Gilt

by Katherine Longshore

[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.