Gilt

by Katherine Longshore

In 1539, Kitty Tylney and her best friend Cat Howard--the audacious, self-proclaimed "Queen of Misrule"--both servants to the Duchess of Norfolk, move to the court of King Henry VIII, who fancies Cat, and when Cat becomes queen, Kitty must learn to navigate the complexities and dangers of the royal court.

• ISBN10: 0670013994
• ISBN13: 9780670013999
• Publish Date: 15 May 2012 (first published 1 May 2012)
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Publish Country: IN
• Publisher: Penguin Random House India
• Imprint: Penguin
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 406
• Language: English

Reviews

[Angie]

I really liked the beginning and ending of Gilt, but for much of the middle portion I was bored and annoyed. It all starts out with Catherine Howard and Katherine "Kitty" Tylney as teenagers pretending to be courtiers. Catherine wants to be queen, and Kitty just wants to be happy and with her friend. Of course, Catherine gets her wish, but it's not at all how she dreamed it would be. Life at court is messy and full of deception and manipulation, but Kitty is beyond loyal to her dearest friend. Although at times it seems like Catherine only keeps her close to make sure her secrets stay just that.

I liked how Gilt was from the perspective of Kitty rather than Catherine. I'm sure most of us are familiar with King Henry's string of wives, but what about the people closest to them? Sure, it's dramatize for the sake of fiction, but it's still interesting to learn more about the lesser known people of the time. Despite being best friends all their lives, Catherine does treat Kitty quite poorly and takes advantage of her loyalty. Then when she's queen, she's even worse, since it's now Kitty's duty as her chamberer to do her bidding. I felt awful for Kitty a lot of the time, because she's forced to keep so many secrets which will eventually be her downfall, because she has knowledge of treason. Catherine is definitely one of those love to hate kind of characters.

However, I found myself annoyed with both of them in the middle of Gilt. Catherine could best be described as self-centered and boy crazy at the start, but once she's married to Henry, she becomes incessantly whiny. I could not stand her most of the time! On the other hand, Kitty was too goody-goody and perfect. She always does as she's told and goes along with everything, not really forming opinions of her own. She's also really boring until the near the end when all hell breaks loose.

The historical aspects of Gilt are highly fascinating and entertaining, but much of the focus is on romance and sex. Failed romance, but still romance. Catherine has Frances, Henry, and Thomas, while Kitty has William and Edmund. Kitty is the sweet virgin girl waiting for Mr. Right, much to Catherine's annoyance. She thinks she's found that in William, but they have a spat, and she catches the eye of Edmund who ends up being a super jerk! Like really, this dude needs to be kicked in the codpiece. Then she might be fixing things with William, but obviously she's arrested for treason and no one will have anything to do with her. Nothing really comes of anything despite being a large focus of the story. I would have at least liked more insight into Catherine's affairs since she was at least interesting.

In the end, I liked Gilt, but I didn't love it. This time in history fascinates me, especially the screwed up antics of King Henry VIII, but this account didn't really do it justice. Kitty just wasn't an engaging narrator. She was the closest to the queen, so she was the best choice in that regard, but what about the girls who watched from the sidelines? Maybe Alice would have been a better choice.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

Welcome to the Tudor court, the breeding ground for vicious back-stabbers and master manipulators, where secrets are the currency. Enter if you dare.


I used to think how fun it would be to live in medieval times. Come on, every girl wants those pretty dresses and gorgeous jewels the size of an egg. Seriously, its a girls dream. And most books just add to this sense of beauty. Sure, they didn't have plumbing (ewww) or toothpaste or whatnot, but in most books, they don't focus on that so it can be forgotten. You just get the pretty dresses and court intrigue. Heck, now that I look back at other historical fictions, the court intrigue wasn't as scandalous, but more political. They show you the good stuff. And, more often than not, the MC's go against the norm and are kick-butt and all that jazz. Well, Gilt brought reality crashing back down. Medieval times sucked.


This is the story of Catherine Howard's rise to queendom. Starting off as a lowly maid and working her way to becoming the most powerful woman in England.



Alright, I'm going to be as nice as I possibly can but I have never hated someone so much. But I loved to hate her. Cat is the most manipulative, self-centered, selfish, vicious, vindictive, devious and shrewd person ever. Heck, those words don't even begin to describe her. Cat started off as a maid but even within that group she was their leader. You wanted to fit in? Cat had to like you. Cat could make or break you. All she wanted was more, more and more.She was never satisfied with anything and was willing to do anything in order to get what she wanted, even be mean and vile to those she considered "friends". Heck, even in the end she still wasn't happy even though she got what she wanted. In the end, it was all about Cat.


Kitty, our MC, was the complete opposite. She was like a kicked puppy. She followed Cat around like her shadow and did whatever Cat said. One moment Cat would actually be nice to her, but the next she would manipulate and condemn Kitty and she just dealt with it. She was a pansy and pathetic and passive, and yet I couldn't help but care for her. She was an orphan, and Cat was the only one ever there for her. So, even though Cat can be mean and manipulative, she deals with it. She knows that in order to fit in, she has do whatever Cat says. She's the Cady Heron to Mean Girl's Regina George.




The thing is, going into this book, you know it's not going to have a happy ending. I mean, come on! She's one of Henry VIII wives and we all know how well it worked out for them. So, you know this is just a car wreck waiting to happen, yet for some odd reason I simply couldn't put it down. Was it because I simply loved to hate Cat? Is it all the delicious scandals? The court gossip that could make or break you? Whatever it was, I was hooked. Throughout the story I was gasping and yelling and quite frankly calling Cat many names I'm not proud of.


I've tried to write this review without too many spoilers because although you know how it ends, its the journey that's the adventure. This book is a stark reality to the other historical fictions out there. This book makes you realize how easily you could be destroyed back then. One word and you were ruined. It was brutal. And women were treated worst of all.


Overall:


I simply loved to hate Cat and I hated to love Kitty. I really would have had a hard time not punching both of them back then, but at the same time I understand why they are like they are. Women were treated like nothing and the only thing they could get back then was a rich husband, so why not get the richest of them all? And for Kitty, Cat was the only one keeping her life better than it used to be. This book has scandals and gossip and backstabbing girls. It's like a high school! And it's so addicting. This is a historical fiction with real characters and while it may not have a happy ending for all of them, it's still a story worth reading and reading about what greed and manipulation can do to you.

Review originally on Oh, For the Love of Books!


All the best ♥
Mackenzie