
One thing I really liked about this book was that Francis Bacon is portrayed as an unreliable narrator. I wish it had been made more clear earlier on in the book. In my opinion, the reveal at the end was a bit too late. However, it does add to the book positively. This book gave me similar vibes to As Meat Loves Salt by Maria McCann. That is also a book with a gay unreliable narrator who plots and schemes, and is also set in a similar time period (though that one is during the English Civil War).
Overall, I’d recommend this book if you like retellings. I thought this was a great way to make the personalities and situations from history stand out and be more palatable to a modern audience. While I cannot confirm the accuracy of the portrayals, they do make for a compelling read. I found myself not wanting to put the book down.
This book was given to me as an Advance Reading Copy by Netgalley.
The story starts when Francis’ enemy, who also happens to be the lover of the King begins plotting. Francis, in his need to secure his position at court, devises an opposing plan. He will team up with the Queen and find a young love interest for the King to take his enemy’s place. (For anyone wondering about the problematic nature of this relationship, I can’t tell you it’s not in anyway problematic, but the person chosen is above the modern age of consent.)
In the course of Francis scheming, he fails to account for one thing: human nature. It becomes very clear that our main character is a natural plotter, but he fails to recognize the human element in the people he plots against. This leads to his ultimate downfall.
One thing I really liked about this book was that Francis Bacon is portrayed as an unreliable narrator. I wish it had been made more clear earlier on in the book. In my opinion, the reveal at the end was a bit too late. However, it does add to the book positively. This book gave me similar vibes to As Meat Loves Salt by Maria McCann. That is also a book with a gay unreliable narrator who plots and schemes, and is also set in a similar time period (though that one is during the English Civil War).
Overall, I’d recommend this book if you like retellings. I thought this was a great way to make the personalities and situations from history stand out and be more palatable to a modern audience. While I cannot confirm the accuracy of the portrayals, they do make for a compelling read. I found myself not wanting to put the book down.
This book was given to me as an Advance Reading Copy by Netgalley.