One marriage. Three people. Proud king. Loving wife. Infamous mistress. 1362.
Philippa of Hainault selects a young orphan from a convent. Alice Perrers, a girl born with nothing but ambition. The Queen has a role waiting for her at court.
‘I have lifted you from nothing Alice. Now you repay me.’
Led down the corridors of the royal palace, the young virgin is secretly delivered to King Edward … palace, the young virgin is secretly delivered to King Edward III – to perform the wifely duties of which ailing Philippa is no longer capable. Power has a price, and Alice Perrers will pay it.
Mistress to the King. Confidante of the Queen. Whore to the court.
Her fate is double edged; loved by the majesties, ostracised by her peers. Alice must balance her future with care as her star begins to rise – the despised concubine is not untouchable. Politics and pillow talk are dangerous bedfellows.
The fading great King wants her in his bed. Her enemies want her banished. One mistake and Alice will face a threat worse than any malicious whispers of the past.
Praise for Anne O’Brien:
‘Anne O’Brien has joined the exclusive club of excellent historical novelists’ Sunday Express
‘One of the best writers around…she outdoes even Philippa Gregory’ The Sun
‘Her writing is highly evocative of the time period… O’Brien has produced an epic tale’ Historical Novel Society
‘Anne O’Brien’s novels give a voice to the “silent” women of history’ Yorkshire Post
‘Once again O’Brien proves herself a medieval history magician, conjuring up a sizzling, sweeping story’ Lancashire Evening Post
‘An exciting and intriguing story of love and historical politics. If you enjoy Philippa Gregory and Alison Weir you will love Anne O’Brien’ We Love This Book
‘A brilliantly researched and well-told story; you won’t be able to put this book down’ Candis
‘A fast paced historical drama that is full of suspense.’ Essentials
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Let me start by saying that Anne O’Brien’s novels are incredibly well written and the attention to detail, addictive, her storyline and protagonist are captivating and her books are hard to put down.
The King’s Concubine is the story of Alice Perrers the infamous mistress of King Edward III. There’s no doubt Alice Perrers was a strong, powerful woman but this is my least favourite book by Anne O’Brien. I found the whole story frustrating, and even sometimes clumsy. I just could not believe this was written by one of they best historical fiction authors. Sadly I would not recommend this book.
I enjoyed reading this book, though there were a few places where it read like a trashy romance novel.
Before this book, I only knew Alice Perrers as Edward III’s “evil” mistress, vaguely aware that she was supposed to have been power-mad, greedy, and vicious. The portrayal of Alice in this book is quite different. She simply has the sensibilities of a modern woman, living in the 1300s.
Abandoned at birth and left to the brutal rearing of a convent, it’s a rags-to-riches story. But not an ordinary one. Given the circumstances of Alice’s early life, she grows up unwilling and unable to trust others and determined to rely on her wits alone to secure a future for herself and later her children. Unlike most royal mistresses, Alice doesn’t advance simply because she’s beautiful, talented, or otherwise able to catch the eye of important people. Instead, she rises because she is blunt, clever in business, determined, and fiercely independent. Even though these characteristics run counter to the rules society tries to impose.
In fact, it turns out that her wiliness, the thing that sets her apart from other women, is the very thing that brings her to the attention of royalty. And it’s intriguing to watch Alice navigate King Edward’s III’s medieval world where her attitudes and actions, ones that would now be considered commonplace and acceptable, were challenged and perceived as threats. It certainly explains why she has come down through history with such a bad reputation.
It’s always interesting to see what an author will do with a notorious figure. Alice Perrers has not been treated well by historians; she has been pretty much cast as a grasping, avaricious she-wolf who took advantage of a failing Edward III, taking control of the government in his name. Or something like that. I always wondered how a king’s mistress could wield so much power in the middle ages. I don’t know much of her story, and it was fun to see how Anne O’Brien would make her into a credible character.
Apparently Alice came from an inauspicious beginning, socked away in a nunnery like an abandoned waif. But she was a spunky thing and got herself noticed by no less than the Queen of England, who came to the nunnery for her health. Surprisingly, Queen Philippa later remembered her and summoned Alice to court, to become one of her maids. Of course, Philippa had something else in mind, and Alice found herself to be the King’s plaything as well, placed under the King’s nose by his doting spouse who was no longer well enough to perform her wifely duties. It seemed Philippa preferred that her husband take up with someone of her choosing—someone she could control—rather than risk losing him altogether. It was sort of Philippa and Alice’s secret, though everyone else was scandalized. And Alice was branded for the rest of her life.
Not that her life was bad; Edward liked his mistress very well and showered her with gifts and land. She knew how to take care of herself and proceeded to sock away valuables and manors against the day the King would leave her. How was she to know that after Philippa’s death the King would start to fail, himself? Formidable at the height of his powers, poor Edward fell prey to dementia in his old age, throwing the country into chaos. For his heir, Edward the Black Prince, was dying at the same time and Richard, the next in line was only a child. Alice found herself in the role of nursemaid, trying to protect the king against intrusions that would invariably make his condition worse. While all this was going on, she allied herself with the somewhat disreputable William de Windsor, diplomat and soldier who never took offense at her rebuffs. Although she did not trust him at the beginning, he proved himself her best friend and protector. She would come to need him beyond her wildest fears.
What wasn’t clear in this book was exactly why everyone hated her so much (except, I suppose, for the influence a mistress would have over a king). What did she do to incur such vicious reprisals? There was some suggestion that she might have acquired a manor or two under questionable circumstances, but I didn’t see a whole lot of arbitrary wielding of power. She seemed to spend all of her time in the background. It’s certainly possible that her “crimes” were not well recorded and the author didn’t have much to work with. That wouldn’t surprise me. It’s apparent that Alice was an opportunist, yet at the end she was an unchampioned woman in a man’s world. She found herself abandoned by the men of power who threw her away when they no longer needed her. Her inevitable downfall was more pathetic than explosive, and I felt nothing of the satisfaction I might have expected from a deserving villain. I have a feeling that Alice would have recognized any modern woman in power, whose talents go unappreciated because she is just too much of a threat to the establishment.