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Gilt Katherine Longshore Books

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Gilt Katherine Longshore Books

I really liked the beginning and ending of Gilt, but for much of the middle portion I was bored and annoyed. It all starts out with Catherine Howard and Katherine "Kitty" Tylney as teenagers pretending to be courtiers. Catherine wants to be queen, and Kitty just wants to be happy and with her friend. Of course, Catherine gets her wish, but it's not at all how she dreamed it would be. Life at court is messy and full of deception and manipulation, but Kitty is beyond loyal to her dearest friend. Although at times it seems like Catherine only keeps her close to make sure her secrets stay just that.

I liked how Gilt was from the perspective of Kitty rather than Catherine. I'm sure most of us are familiar with King Henry's string of wives, but what about the people closest to them? Sure, it's dramatize for the sake of fiction, but it's still interesting to learn more about the lesser known people of the time. Despite being best friends all their lives, Catherine does treat Kitty quite poorly and takes advantage of her loyalty. Then when she's queen, she's even worse, since it's now Kitty's duty as her chamberer to do her bidding. I felt awful for Kitty a lot of the time, because she's forced to keep so many secrets which will eventually be her downfall, because she has knowledge of treason. Catherine is definitely one of those love to hate kind of characters.

However, I found myself annoyed with both of them in the middle of Gilt. Catherine could best be described as self-centered and boy crazy at the start, but once she's married to Henry, she becomes incessantly whiny. I could not stand her most of the time! On the other hand, Kitty was too goody-goody and perfect. She always does as she's told and goes along with everything, not really forming opinions of her own. She's also really boring until the near the end when all hell breaks loose.

The historical aspects of Gilt are highly fascinating and entertaining, but much of the focus is on romance and sex. Failed romance, but still romance. Catherine has Frances, Henry, and Thomas, while Kitty has William and Edmund. Kitty is the sweet virgin girl waiting for Mr. Right, much to Catherine's annoyance. She thinks she's found that in William, but they have a spat, and she catches the eye of Edmund who ends up being a super jerk! Like really, this dude needs to be kicked in the codpiece. Then she might be fixing things with William, but obviously she's arrested for treason and no one will have anything to do with her. Nothing really comes of anything despite being a large focus of the story. I would have at least liked more insight into Catherine's affairs since she was at least interesting.

In the end, I liked Gilt, but I didn't love it. This time in history fascinates me, especially the screwed up antics of King Henry VIII, but this account didn't really do it justice. Kitty just wasn't an engaging narrator. She was the closest to the queen, so she was the best choice in that regard, but what about the girls who watched from the sidelines? Maybe Alice would have been a better choice.


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Gilt Katherine Longshore Books Reviews

So, I'm struggling a bit with whether I think this is a 3 or 4. I could go 3.5.

I absolutely love the concept behind this book. Catherine Howard's story told via her best friend? Yes, please.

What knocked off a star or maybe 2 was that I found the book to be a bit... slow.

There was some really great detail, and then there was a bit too much detail. And I think that "too much" slowed down the pace for me too many times. There were also a few chapters where nothing really happened.

What really kept me going during the slow times, was my anticipation to see how Longshore handled Catherine's demise (I hope that's not a spoiler, since this mirrors real life). It's not that it was bad, but I think I was expecting a bit more from these scenes -- although I did enjoy the 'practicing' part.

I was expecting a bit more with the ending in general -- the one relating to Kitty. I think the story could have gone further and wrapped things up a bit more.

But overall, I enjoyed the story and the look into King Henry and Cat's life via an 'outsider'. I think I may stick with the historical fiction genre for a bit, and make even seek out some more Henry VIII books.
The youngest daughter of a family of little fortune and less consequence, as a child Katherine “Kitty” Tylney was sent to live off the largess of the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, until such a time as she should be fortunate enough to make a marriage – should her family deign to expend any such effort on her behalf. Alone and unwanted, the friendless girl was adopted by her more charismatic, and marginally less impoverished peer in the Duchess’s household – Catherine “Cat” Howard. Years pass, and Kitty comes of age in Cat’s shadow, ever loyal to her friend who has become increasingly determined to make her mark on the world, with an eye to escaping Norfolk for the treacherous, powerful court of Henry VIII. When Kitty finally gets her chance to follow Cat into the spotlight of court life, will the price of power prove demand too great a price for their friendship to survive?

I was in the mood for a soap opera, and as absolutely nothing beats the Tudor court for juicy scandal and drama – something Gilt’s lushly appointed cover promised in spades. This novel marks Katherine Longshore’s first young adult foray into Henry VIII’s glittering world, and she couldn’t have picked a more perfect subject than Henry’s infamous teenage bride, the ill-fated Catherine Howard. I’ve always rather thought Catherine must have been rather silly and immature, an opinion that seems to be supported by the historical record. She was certainly far out of depth as her end proves, her rise and ruin complete in just eighteen short months, her fate sealed by the confidence that consequences were for other people – an assumption that as undone many a person, teenage or not, throughout history.

Within the pages of Gilt, Catherine Howard is transformed from arguably Henry’s most inconsequential wife into a fully-realized, deliciously manipulative Mean girl, with stars in her eyes and venom on her tongue, fiercely determined to succeed and equally blind to the pride that would prove to be her downfall. But rather than choose Cat as her point-of-view character, Longshore smartly selects Katherine Tylney as voice and lens through which to view Cat’s rise and fall – as who better to relate Cat’s story than one who knew her best and lived it alongside her? The names and lives of those who served royalty are largely lost to time, as history typically preserves the detailed minutiae of those whos lives are instead writ large across history’s pages. Taking as her inspiration for Kat’s character the brief recorded testimony of the Katherine Tylney who testified at Cat’s trial, therein identified as one of the queen’s servants, Longshore re-imagines Kat as a long-time friend and companion of Catherine, and as such the perfect foil to the ill-fated queen’s temperament and trajectory at court.

How much is history and how much is supposition is up for debate, but Longshore has certainly done her research and her case for Kitty’s role in Cat’s life is a compelling one (Longshore’s author’s note his an informative and interesting glimpse into her research process). Regardless, I cannot recommend this novel highly enough as a stellar example of juicy, compulsively readable historical fiction. I devoured Gilt in a less than two days, a rare feat anymore for this reader – but more importantly than that, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about the character of Kitty. She may be largely Longshore’s invention, but that said she’s a believable one, and a starkly honest sketch of a woman’s worth and prospects in the sixteenth century. Longsore doesn’t shy away from the sexual politics or attitudes of the day, but she isn’t gratuitous in the least. And given the recent outcry over the ruling in the Stanford rape case, it’s equal parts disheartening and maddening to read of Thomas Culpepper’s lechery and realize just how far we haven’t come in over four centuries as regards the issue of consent.

I absolutely loved the dysfunctional, occasionally toxic, sisterhood at the center of this novel. Cat and Kitty’s circle is completed by two additional alumna from Norfolk – Joan Bulmer and Alice Restwold (although their intimacy with Catherine pales in comparison to her friendship with Kitty). For all of the jealousies and petty squabbles that ran rife within a circle of four teenage girls, Kitty comes to realize the full value of that circle only when it has been irreparably broken by Cat’s arrest and trial. But even a queen’s ruin cannot dissolve all the bonds of such a sisterhood, as Kitty discovers in her most critical hour that it is Alice, she whom she liked and trusted least, perhaps knew her best, and in doing so orchestrated her unlikely path of salvation. In a world ruled by men, it will never cease to fascinate me to read stories of women fighting to determine their own futures.

Gilt is the perfect summer read – a lushly told, wildly entertaining historical romp. While grounded in history, Longshore gleefully embraces Catherine’s reputation as something of a witless flirt, hopelessly out of her depth at court, but with the added edge of calculating, biting selfishness. Cat is a mean girl on a power trip, which makes for a crazy entertaining, compulsively readable experience. I loved seeing Cat and the Tudor court through the lens of Kitty’s experience, as through her eyes, Longshore examines the cost of power and double-edged sword of secrets and friendship. Kitty’s ending isn’t wrapped in a neat bow as I expected, and I loved it all the more for that air of authenticity. With the far-off promise of possible romance and the hard-won chance at self-determination, Kitty’s story is a welcome, refreshing entry in the ranks of Tudor-set fiction, a world I’ll happily revisit.
I really liked the beginning and ending of Gilt, but for much of the middle portion I was bored and annoyed. It all starts out with Catherine Howard and Katherine "Kitty" Tylney as teenagers pretending to be courtiers. Catherine wants to be queen, and Kitty just wants to be happy and with her friend. Of course, Catherine gets her wish, but it's not at all how she dreamed it would be. Life at court is messy and full of deception and manipulation, but Kitty is beyond loyal to her dearest friend. Although at times it seems like Catherine only keeps her close to make sure her secrets stay just that.

I liked how Gilt was from the perspective of Kitty rather than Catherine. I'm sure most of us are familiar with King Henry's string of wives, but what about the people closest to them? Sure, it's dramatize for the sake of fiction, but it's still interesting to learn more about the lesser known people of the time. Despite being best friends all their lives, Catherine does treat Kitty quite poorly and takes advantage of her loyalty. Then when she's queen, she's even worse, since it's now Kitty's duty as her chamberer to do her bidding. I felt awful for Kitty a lot of the time, because she's forced to keep so many secrets which will eventually be her downfall, because she has knowledge of treason. Catherine is definitely one of those love to hate kind of characters.

However, I found myself annoyed with both of them in the middle of Gilt. Catherine could best be described as self-centered and boy crazy at the start, but once she's married to Henry, she becomes incessantly whiny. I could not stand her most of the time! On the other hand, Kitty was too goody-goody and perfect. She always does as she's told and goes along with everything, not really forming opinions of her own. She's also really boring until the near the end when all hell breaks loose.

The historical aspects of Gilt are highly fascinating and entertaining, but much of the focus is on romance and sex. Failed romance, but still romance. Catherine has Frances, Henry, and Thomas, while Kitty has William and Edmund. Kitty is the sweet virgin girl waiting for Mr. Right, much to Catherine's annoyance. She thinks she's found that in William, but they have a spat, and she catches the eye of Edmund who ends up being a super jerk! Like really, this dude needs to be kicked in the codpiece. Then she might be fixing things with William, but obviously she's arrested for treason and no one will have anything to do with her. Nothing really comes of anything despite being a large focus of the story. I would have at least liked more insight into Catherine's affairs since she was at least interesting.

In the end, I liked Gilt, but I didn't love it. This time in history fascinates me, especially the screwed up antics of King Henry VIII, but this account didn't really do it justice. Kitty just wasn't an engaging narrator. She was the closest to the queen, so she was the best choice in that regard, but what about the girls who watched from the sidelines? Maybe Alice would have been a better choice.