Gilt

I was really going through a historical fiction kick for a minute there so when I heard about this book, I jumped at the chance to read it. Tudor history is always interesting and filled with drama and deceit, of which, this book did not disappoint. However, I wasn’t too drawn into the book as a whole.
I felt that everything was a bit too drawn out, possibly too much detail went into the setting and time that I could’ve done without. I understand Katherine Longshore wanted to establish a setting and clue those in who aren’t too familiar with history, but it got to the point where I found myself skipping over paragraphs and basically only reading the dialogue, which I tend to do when a book bores me.

I’d have to say probably the only thing that kept me going was the drama that Catherine Howard created and I wanted to know how and when she would meet her ultimate demise. True to her character, I knew exactly how her life would go and where it would end up and found her to be more interesting than Kitty, the narrator of the story. Even though Kitty is a sweet, innocent character, utterly loyal to Catherine until the end, I wasn’t really drawn to her character. The ending was a bit predictable, since it is learned history, and nothing in the book really stood out to me in any way.

Overall, Longshore does a great job in staying true to historical facts, painting a vivid picture of history, and inciting intrigue, but the story as a whole failed to capture my attention and I basically skimming it until the end.

Gilt takes you back to Tudor times and shows you Cat Howard before and while she was married to King Henry through the eyes of her best friend. This books gives of pieces of history will also telling the friend, Kitty's story. In a world where no one wants them, Cat decides to take what she wants, while Kitty is merely her shadow. As Cat becomes Queen and moves her friends to court, Kitty slowly grows into her own woman. This story was heartbreaking and beautifully written.

This review begins with a confession. Intrigued? Here we go. Confession #1: I cheated on King Henry. Oh wait, that wasn't me! That was Catherine (like that narrows it down). Oops! I got ahead of myself. Actually, my confession is that, much as I love reading historical fiction, I really am not a huge fan of reading about the Tudors. They're a completely fascinating (i.e. batshit insane) family, especially during Henry VIII's reign. However, I have been burned by books and movies about these years before. I know everyone else loved The Other Boleyn Girl but both the book and the film were big fat DNFs for me. Because of this, I enter every Tudors thing with a larger than usual (and usual is prodigious) amount of skepticism. Well, this one I loved.

One thing that often frustrates me about the Tudors, even the show (which I largely enjoyed) is the romanticizing of Henry. Partly, this is because he tends to be younger in much of the fiction, a lot of which focuses on Anne Boleyn. I'm not saying Henry doesn't come off as a womanizing bastard (he does), but he also generally seems like he gets so much play because he's attractive and charismatic. Again, I think that was fairly true when he was young, although I definitely think much of his appeal had to do with the crown even then. However, as he got older, he got fat and had serious health issues. I love Katherine Longshore for displaying Henry as what he really was.

I totally get why shows make Henry more attractive (who wants to watch some guy who looks like that?), but that doesn't make it accurate, and there's less of a reason for it in fiction. That seems unfair to say, but oh well. The same is true of Catherine, who is portrayed as a completely fetching blonde in the show, but pictures reveal her to be somewhat plain. In Gilt, Cat is described not as beautiful, but as vivacious and so charming no one can tell that she's not gorgeous.

What really drew me into Gilt, though, is Kitty. I identified so much with Kitty and her desperation. She has nobody and she wants so badly to believe that she has a real friend in Cat. She is loyal to a fault (a big one). For the most part, I really am not like Kitty, but I liked Kitty so much, and I just kept hoping she would make the right decisions such as avoiding ruinous people.

There are so many right bastards (both literally and figuratively I'm sure) walking around Henry's court. Women's options were so incredibly limited. Of course, there were also the freedoms that they had. I cannot believe how easy it was for women to be, well, easy. Even in a dormitory packed full of beds, with more than one girl per bed no less, girls managed to carry out affairs; there's nothing awkward about that. Don't even get me started on the rage I feel about how men could rape any woman they wanted to and claim that she wanted it, so obviously it's her fault. Instead, I will let Kitty send that message in my favorite quote. I love her when she has a backbone.

Gilt is truly wonderful. I laughed, I was grossed out, I was enraged and I nearly cried. Gilt really is a lot like a more historically accurate, YA version of The Tudors. There's sex, backstabbing and dirty jokes galore. I loved every single minute of it. If you enjoy reading all of those things, get thee to a bookstore anon!