A review by hekate24
Queen of Bedlam by Laura Purcell
3.0
2016 Reader Harder Challenge: A historical fiction novel set before 1900.
I need to write this review or I never will, mostly because this book is fading from my mind. It just wasn't very memorable. Or maybe I would have liked it more if I hadn't read it so close to [b:A Royal Experiment: The Private Life of King George III|17286774|A Royal Experiment The Private Life of King George III|Janice Hadlow|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1380964036s/17286774.jpg|23906837]. It kind of felt like a fictionalized version of that book. Which isn't a bad thing, per se. I like accuracy in my historical fiction more often than not. But this one didn't get under my skin, I guess? Despite the book getting into the character's deep depression and fucked up mindsets things like the cycle of abuse, I just felt like I was reading along a timeline. However, it also dropped some of the things I found most interesting. For example, the book makes pre-madness George/Charlotte seem downright idyllic when, in reality, Charlotte wrote quite candidly to her brother about her frustration at having to repress everything. Also three of the princesses are total non-entities in this book, despite seeming quite interesting in real life.
Ehhh I'm making this sound worse than it is. I did read this book essentially in one go, so it did hold my attention. The writing in the latter parts is better than the earlier sections, which I find pretty fascinating. Maybe the author became more confident as she wrote?
Anyway, I have a suspicion that these figures are hard ones to fictionalize. I've read the author's blog and her posts about character character arcs for historical figures. Not an easy process. I'll probably read the second book in this series, because I'm curious to see what the author will do with figures who led much less stagnant lives.
I need to write this review or I never will, mostly because this book is fading from my mind. It just wasn't very memorable. Or maybe I would have liked it more if I hadn't read it so close to [b:A Royal Experiment: The Private Life of King George III|17286774|A Royal Experiment The Private Life of King George III|Janice Hadlow|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1380964036s/17286774.jpg|23906837]. It kind of felt like a fictionalized version of that book. Which isn't a bad thing, per se. I like accuracy in my historical fiction more often than not. But this one didn't get under my skin, I guess? Despite the book getting into the character's deep depression and fucked up mindsets things like the cycle of abuse, I just felt like I was reading along a timeline. However, it also dropped some of the things I found most interesting. For example, the book makes pre-madness George/Charlotte seem downright idyllic when, in reality, Charlotte wrote quite candidly to her brother about her frustration at having to repress everything. Also three of the princesses are total non-entities in this book, despite seeming quite interesting in real life.
Ehhh I'm making this sound worse than it is. I did read this book essentially in one go, so it did hold my attention. The writing in the latter parts is better than the earlier sections, which I find pretty fascinating. Maybe the author became more confident as she wrote?
Anyway, I have a suspicion that these figures are hard ones to fictionalize. I've read the author's blog and her posts about character character arcs for historical figures. Not an easy process. I'll probably read the second book in this series, because I'm curious to see what the author will do with figures who led much less stagnant lives.