Gilt by Katherine Longshore

Gilt by Katherine Longshore
Buy Gilt by Katherine Longshore at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Teens
Reviewer: Loralei Haylock
Summary: a book that delivers on everything you want from a historical novel - romance, riches and plenty of tension and intrigue. A great read.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 416	Date: February 2013
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 978-1471116940
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Kitty Tylney has always followed her best friend Cat. Cat is larger than life, full of ridiculous plans and plots, the self-titled Queen of Misrule. Cat wants nothing more than to live life at the Court of Henry VIII - wearing amazing clothes and enjoying the attention of handsome lords - and Kitty is happy to play along.

Until Cat worms her way into the Court and into King Henry's heart. With Anne of Cleves, Henry's fourth wife, quickly taken out of the picture, the Queen of Misrule is suddenly Queen of England. And when Catherine Howard makes Kitty her chamberer, Kitty discovers Court is a dangerous place, where lies, gossip and rumours could cost Kitty - and Cat - their heads.

Historical fiction is my real guilty pleasure, and Longshore's Gilt suited my purposes in more than just its very apt title. Full of the decadence of Court life, romance and intrigue, this is a really enjoyable romp that was an absolute delight to read.

Of course, with plumbing history for plot lines comes the downside that we all already know where it's going, but watching Cat and Kitty teeter on the edge of their inevitable fall was enough tension to keep the pages turning quickly. Longshore confesses that she took some liberties with events for the sake of story in her Author's Note, but otherwise the evocation of the Tudor age is compelling and detailed enough to suck you in and make you start dreaming of ball gowns.

The only slight annoyance is at times it felt like half the characters had the same name - necessary for historic accuracy, but annoying. The names Kitty and Cat always just felt a bit twee.

Overall, a book that delivers on everything you want from a historical novel - romance, riches and plenty of tension and intrigue. A great read.

Mary Hooper is one of my favourite writers in the teen historical genre, so fans of this might enjoy Fallen Grace.

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