The Perfect Royal Mistress: A Novel [Paperback]

This is a quick, fun, easy to read romance to appeal to your Cinderella side.

Nell Gwynne grew up in a brothel and is scarred by watching her intoxicated mother, and later her older sister, succumb to the perils of prostitution and promises herself something better. As a teen she sells oranges to the crowds at the King's Theatre and eventually makes her way to the stage. From there she catches the roving eye of the Rogue King (King Charles II of England) and captures the heart of the London crowd. The well documented `rags to riches' romance they embarked upon lasted until the King's death nearly 20 years later.

History has portrayed Nell Gwynne as the original "whore with a heart of gold" (though she is undeserving of being called a whore). Despite Charles' insatiable appetite for other women, she maintained her cheekiness, clever wit and showed him only compassion. He loved her for her unedited honesty, quick and bawdy humor, and simple non-aristocratic self. Though Haeger does not tell the reader which elements of this novel are established facts and which are purely fictional, her presentation of the King is consistent with that of observers of the time (Sam Pepys, etc.). He had a knack for living through nostalgia rather than the present, an inability to separate familial and political needs, a dread of conflict, and an unquenchable thirst for all things hedonistic. To Nell Gwynne he was a mortal flawed man, not just the King, and Nell loved him for himself.

One drawback - Haeger attempted to write Nell's dialogue phonetically by merely dropping the "H" sound from words which begin with the same letter. There is more to the accent than that! While it made the point that Nell never forgot who she was or where she came from, I found this to be distracting. It is a small flaw to an otherwise enjoyable love story.

In Restoration England, Nell Gwynne lives in poverty-riddled London, an orange girl at the King's Theater who has so far avoided the taint of prostitution that has claimed her mother and sister. With fresh beauty and quick wit, Nell is determined to forge a better life, but her lack of breeding and an empty purse leave little doubt as to what awaits such a woman. London is still reeling from the devastation of the plague and the Great Fire that has all but leveled the city. However, Nell's fortunes are radically altered in a chance meeting with King Charles II outside the theatre as she sifts through the rubble. This fortuitous meeting will change the girl's life, the king enchanted by her spunk, long copper tresses and sweet face. Given an opportunity to act in a bawdy comedy on stage at the theater, the die is cast as London society falls in love with this daughter of the streets. At the theater with his latest mistress, Lady Castlemaine, Charles takes immediate notice of the saucy actress, intrigued by thoughts of a future liaison.

Thinking to better herself by an association with the nobility that now pay nightly homage, Nell falls for the charms of a roué, unaware of his reputation as a womanizer. After protecting her virtue for so long, Nell decides that perhaps this lesser noble will be her ticket out of poverty, only to find that he is a drunk with no intentions of marrying. Yet her dalliance has brought Nell to Charles' court, where the king takes immediate notice, with amorous intentions of his own. Judiciously planning to succumb to the charms of the king, Nell begins an affair that will last for over a decade, becoming not only a favored mistress but a trusted confidant of the monarch. From the start, the philandering king makes clear his inability to remain faithful to one woman; it is Nell's pragmatic acceptance of this fact that insures her longevity at the king's side. Through a considerable act of will and an unerring instinct for survival, Nell ignores the king's other dalliances, threatening and painful though they may be, bearing him two sons, at the heart of all her love for the man who raised her from poverty to a life of luxury.

Haeger captures the essence of Reformation society, the constant gossip that seeks to intimidate the outsider, the sycophants who buzz about the throne like flies. In contrast, Nell is a creature of the streets who finds her voice on the stage; even though Charles draws his mistress into court society, to the shock of the nobility, she is able, for the most part, to interact without embarrassing her benefactor. No fool, Nell has made her own alliances at court, influential men who support the woman they have come to trust as a faithful friend. It is this honesty and lack of artifice that so intrigue Charles as well as Nell's complete acceptance of the restrictions of their relationship. While the business of state frequently keeps the king from Nell and he seeks solace in the arms of others, notably of women of high birth, Nell remains a constant, a trusted confidant who is virtually irreplaceable. Perhaps only a footnote in the history of Reformation England, Nell Gwynne has survived the years, memorable not only for her acting skills but for her unconditional love of Charles II. Luan Gaines/2007.

This is the rags to riches story of Nell Gwynne, a one time orange girl and then actress of The King's Theatre who captured the heart of Charles II, The Merry Monarch. Since two other reviewers have done such a fine job of recapping the story, I needn't rehash it again.

While I thoroughly enjoyed the story, I felt the characters could have been better defined. Maybe it's because I've read Forever Amber and Dark Angels: A Novel and I kept wishing for more like that. The author did a nice job of defining the Reformation society and the court, but it just wasn't enough for me. Buckingham's intrigues came off as too lighthearted, Queen Catherine a non-existent sap, and Louise a whiny immature child. I could never figure out how Lord Bockhurst started out as a worthless hellion that Nell dumped to being one of her greatest friends and supporters, along with Buckingham. Like another reviewer, I found the "h" dropping didn't quite do the dialect justice and I found at least one instance where Nell "forgot" to drop the "h".

All in all an enjoyable entertaining read, just not something to write home and friends about, one of those books that will go right back to the library and probably soon forgotten. 3.5 stars.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 24 reviews  3.7 out of 5 stars