The Darling Strumpet
By: Gillian Bagwell
“A thrilling debut novel starring one of history’s most famous and beloved courtesans.
From London’s slums to its bawdy playhouses, The Darling Strumpet transports the reader to the tumultuous world of seventeenth-century England, charting the meteoric rise of the dazzling Nell Gwynn, who captivates the heart of King Charles II-and becomes one of the century’s most famous courtesans.
Witty and beautiful, Nell was born into poverty but is drawn into the enthralling world of the theater, where her saucy humor and sensuous charm earn her a place in the King’s Company. As one of the first actresses in the newly-opened playhouses, she catapults to fame, winning the affection of legions of fans-and the heart of the most powerful man in all of England, the King himself. Surrendering herself to Charles, Nell will be forced to maneuver the ruthless and shifting allegiances of the royal court-and discover a world of decadence and passion she never imagined possible.”
Date Started: 1/22/24 – Date Finished 1/23/24
3 out of 5 stars
The Quick Review – who want a hurry up and tell me yes or no:
Well, I can say that I was not prepared for the beginning of the story to be the way that it was. Even though that it was the way of the world back then, I was not prepared for the author to begin the story of Nell Gwyn as a child “lady of the night”. It was a tad uncomfortable to read through that portion of the story, but not too bad for you to stop the story completely. It goes through her life pretty quickly at times, then slow at others. She starts out as a young girl who sells oysters, to a “girl of the night”, a orange seller, actress and then her rise to mistress of King Charles II. The book shows her as a favorite of the people, and an easy to love woman with little demands for her royal lover. The people and courtiers loved her for her honesty, kindness and her wit. My only dismay is where is Charles II, there is very little of him in this book, well not enough for my expectations for being his mistress. But then again he juggled quite a few at a time. I will read again, but maybe not for a bit. I want to scrub away some of the scenes.
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The Long Review – For people who like to have a lot of information and some spoilers.
The author decided to go the route of her being a child prostitute, it mentions briefly her previous employment. It goes through her first time, and how she became employed under Madam Ross’s (a brothel) in which her sister worked.
The book seems to me fairly slowly paced, it also feels like it could have been written into two books if the author so desired. I did enjoy it, though the descriptions of her learning sexual acts was (again) unexpected. It did feel like it needed to be included to show her growth from an innocent girl to the woman who would become mistress to a king.
The book starts as I mentioned, her early days of child prostitution, it goes through her days and clients. It speaks of her relationship with her elder sister Rose, and of her mother. Then it dives right in to her selling oranges at the theatre, then her becoming on the stage. Then it lulls with her relationship with Hart and then her becoming a mistress to a few others. It then adds her relationship with the king, which leaves much to be desired. Their introduction with one another is brief, and then it is just snippets of her and Charles. It left me questioning, what happened between them that would have him worry about her so much before he passed away? This book had me wonder why their relationship was that way, since it didn’t really give us a lot of it.
I would give this book a 3 out of 5 stars, I enjoyed the book. I really liked the longer portion of her early life and her introduction to the theatre and the friends she made there. But this book did leave much to be desired regarding her relationship to Charles II but that is my opinion.
Let’s Party!
Time for a brief history lesson!
Who is King Charles II?
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Before I can speak of Charles II, lets make a quick mention of his dear beheaded father. Yes you read that right, his dad has no head. Charles I, quarreled with the English Parliament, who wanted to shrink his ego, and bring him to heel. Charles I believed in the divine right of kings, and ruled according to his own conscience (seems like a trend in a lot of king’s brains eh?) After some fighting, a English Civil War, he was captured and very stubbornly refused the demands of his captors for a better monarchy. Captors said yeah no, its going to happen anyway. Charles was tried, convicted and executed for high treason January 30th 1649. Luckily though his head was sown back on his body after his execution. Then England was controlled by a ick of a man Oliver Cromwell the Lord Protector, who according to the book, “took all the fun things away” when he died his son took over but he did a even worse job since he had no experience. His son resigned and through some negotiations and in fighting decided to get a King back.
Horrible Histories about the English Civil War -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO5-vLVJG5Q
Charles II, before he was declared the second, agreed and said he would be lenient and tolerant towards all and not be harsh against past enemies or take their money. But Charles excluded 50 people from his amnesty. 9 were hanged, drawn and quartered ( I would have done more to be honest) and the rest were imprisoned for life or excluded from office for life.
Now to Charles II the ladies man.
He had a ton of children, a small army of them with many women. Lucy Walter (1), Elizabeth Killgrew (1), Catherine Pegge (2), Barbara Villiers (6), Nell Gwyn (2), Louise Renee (1) and Moll Davis (1) and he had many more mistresses but the kindest thing he did throughout this barrage of women was ensure his queen got the respect he deserved. Even though she could not give him a child, he cared for her and refused to divorce her. He always took the side of his wife when he felt the mistress grasped too high and acted to cruel.
Watch Horrible Histories Charles II Song -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FA5abHKvUBQ
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So Charles II and Nell Gwyn had two children, why was she so special?
Nell Gwyn, one of the mistresses of Charles II. She was a bit different from the others, she never rose above her station. She wasn’t granted a fancy title or became a lady. She was a poor woman, a lady of the people who loved her well. She was well favored by the populace of England. She was one of them, and she was Protestant. Her peers called her witty and bawdy, a fine actress and a woman with the kindest heart. It was these traits that caught the eye of the king, and her attitude of not wanting to make a fuss and demand things of anyone is what kept her in the king’s heart. She loved the stage and she did the unthinkable, she came back to the stage after having the king’s child.
Now on to the questions!
- Why, WHY go through that long description of her learning sexual acts? yes we knew that she went to become a “lady of the night” but was it really necessary to read her learn how to do it? (probably not)
- Why is there not enough plot between her and Charles II, the man she was known to love?
- Why not more of a build up for the return of Mr. Evil pants?
- Where was her wit? There wasn’t much in the story for the description of her quick thinking and bawdy words, I suppose it might be hard to write it. Even as I think I am not entirely sure what would be considered witty at that time, and I am just thinking on my feet here.
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Up Next: The Vatican Princess By: C.W Gortner
(click the image to go directly to the review!)
Liz of a Thousand Books 
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