View source for Tarnish by Katherine Longshore

{{infobox2
|title=Tarnish
|author=Katherine Longshore
|reviewer=Loralei Haylock
|genre=Teens
|rating=4
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|isbn=978-1471116964
|pages=448
|publisher=Simon and Schuster
|date=June 2013
|aznuk=1471116964
|aznus=B0098MDLB6
|cover=1471116964
|website=http://katherinelongshore.com
|video=Zu1t_tU-XM0
|summary=A wonderful romp through Henry VIII's earlier days, with plenty of likeable characters, dangerous intrigue and elegant finery to suck you in to the world and wish you could stay. A fantastic read.
}}
Anne Boleyn is coming back to court. After suffering embarrassment and exile, Anne is not about to let this second chance slip through her fingers. But the trickery of court life is difficult to navigate, and telling friend from foe can be the difference between social success and becoming a pariah. Luckily she has the help of Thomas Wyatt, poet and infamous womaniser. He promises to make Anne the most popular woman at court, and when Anne starts to play his game, things start to escalate far further than anyone ever imagined. For not only does Anne manage to get the court eating out of her hand, but the King is starting to sit up and take notice too...

Longshore once again delivers a spectacle of ball gowns and backstabbing in this sort of sequel/prequel to [[Gilt by Katherine Longshore|Gilt]].

Anne Boleyn makes for a great character - remembered most, perhaps, for having her head cut off, it's interesting that Longshore doesn't even touch that part of her history, instead showing her as full of life, determination, and desire to be her own woman, beholden to no one. Her frustration as a powerless female member of the court seethes from the pages, and though she is flawed in her decisions and manner at times, you can't help but get behind her and hope things turn out for the best, that this incarnation will defy history and win a happy ending.

Of course, the book is very true to the historical events (such as I understand them) and the plot does read rather like a net looming over Anne's head, waiting to trap her. You know what's coming, but feel compelled to read on.

The only thing that annoyed me slightly was the number of times the word 'tarnish' was shoehorned in, like we might have forgotten why that particular word was chosen for the title. It just felt a little forced at times, and threw me out of the narrative, but that aside, this was a wonderful romp through Henry VII's earlier days, with plenty of likeable characters, dangerous intrigue and elegant finery to suck you in to the world and wish you could stay. A fantastic read.

Fans of historical fiction might enjoy [[Velvet by Mary Hooper]].

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