This is Nell's story, so there is little court intrigue beyond jockeying for position with the other mistresses (and the Queen), and the right of succession when the matter of Charles' health comes under threat. This was an enjoyable and easy read, introducing us to a 10 year old Nell Gwynn, just as she is starting out in the local brothel and gives a view of her progressing through society until she becomes one of King Charles II's mistresses. Slight liberties are taken with the factual record but none that jar, and overall this is a highly readable debut.Esta reseña ha sido escrita por los Primeros Reseñadores de LibraryThing.Copy received from the publishers as part of Librarything's August Early Reviewer batch. The novel covers many years, and the exposition of relationships and political developments is efficient and skillful. It was a bawdy age, and the sex scenes are numerous and extremely graphic, which might unsettle some readers. Her motherly devotion to their two sons, her support of her sister Rose, and her heartfelt mourning for the losses she endures, renders Nell a sympathetic as well as an entertaining heroine.īagwell provides rich period flavor through dialogue, scene setting, verses, and quotations from plays in which Nell appeared to such acclaim. Aristocratic rogues soon flock to her side - and some to her bed - but when she becomes the king’s mistress she proves loyal and affectionate, outwardly brave when confronting rivals for his attentions, privately suffering pangs of jealousy. Her flair for witty repartee and her beauty secure her a place in the company and a mentor in Charles Hart. Her timing is impeccable - females are now permitted on the stage. Voluntarily joining her sister Rose in a brothel, she becomes popular with the clientele, and on leaving moves up a rung in the underworld as an orange-seller at the theatre.
Living in a London slum, avoiding her mother’s blows, little Nell Gwynn accepts her hardships but soon learns that bartering her body is more lucrative than selling oysters. First-time author Bagwell’s presentation of a familiar and popular Restoration-era character brings to life the players, wits, wenches, and mistresses who populated the court of King Charles II.
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