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    The King's Mistress: A Novel
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    The King's Mistress: A Novel
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    The King's Mistress: A Novel
    Audiobook17 hours

    The King's Mistress: A Novel

    Written by Emma Campion

    Narrated by Donada Peters

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    History has not been kind to Alice Perrers, the notorious mistress of King Edward III. Scholars and contemporaries alike have deemed her a manipulative woman who used her great beauty and sensuality to take advantage of an aging and increasingly senile king. But who was the woman behind the scandal? A cold-hearted opportunist or someone fighting for her very survival?

    Like most girls of her era Alice is taught obedience in all things. At the age of fourteen she marries the man her father chooses for her, dutifully accepting the cost of being torn from the family she holds so dear and losing the love of her mother forever. Despite these heartbreaks Alice finds that merchant Janyn Perrers is a good and loving husband and the two settle into a happy life together. Their bliss is short-lived, however, unraveled the dark day a messenger appears at Alice's door and notifies her of Janyn's sudden disappearance.

    In the wake of this tragedy, Alice learns that her husband kept many dangerous secrets--secrets that result in a price on her own head and that of her beloved daughter. Her only chance to survive lies in the protection of King Edward and Queen Philippa, but she therefore must live at court as a virtual prisoner. When she is singled out by the king for more than just royal patronage, the stakes are raised. Disobeying Edward is not an option, not when her family is at risk, but the court is full of ambitious men and women, many of whom will stop at nothing to see her fall fron grace. The whispers and gossip abound, isolating Alice, who finds unexpected solace in her love for the king.

    Emma Campion paints a colorful and thrilling portrait of the court of Edward III--with all of its extravagance, scandalous love affairs, political machinations, and murder--and the devastating results of being singled out by the royal family. At the center of the storm is Alice, surviving by her wits in this dangerous world where the choices are not always of her own making. Emma Campion's dazzling novel shows that there is always another side to the story.


    From the Hardcover edition.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateJul 6, 2010
    ISBN9780307735836
    Unavailable
    The King's Mistress: A Novel

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    Reviews for The King's Mistress

    4/5

    86 ratings23 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Historical fiction is my guilty pleasure - this one does not disappoint.
    • 4/5
      The King's Mistress is a piece of historical fiction about the life of Alice Perrers, the mistress of King Edward III of England. Even though it is very loosely based on the real Alice Perrers, this is an extremely interesting and well written story. Emma Campion does a fantastic job of making you care about Alice, and the challenges which she must face as the King's Mistress. She does a wonderful job of describing Alice's life as a member of the court and her duties to the Queen, as well as giving beautiful descriptions of the fabrics and clothes worn by the court, and the customs, traditions, and the trade carried on by the people of the time. She also introduces Geoffrey Chaucer as Alice's friend, which I found interesting. This book is definitely worth picking up and reading.
    • 2/5
      No, it's not shockingly unique among it's genre! This book does NOT lack detail, it is almost tedious, While I am not certain that Alice was the "impudent harlot of low birth" that history has painted her to be, I am also not certain that she was as innocent and blameless as Campion has portrayed her. In all, it is an interesting time period that just wasn't given the justice it was due. I can still hear the violins playing in sympathy for poor Alice, who repeatedly asks the question, "When had I a choice to be other than I was?" But--Alice's characterization is an overwhelming problem. I can't believe in this interpretation of Alice Perrers. I couldn't believe in her as a fictional character, either. Not only is nothing that happens to Alice her fault, but she's desired by all, a loving mother, a devoted wife, innocent, totally naive and oh so wholesome, and only wicked people ever oppose her. Unfortunately, the novel is bogged down with Alice’s self-absorption You could like the book if accuracy isn't a big issue.
    • 4/5
      This was such a great book. My first real foray into the life of King Edward III and his mistress, Alice Perrers and it was quite enthralling. Campion does an excellent job of portraying the plight of a woman in the 14th century. Women had so very little choice of who they would marry. And then, if the king wants you as his mistress, well then you better bow to his wishes. Alice had no choice in any aspect of her life...everything was decided for her. You could say that she was carried along by fate. But she remained a strong woman in her own right and had many children, who were her life. I really admired her and look forward to reading more about her. Emma Campion is the world's foremost scholar on Alice Perrers. I can see why she was able to write such a wonderful book.
    • 3/5
      The King's Mistress, a novel is a very long-winded book. From the first page it sets the pace that is continued throughout. Clearly the author researched the main character, Alice Perrers, King Edward III's mistress. Because the story goes on and on and there is not much love generated for the main character, Alice, one wishes that the book would just come to an end already. Consequently, a solid three stars is the appropriate rating for this book.
    • 4/5
      B.A.B.A.E.L.Let's get one thing out of the way: This book has the title of a bodice-ripper. Yes, Alice Perrers was the king's mistress, but we could have done better than that, no?The good news is this isn't a bodice-ripper (well, I suppose if you like bodice-rippers that is bad news, but...). In fact, most of the sexual situations -- of course there are some, because we are talking about a book about the king's mistress, after all -- are handled with a great deal of decorum, sometimes even employing the literary equivalent of fade-to-black.If you have ever read Anya Seton's Katherine (What do you mean you haven't? Get on that!) then you have encountered the character of Alice Perrers at least once. And it wasn't a pretty picture. History has not been kind to Ms. Perrers, to the point where even the sympathetic Seton, able to understand Katherine Swynford's role as mistress, still paints Perrers as the villian.Popular history says that she was... well, let's let this site tell it: "She was an ambitious, unscrupulous, indiscreet and greedy woman of humble origins who became one of the most powerful figures at royal court of Edward III" (Source: middleages.org)Ouch.Emma Campion doesn't see it that way. The refrain of her Alice is "What choice had I to be other than I was?" Campion states that she rejected the notion that any common woman could "choose" to become the king's mistress -- rather it is far more likely that the king chose her and that it was an honor Alice Perrers didn't dare refuse. A compelling theory, I think.Campion also gets the chance to make Alice, about whom we actually know very little, into something of a medieval "everywoman," through whom we get to learn a little bit about common life, court life, luxury and plague. Campion's Perrers is the daughter of a modertly well-to-do merchant and a mother who doesn't much care to compete with her pretty daughter. So she is soon wed to another well-to-do merchant named Janyn Perrers -- a step up since he is known to hob knob with royalty. Dangerous royalty, though.Perrers' years with Janyn are happy ones, but his dangerous connections mean she is eventually placed in the household of Queen Phillipa of Hainault, wife of Edward III. (This much is true.) While there, the beautiful Alice catches the eye of the king and is given implicit permission by the barren and aged queen to lie with the king. Perrers is very much in love, but much like her husband before her, she is messing with dangerous royalty.This is a great novel of the court-life variety, with all the usual twists, turns, and villains lurking around every corner ready to bring our heroine down. It's also a passable, if not always believable, romance. As medieval fiction, it both packs a lot of period detail, while not quit delivering quite the medieval feel. Like many historical fiction heroines before her, Alice Perrers has a decidedly modern tone. What few flaws it has, though, are ultimately forgivable, and this is a really readable and exciting story. Campion has done a good job of redeeming the naughty Alice. Maybe it will catch on.
    • 5/5
      A most enjoyable , well told and narrated story.... As in reading a regular book, it was hard to 'put it down' ..... Always , it was ...just one more chapter......
    • 3/5
      The King's Mistress is indeed heavy on the historical detail rather than fiction, so heads up on that. It did not deter me from enjoying the narrative, as 14th century historical fiction is a rather untouched area for me. Alice had little choice in her life's path and it was interesting to watch her grapple with that and also with being a mother.
    • 4/5
      Prior to this novel, my image of Alice Perrers, Edward III's mistress, was that of the greedy mistress taking the rings off of the dead Edward III's hands, as she is remembered in the chronicles. However, Emma Campion clearly did her research well in this novelization of Alice's life and convincingly rehabilitates Alice's reputation. Alice Perrers emerges as the obedient daughter of London merchants, who is married young to a merchant with suspicious royal connections, and finds herself in the royal household where she comes under the watchful eye of the king. Alice emerges as a likable character, one who does the best with what she is given, and a smart woman who takes on the management of properties in an age when women were considered property. But Alice is also the victim of men more powerful than she. A good read, one that makes 14th-century England come alive in detail and imagery.
    • 3/5
      “When had I been other than I was?”This phrase is the sole essence of this novel. The theme remarks how complicated life can get when free will and choice are taken away. Alice Perrers, a common woman who needing royal protection when her husband disappears, is confined to a golden cage.The author was inspired by the monk Walsingham who talked briefly about Alice Perrers as this common harlot to King Edward III of England. As a result, Campion shaped a possible life for Alice, imagining that Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde was based on her. The novel cannot be considered a biography of her because so little facts are known about this notorious woman. And to make the story even more exciting, Campion includes fictional suppositions of Alice’s earlier life, along with her first marriage to Janyn, and her connection to the Dowager Queen Isabella and Mortimer’s (completely fictional) secret love child.But using the power of fiction, Campion wrote “The King’s Mistress” with the hope that Alice herself may be happy with the result, and I think she would have been.
    • 3/5
      In an endless stream of Tudor and British historical fiction, authors are struggling to be heard. Especially after the success of Philippa Gregory's Other Boleyn Girl, writers have been pumping out clones in hopes to make a few dollars during the craze. Though author Emma Campion is being billed as an Alice Salisbury "scholar," her novel The King's Mistress is just another attempt to copy the Other Boleyn Girl "formula."Basically, if you've read The Other Boleyn Girl, you've read The King's Mistress, minus the political ambition and the compelling intrigue. In The King's Mistress, merchant's daughter and commoner Alice Salisbury is married at a young age to merchant Janyn, whom she learns to love and eventually bears him a daughter. After Janyn dies, Alice ends up in service to Queen Philippa, wife to King Edward IV. As a lady in Philippa household, Alice catches the eye of the elderly king, and, of course, a lustful romance blooms between the two.Alice, though, is fairly isolated from the politics of the court, even though she bears the king three illegitimate children. To me, this is where things would really get interesting -what does it mean for Alice to be mistress to the king, and a commoner, as well as an unmarried woman in possession of lands and wealth? But strangely enough, all of the politics and intrigue of the day are placed firmly in the background and virtually ignored. Because of this, among other things, Alice, though a seemingly interesting historical figure, becomes uninteresting and hardly compelling. While the book tries to present itself as a piece exploring whether or not Alice is a misunderstood woman or a harlot, the novel doesn't really go into it. Alice is presented as a woman who is a "victim" of circumstance that just kind of goes along with things that happen to her in life which really made her far less interesting and made it difficult for me to get into her character.The King's Mistress to me, is a disappointment. Even if the author had kept the same framework as The Other Boleyn Girl, there is so much more that she could have used to spice up the story. Instead, readers are presented with a bland rip-off with an uninteresting main character that had potential to be wonderful but fell short of the mark.
    • 3/5
      Soooo... it's been so long since I read this (July!!!), that I barely remember anything that I had to say about it... on the plus side, that also means there wasn't anything that I particularly disliked about it. I remember enjoying it for the most part -- though I think the story moved a bit slowly at parts -- and also thinking that I really should learn more about this period in history (of which I am woefully uninformed). The novel centers around Alice Perrers, commonly known as King Edward III's "notorious mistress", and seeks to redeem her as a sympathetic character. The author portrays her as a woman who did her best to provide for her children and the people she loved, even when it meant sacrificing her own happiness in the process.As I said, I don't know much about this period of history, so I have nothing to really compare the book to (ie. historical knowledge, or other similar novels). Someone who is very familiar with these historical figures and the events of the time might have a completely different experience reading this book, and I can't say whether that would be for the good or the bad.In the meantime, as someone who read the novel at face value without bringing in prior knowledge or opinions about the featured people or events, I found it to be a decent, enjoyable read.
    • 5/5
      I enjoyed this book. I love Historical Fiction, and this was a great book about Alice Perrers, a much-misunderstood figure in the court of King Edward and Queen Phillippa. I like that the author gave Alice a heart and brought out the fact that she really may not have had a choice but to become King Edward's mistress. Who really can go against (let alone manipulate) a king?
    • 5/5
      I was hooked from the first page. This novel represents what I love most about reading historical fiction. Emma Campion has taken Alice Perrers, whom little is known of, and filled out her life to explain why she was so notorious at the time, and why her reputation was undeserved. The story begins when Alice is fourteen and about to be wed to Janyn Perrers, a merchant her family has chosen for her. The author handles this delicately, Alice seems very mature for her age so you do not get the impression of child abuse, in fact it is more of a fairytale begining. Janyn seems to good to be true. This story has the right balance of romance and suspense, as well as giving the reader insight to Edward III's court as well as a glimpse of his notorious mother, Isabella of France. Alice is telling her story in first person, and you really feel you are there with her. This was obviously a labor of love for the author, and I can't wait to see what she writes next!
    • 4/5
      Alice Salisbury is a prosperous English merchant's daughter who is soon to be wed. When her father arranges a marriage with the much older and very winsome Janyn Perrers, Alice is overcome with nervousness and hope. Janyn and Alice begin to build a beautiful life together and share a passionate love, but there are secrets about Janyn's family that will soon tear them apart. The Perrers have had an unfortunate shared past with the former queen, Isabella. After Isabella had her husband murdered and her son Edward put on the throne, the Perrers became indispensable to her for the secrets they kept. Now these secrets threaten to resurface, and the only way to protect Alice and her young daughter is to engage Alice in service to the new queen, Phillipa. As Alice comes to understand all that she must give up for the protection of her family, she begins to realize that King Edward has his eye on her for a role much different than the one she hopes to play as Phillipa's serving woman. Soon Alice is caught up in the heady love of a king and must fight to keep the public from labeling her as a dangerous woman who has the king's favor and ear. Weathering the storm in the castle, she becomes the light of the king's life but also the sworn enemy of Parliament and the commoners, her future hanging over a dangerous abyss of uncertainty and poverty. For the love of King Edward cannot sustain her indefinitely, and even before tragedy arises from her strange union, Alice is forced to make some very difficult and painful choices that will change the shape of her family's future.I admit that going into this book, I knew very little about King Edward, nor Alice Perrers, for that matter. I have come to realize, after reading this book, that little is actually known about the woman. Except for the inflammatory and malicious accounts of her from those in Parliament, the woman's life is shrouded in obscurity and gossip. The main reason this book appealed to me was the similarly in style to the books of Phillipa Gregory, yet in this book, Campion shies away from most of the bodice-ripping aspects of the story and instead chooses to focus on the difficult conundrums of Alice's free will and intention.The book begins with a fourteen year old Alice's growing concerns over her upcoming marriage. There is a definite undercurrent of hostility running through her home that takes the form of her mother's jealously. Alice's mother is a cold woman who can't easily manage the fact that she has a beautiful daughter who is a grace to the family in her own right. When Alice discovers Janyn is the man intended for her, she begins what is only the first of her struggles to accept what fate has in store for her. Though Alice admires and grows to love Janyn, she feels ever constrained by the fact that she cannot choose her future, and this comes as a bitter disappointment when she realizes that her safety can only be assured with her removal from the life she shares with her husband. Alice laments the fact that Janyn's family is so indebted to the royals and fears for the safety of her new daughter, as well as her husband. In the palace, her feelings of imprisonment only grow, and though she loves the queen, she can't help but feel like a bird in a gilded cage, constantly moving to a rhythm that she does not set herself.When Alice realizes that she is to be the king's mistress, she is thrown into confusion and fear. She realizes that once again, she has no control over this matter and is horrified to discover that Queen Phillipa herself is grooming Alice for Edward's bedchamber. That the king and queen are in collusion to deliver Alice to his bed confuses her and sets her in a world of barely concealed guilt and remorse. Edward, for his part, will not be denied, and spends great amounts of time and money wooing the still innocent young woman, who feels lost without Jaynyn and her family. This love affair between the girl and the king is by no mean ordinary, and as time progresses, Alice becomes more powerful and well regraded in the royal palace, a situation that brings danger from all sides. Alice is ever aware that she is currying disfavor from those around her, but the king refuses to see this and brags about her to every open ear, creating a shame and fear in her that cannot be forgotten.When the affair between Alice and the king is threatened due to his failing health, Alice is beset by betrayals and spies, and once again, she must give up her freedom to do what is expected of her. Though she is in great danger, she's unable to protect herself, for the royal vassals control her every move. In this regard, Alice is merely a prisoner with royal favor, and though she has borne the king's children, she has no say over their lives or her own. At the mercy of those in power, Alice becomes a chess piece to be played with at will. What's interesting in this tale is the lengths Alice goes to escape her fate. She begins to collect property and rents and tries to build a life that she can retire to when the king lets her go, never knowing that she will never be released from her engagements. The public outcry against her is indeed loud and vicious, and Alice must watch as her life is stripped away piece by piece. She laments over and over again that she has had no choice in the affairs of her life and wonders aloud how she could ever have prevented these things from happening.Alice's story is just one of many women at that time. Though trapped, she sometimes is able to find happiness in her life but she never forgets that she is at the whim of others. Women during this time were mostly at the mercy of their husbands and fathers, but Alice takes her orders from a much more noble captor. This obviously creates an inner panic in her, yet she sees no way to release herself from the chains that bind her. Time and time again, freedom is but a ride away and Alice can never take that ride. She is beset by plagues of inconsistency and grief for a life she never lived, and it seems no one wants to acknowledge this. The arrogance with which the king deals with her is frightening and all-encompassing, and Alice is forced to watch as her life and prospects slowly drain way. Alice is cruelly used for all she is worth, and in the end, though she does find happiness, it comes at great cost to her and her family.As historical fiction goes, this was one of the better examples of the genre. The description of royal life was certainly not lacking and the book gained a lot of depth by engaging itself primarily in the mindset and perspective of the ill-used Alice. I read a lot of this book with trepidation, because although Alice willed her life to be different, I couldn't help but see her spinning closer and closer to destruction at the king's hands. I think this book would surprise many readers of the genre because the narrative was very tight and the storyline was very tense. I would definitely recommend this book to readers of historical fiction and especially those wishing to learn more about the infamous Alice Perrers. Recommended.
    • 3/5
      I enjoyed this book although not being familiar with this time period sometimes it would get confusing to keep track of which Edward, John, Joan, etc. they were referring to in some parts of the book (come on people use some original names!). I know, I know, that is just how it was during this time period. Other than that this was an interesting read as we see everything from the view point of Dame/Mistress Alice and as hard as it is to believe she really was naive through the whole book. You cannot help but feel sorry for what she goes through when all she was trying to do was to be an obedient daughter, wife and subject of the king and queen. Most of the other historical fiction books I have read involved Henry VIII so this was a nice departure and to see the vagaries of a different royal couple. Campion says in the end that she got the idea from just a sliver of information that mentions Alice and she built a character around what she thought could have potentially been the actual situation of Alice. Like many things in history we will never know the truth, was Alice really an innocent or was she a clever merchant's daughter who manage to rise far above her station, but this was an intriguing story. It was a little slow moving for my tastes but still a nice read.
    • 4/5
      I picked up "The King's Mistress" wondering how I would like it. I had never heard of Alice Perrers and had never read anything by Emma Campion. It turns out that Emma Campion is from my part of the world - and I wish that there were other works by her that I could read! Alice Perrers was the daughter of a Hertfordshire knight whose life span is said to have been approximately from 1348 to 1400. I found the following description of Alice's character on the Middle- Ages.org.uk website " She was an ambitious, unscrupulous, indiscreet and greedy woman of humble origins who became one of the most powerful figures at royal court of Edward III". Ms. Campion is, as I have learned the foremost scholar on Alice Perrers and I think that she might disagree about this characterization. Ambitious? Yes, to keep herself and her family intact and comfortable after the loss of her husband (which is in itself a rather interesting tale as presented in the book. Unscrupulous? Doesn't seem that way from reading this book. Indiscreet? No! From what I've gathered from this book it was others around her who were the indiscreet factions. Greedy? Again, it does not appear that way - although she did have a great business sense and used her assets - both personal and financial- well.Alice was castigated as a whore when King Edward III seduced her during the time that Alice was in service to his Queen- Philippa of Hainault. Ms. Campion paints Alice as a young woman with a good business sense, whose loss of her husband, Janyn Perrers and mother-in-law frames the book with a mystery all it's own. Alice's character is presented as smart,beautiful, a good business woman but also as a rather obedient, cautious woman who was fearful about what the Court would think of her affair with the King. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and have stayed up later than I should every night hating to turn the light out and put the down. It's a fascinating glimpse of what the life of a widow and her life at Court might well have been like. I hope that Emma Campion plans to add another title to credits - I will buy it as soon as I can based on my enjoyment of this novel!
    • 4/5
      I very much enjoyed this beautifully written and luxuriously paced book. Alice Perrers is not someone I was familiar with as I am less familiar with the time period of Edward III so it was interesting to delve into a part of history that was new to me. I also really enjoyed reading about someone in the merchant class. So often historical fiction deals almost exclusively with the high born - this is the third bit of historical fiction that I have read this year that captures the lives of people not born to the ruling classes (the other two are The Daughters of the Witching Hill and Wolf Hall) - it's nice to see some different perspectives, it makes me feel as if I have a broader view of things.Alice is the daughter of a cloth merchant and is, thusly, trained to notice fabrics and fabrics are, indeed, important throughout the book - as a memory device, as a way of making friends, as a means of denoting mood or status. It's a lovely way to thread a coherent through line and an aspect of the book that I loved.I also loved being forced to look at and think about a different view of marriage. From Alice's early thoughts about marriage as a way to honor and strengthen her family to the various kinds of marriages we observe among the nobility marriage at that time was different than the way we think of it. I very much enjoyed the author's embrace of mores and means of the time period.Lastly, I liked how ordinary Alice was - an ordinary woman making her life in extraordinary times as best she could. It's good to be reminded that sometimes an ordinary life is worth hearing about.
    • 4/5
      I have a big soft spot for historical fiction, especially stories set in medieval England. I can never get enough of the court intrigue, back stabbing royal courtiers, and the excesses of the kings and queens. I have a particular fondness for stories that are told from the point of view of an outsider, someone that manages to get pulled into the royal orbit and has to adjust to a life they don’t want to live and were never prepared for. In this case, Alice Perrers is that outsider. Campion takes a little known mistress to a king and elevates her story, with a lot of embellishments for the fiction lovers of course, to one that is really fascinating.Alice Salisbury is a young girl when she meets, and falls in love with, her future husband, Janyn Perrers. It is an arranged marriage but Alice and Janyn do find much love together, and Alice, young and naive as she is, thinks herself blessed and content happy to live out her days married to a wealthy merchant. Unfortunately for Alice, Janyn’s family harbors a secret that will tear the small, happy family apart and cause a lot heartache that will not end even when the secret that was kept from Alice is revealed.Janyn’s family has connections to the Dowager Queen Isabella, mother of Edward III, and a woman full of secrets, lies, and the ability to ruin lives. For Alice, this relationship which entranced her and then quickly scared her, becomes a shackle. When her much loved husband disappears, Alice finds a price has been put on her head and she soon becomes a pawn of the royal household. A daughter and wife of a merchant, she is lost at court unable to decipher small gestures that mean so much and not able, and sometimes unwilling, to make and keep friends. She does, however, manage to foster a relationship with Queen Philippa, the wife of Edward III, which becomes her grounding force in the hectic court.Alice’s relationship with the Queen keeps her safe but she is unprepared for the role for which she is being groomed --- she is to become the mistress of Edward III. Alice doesn’t go willingly to the King’s bed and finds her attraction and love for the King scare her. She eventually gives in fully and becomes lost in her all consuming love for Edward. The relationship, which she had hoped would stay quiet, puts her in even more danger than she ever imagined. She decides that while she may not have control of her own life, she will use her position to make a stable and safe life for her children, and in the process, becomes a rich landowner, a position that many people at court do not care for. After the death of the King, Alice finds no reprieve but only more fight ahead of her and, all pretenses of naivety gone, she starts once more to claim her life.It is obvious that Campion knows her subject and time period extraordinarily well. The details she sprinkles throughout the story are rich and draw you into the world that Alice inhabits. The court scandals, murderous plots, love affairs, and extravagant parties move the story along making you wonder how one person could find so much love and pain in the same life. While The King’s Mistress is fiction, the real life Alice Perrers would probably have been entertained by the story Campion weaves.This is a heavy read though. While Campion has obviously done her research, there were times when the details felt too overwhelming and slowed the story down a bit. The excesses of the royal family and descriptions of cloth and clothing sometimes brought the story to a halt. Fortunately, the story has more than enough going for it to overcome the details and Alice makes a fine character to follow. For lovers of historical fiction, this has a bit of everything to enjoy.
    • 4/5
      I’ll admit, I don’t know much about history. I had never heard of Alice Perrers and was unaware that she was a real person when I began this book. The tale is fictional, but it is written by Emma Campion who “did her graduate work in medieval and Anglo-Saxon literature and is the world's foremost scholar on Alice Perrers.” So I can only imagine that Perrers lived an extraordinary life.The book was very well written and Campion put in such detail, you can tell she truly cared about the subject and the enormous amount of characters within the story. My only issue was trying to keep so many characters with the same names or similar names straight. Often times I was confused by who someone was or thinking they were someone else because of these name issues. Though the details of Alice’s life were amazing, I felt so very sorry for someone ever having been put into the position she had and having no choice in the matter, time and time again. Alice’s character was brought alive by Campion’s words and linking her to people like Geoffrey Chaucer was a very redeeming quality within the story. I think history buff’s and historical fiction lovers will adore this story.
    • 4/5
      From My Blog...Alice Perrers, born Alice Salisbury has historically been categorically vilified and author Emma Campion decides to take a different look at the life of Alice in her novel, The King’s Mistress. Campion takes a completely different approach from other accounts I have read and makes Alice out to be a charming and sweet woman beginning in 1355 with a desire to be a good daughter and marry well to help her father, a successful merchant. At the age of 13, she pledges to marry Janyn Perrers, but at the extreme displeasure of her mother. A good portion of the novel focuses on her marriage to Janyn as well as textiles, which makes sense, as she is the daughter of a wealthy merchant. The fabrics and styles add to the time period, yet I would have preferred less fabrics and more depth into the characters. Janyn mysteriously disappears and Alice soon requires the assistance of King Henry III and Queen Philippa. Those familiar with this time period know approximately what will occur, those not will be surprised, so I shall not divulge anything other than that this novel contains mystery, intrigue, love, scandal and dangerous secrets. Campion goes to great lengths to reshape the public’s opinion of Alice. Campion’s writing style is fluid, descriptive, mysterious as well as entertaining, yet I could not quite buy Alice as she is written in this novel. The King’s Mistress is an interesting read and for those, like me, interested in historical fiction, this is another take on King Henry’s mistress, Alice Perrers. I would suggest reading other novels about this complicated woman to get a more complete sense of this infamous woman. I found The King’s Mistress to be a delightful read and as wrong as this may sound, I discovered I prefer the more scandalous version of Alice Perrers than the version Campion offers, yet I would recommend The King’s Mistress to those who enjoy historical fiction. I would have liked to have been discussing this book while I read it, so I would recommend it as a discussion group choice.
    • 4/5
      This was a wonderful, broadly sculpted historical fiction novel that puts the reader right in the middle of King Edward III's England. The story is told first person by a fairly unknown woman in history, Edward's mistress, Alice Perrers. Throughout her life, since the age of 13, Alice is used by everyone around her, for their pleasure, her beauty, her business acumen and as a pawn in various ways (mostly through prior and long-forged relationships, both good and bad, formed during Edward II's reign and ultimate murder at the hand of his wife/Isabella of France and her lover Mortimer). Sadly, Alice learns of how she has been used well after the fact and she learns that her life was never one of choices. The theme which runs under every situation she finds herself in is "I never had a choice but to be other than what I was." The court and times of Edward III truly came alive in this book and that was fun, gossipy at times, romance and betrayal are rampant. My only small complaint is that Alice is almost too perfect in her naivete, innocence, beauty and ultimate forgiveness for those who ruin, plot against her and defile her. But overall, this is a wonderful book, rich in history and detail, right down to the horses, hawking, clothes and jewels. I am surprised it does not have wider distribution as it deserves it. The thing I thought Campion did better than most in this genre is she made it easy to keep everyone straight, their allegiances, their histories and their lineage. So it was easier (and more pleasurable) than most novels of this scope to just kick back and let the story and history take the reader away. Highly recommended.
    • 5/5
      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.