jethrien

Title: Nell Gwyn: Mistress to a King
Author: Charles Beauclerk
Genre: Biography (Restoration England)
Thingummies: 2.5

Synopsis: Actress Nell Gwyn managed to rise from the gutter by captivating Charles II for decades.

Thoughts: If I'd realized this was written by a descendant, I don't think I would have bothered to pick it up.

Oh, the story is pretty fascinating--Nell was clearly an amazing woman. She started as the guttersnipe daughter of a drunkard, turned herself into one of the most acclaimed comedians in theater in an area where women had only just been allowed on the stage in the first place, and wound up mistress to the king of England. Plenty of people could have landed in his bed--plenty did--but despite her lack of title or noble upbringing, she managed to keep his interest for the rest of his life, bearing him sons and holding her own against other, far more wealthy and powerful, mistresses. Meanwhile, her King, whose father had been overthrown and executed, wrangles the incredibly complicated politics brought about by the aftermath of the Civil War, the tensions between Protestants and Catholics, the constant interference from the King of France, and his own lack of legitimate heirs and overabundance of illegitimate ones.

But Beauclerk is so enamored of his subject that, despite the fact that he's a trained historian, I find myself doubting his spin on everything. There is far too much conjecture here. Far too much wildly over-purpled prose. Sweet Nell can literally do no wrong in his eyes, and it rapidly becomes grating and a little ludicrous. Add a muddled timeline, and I find myself concerned about keeping track of what actually happened in this time period.

Oh, and skip the last chapter. It's a description of the lives and fates of Nell's entire subsequent family line, up to and including the author's own son. Because clearly people who wanted to learn more about the Restoration and Charles II's affair actually care about some random duke's marriage beneath him in the 1800s. It unfortunately lays clear the fact that this book, no matter how painstaking the research, is ultimately less historical analysis and more a vanity project.