The Darling Strumpet: A Novel of Nell Gwynn, Who Captured the Heart of England and King Charles II

Well, I can say that I was not prepared for the beginning of the story to be the way that it was. Even though that it was the way of the world back then, I was not prepared for the author to begin the story of Nell Gwyn as a child “lady of the night”. It was a tad uncomfortable to read through that portion of the story, but not too bad for you to stop the story completely. It goes through her life pretty quickly at times, then slow at others. She starts out as a young girl who sells oysters, to a “girl of the night”, a orange seller, actress and then her rise to mistress of King Charles II. The book shows her as a favorite of the people, and an easy to love woman with little demands for her royal lover. The people and courtiers loved her for her honesty, kindness and her wit. My only dismay is where is Charles II, there is very little of him in this book, well not enough for my expectations for being his mistress. But then again he juggled quite a few at a time. I will read again, but maybe not for a bit. I want to scrub away some of the scenes.