Skip to main content

Review: "Gilt" by Katherine Longshore


From Goodreads:  When Kitty Tylney’s best friend, Catherine Howard, worms her way into King Henry VIII’s heart and brings Kitty to court, she’s thrust into a world filled with fabulous gowns, sparkling jewels, and elegant parties. No longer stuck in Cat’s shadow, Kitty’s now caught between two men—the object of her affection and the object of her desire. But court is also full of secrets, lies, and sordid affairs, and as Kitty witnesses Cat’s meteoric rise and fall as queen, she must figure out how to keep being a good friend when the price of telling the truth could literally be her head.

My Thoughts:  I was very surprised by how much I liked this book because I had no idea what to expect when I picked it up.  Gilt is a Tudor era story but is told differently than any other Tudor book I have read.  Even though I know the whole Catherine Howard story, Gilt was unique retelling of it and kept my interest throughout the book. 

 The narrator is Kitty, Catherine Howard's childhood friend, and follows their youth in the Duchess of Norfolk's household, Catherine's marriage to King Henry VIII and her subsequent execution.  Kitty is definitely a 'follower' in the beginning of the story who seems a little lost while Catherine Howard is kind of a 'mean girl' who will do anything to get what she wants with no thought for the consequences.  Kitty is a great character; it was neat to watch her find her voice and sense of self.  She starts off very shy and self-deprecating but really comes into her own as the story progresses.  Catherine was a total brat.  I am always kind of curious as to what her personality was really like when I read a book about Catherine Howard.  In Gilt, she was a hateful, selfish girl who loved using people to get what she wanted.  I felt bad for her in the end but I didn't like her much.

The story did include a romance between Kitty and one of the Duke of Norfolk's retainers, William.  It was pretty sweet but was unresolved when the story ended.  Gilt is supposed to be the first book in a trilogy so I am hoping to get to see more of Kitty and to find out what happened between her and William.  4 stars.
Labels:

Comments

  1. LaurenJuly 12, 2012 at 10:14 AM

    This one is on my tbr list! I'm excited to see that you liked it :)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review and Giveaway: "Distant Signs" by Anne Richter

Synopsis: Distant Signs is an intimate portrait of two families spanning three generations amidst turbulent political change, behind and beyond the Berlin Wall. In 1960s East Germany, Margret, a professor’s daughter from the city, meets and marries Hans, from a small village in Thuringia. The couple struggle to contend with their different backgrounds, and the emotional scars they bear from childhood in the aftermath of war. As East German history gradually unravels, with collision of the personal and political, their two families’ hidden truths are quietly revealed. An exquisitely written novel with strongly etched characters that stay with you long after the book is finished and an authentic portrayal of family life behind the iron curtain based on personal experience of the author who is East German and was 16 years old at the fall of the Berlin Wall. Why do families repeat destructive patterns of behaviour across generations? Should the personal take precedence over...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mailbox Monday (49)

It's time for another Mailbox Monday post!  Once again I could not resist the cheap ebooks that Amazon and Barnes and Noble were promoting this week.  I really need to stop!  I already have more than I can read.  I also was able to spend a little time browsing at the library and I came home with a nice stack of books.  These days, I hardly ever get to spend time at the library by myself for more than a minute or two so it was wonderful to have time to just wander and see what I could find. Purchased (for kindle): The Color of Secrets by Lindsay Ashford The One I Was by Eliza Graham House of Bathory by Linda Lafferty   Purchased (for nook): One Night in Winter by Simon Sebag Montefiore  Becoming Queen Victoria by Kate Williams From the Library: The Messenger by Daniel Silva   The Ripper's Wife by Brandy Purdy Hotel Moscow by Talia Carner Brazen by Katherine Longshore What books did you get...
15 comments
Read more

Mailbox Monday (78)

 Happy Sunday everybody!  September is over and I can hardly believe it.  It seems as though the month has flown by.  Now I'm excited for fall and all of the upcoming holidays.  October is the start of my favorite time of year and I'm hoping there will be plenty of room for reading in between all of the upcoming events. I requested some new holiday books from the library and had no idea all of my holds would come in at once so I need to get moving on these.  I'm really excited to dig into some sweet, fluffy reads and these will do just the trick. From the Library: A Snow Country Christmas by Linda Lael Miller This is the fourth book in a series that I really enjoyed so I'm eager to get started on it. Holly and Ivy by Fern Michaels The Christmas Room by Catherine Anderson I was so intrigued by the cover on this one that I had to pick it up. For Review (from NetGalley): I Was Anastasia by Ariel Lawhon   ...
13 comments
Read more