The King's Mistress

This book is very exciting. I couldn't wait to find out what happened next. Reading this has made me want to look up more information about Alice Perrers and this time period.

First, let me state, Emma Campion does a masterful job in this tale, "The Kings Mistress." The story revolves around the amazing life of Alice Salisbury from 1355 to 1384. Never has one person experienced the highs and lows as our Ms. Salisbury! In the aforementioned 30-year period, Alice manages to go from daughter, to wife, to widow, to mistress, to widow (unoficially!), to wife, to widow, to wife (and she manages to have children, too!). This novel held my interest from start-to-finish! Ms. Salisbury did manage to live a life that many would envy, and that just as many wouldn't wish upon their worst enemies - such is the life, when one is connected to royalty! Read on, and find out. Finally, this work of fiction has non-fictional characters dispersed throughout that you can indeed find in history texts. I invite you to do research on them at your leisure. This was a well-conceived, well-written story! Great reading! If I could give more than 5 stars, I would! (I liked it that much!) Ms. Campion does, indeed, give voice to Alice Salisbury, and I give this novel: 5 Stars!

If you are a fan of Anne Easter Smith's historical fiction, you will doubtless enjoy Emma Campion's "The King's Mistress." Taking place from 1355 - 1384, this novel is the novelized account of Alice Perrers. Alice was the mistress of King Edward III, and mother of several of his children. In this novel, Alice tells the story of her life starting with her engagement to a merchant at age 13, and ending in the aftermath of the death of her long-time lover and father of many of her children, Edward when she is in her early 30's and subsequent choices. The novel is divided into four sections: An Innocent Encounters the World, The Queen's Handmaid, The King's Mistress, and A Phoenix. in Each section, you watch how Alice grows in maturity, self-assurance and business sense. You watch her relationships grow, morph and mature. You see her changes in demeanor, dress and priorities. The author, Emma Campion, is a scholar in Anglo-Saxon literature and that is evident in this novel. The details of daily life - fabrics, cuts of gowns, jewels, feasts, foods, and the routine of courtly life are given in loving detail. The book glows with her knowledge of the subject matter. I heartily enjoyed reading this novel and look forward to more from this author.

The King's Mistress is an enormous book, in terms of both physical size and scope. Covering the period from 1355 to the 1380s, this novel is the story of Alice Perrers, mistress to King Edward III. Upon her marriage to Janyn Perrers, Alice finds that her husband has connections to the Dowager Queen Isabella, a woman who once incited rebellion against her husband. After her husband's disappearance, Alice enters the royal court, valued by Queen Philippa for her knowledge of textiles, capturing the attention of King Edward in the process. It's pretty amazing, too, how closely Alice's life parallels that of Troilus and Criseyde--in fact, she even suggests that Alice was in some part the inspiration for Chaucer's poem. Alice sort of has a Bad Reputation, fabricated by her enemies at court and fostered over the years. Certainly in Emma Campion's Owen Archer mysteries (written as Candace Robb), Alice really doesn't come off very well, so it was interesting to me to witness how the author handles her narrator in this book. In The King's Mistress, Alice comes alive, as an outsider in an atmosphere where she has many enemies. From her early marriage to Janyn Perrers up through her death, Alice narrates her story, proving herself to be a strong, courageous woman, even though she had few options. It's a long book--nearly 550 pages and a large trim size, and it's taken me a while to finish. It's a tough novel to categorize, primarily because it's so huge in scope. There's some fabulous character development here, as Alice grows from being a naïve young wife to the canny mistress of a king, feared and detested by all. And yet, it's clear that she doesn't have many options--as she says over and over, when had I a choice to be other than I was? From the moment she catches the King's eye, purely by accident, she also catches the enmity of other people at court, not the least of which is the King's son, John of Gaunt. And yet this novel isn't a "woe is me" whine-fest about how other people are jealous of her; instead, Alice comes across as a woman who didn't want the life into which she was pushed. At the same time, though, I'm led to wonder about Alice's behavior: she's not totally an innocent in all this, flattered by and welcoming of the King's attention. Alice is a complicated character, at once a loving mother and shrewd lover, companion, and business partner to King Edward. It's a well-researched novel, too. It seems as though the author does expect her reader to know about John of Gaunt's affair with Katherine Swynford (it's referred to several times in passing), but since they're more or less minor characters, it doesn't matter so much. It's a shame that this book isn't more widely available; it's excellent and I highly recommend it.

Emma Campion states that she wrote this book to satisfy her curiosity about Alice Perrers who is painted in history as "an impudent harlot of low birth" who through manipulation finds her way into being the Mistress of King Edward III. But Campion states that she wanted to give Alice Perrers a voice in stating what really happened. I was transfixed by the story from the opening line, "When had I a choice to be other than I was?" That line alone caught my attention. It made me want to delve into the book and find out whether or not Alice Perrers did have choices in her life, or was she the `victim' of chance. Through the superb writing of Campion the life of Alice Perrers and the court of King Edward the III and Queen Philippa comes alive. You as the reader are drawn into the story through well written dialogue and word pictures that help you feel the pain, grief, agony and joy of each individual through the twists and turns of their lives. Alice finds herself as a wife, mother, widow, confidante to the Queen and eventually the Mistress to King Edward III. But unlike what you expect of a mistress who shares the bed of the King and nothing else, Alice finds herself becoming the full-time companion to the King and someone that he comes to rely upon for her expertise in business affairs. The story is written in the time frame of 1350 to 1380. During this time England experiences a season of "the plauge" and many people succumb to the deadly disease. The King's court is not immune to this illness nor is Alice's family of origin. All experience the heartbreak of death, some more than others. What impressed me through this novel was the fact that I came to see Alice Perrers in a very good light. She impressed me as someone who fell in love easily, but never waivered from that love. She was loyal to those she loved. She was faithful through the good times and the bad. I think I found myself as Campion did, if Alice Perrers was such a bad person (according to some historians), i.e. just an opportunist, then why did she stay with King Edward until the end when she could have formed any number of other unions that would have benefited her. I wish all of history was written in such an intriguing fashion. It would certainly make learning about past times much more enjoyable. Thank you Emma Campion for your research and excellent writing skills and bringing such a wonderful story to life. Enjoy reading this great novel!