This makes me question just how well Parmar did her research. It ensured that there wasn't even a vague sense of accuracy about the setting. All in all, it ruined any sense of authenticity regarding the setting.
Naturally, this language issue was transcribed into the main diary storyline as well. These letters sounded as they were written: like 21st century notes that had been foisted into a novel set four hundred years previously. In particular, the letters between Charles II and his various relatives was much, much too familiar. The modern day vernacular doesn't work in a novel set in the 17th century.
This wasn't helped by the inappropriate language that Parmar chose to use. Thus they became very grating, very quickly. There was no continuity between the various articles used and often enough, these sections ran contrary to the main storyline or had no relevance to it whatsoever. However, in practice, this wasn't the case. The idea of a storyline from memoranda is, in theory, a very good one. Upon reading the initial description of this novel online, I was hopeful with some reservations about the way in which it was compiled. It's rare that I feel compelled to provide a review of this book, but I feel I must in this instance, both as a historian with an academic interest in the area and a voracious reader of historical fiction. I was surprised (but interested) to learn in the author's note at the end that almost all the characters in the book were real people, including Nell's fellow actors. To me, these interrupted the actual story, and I didn't really see the purpose behind them.
The book was told in diary form, which I was fine with, but the book also included letters between Charles and his family (his mother and sister, as well as letters between the mother and sister), and other interludes like a society gossip column in the paper. Nor was I all that interested in King Charles II and her life as his mistress. I enjoyed the parts about Nell's family, but the acting and her life there, I just couldn't get interested in. The premise sounded promising, but I probably would have been more interested in the story if it had focused more on Rose.
Nell refuses to become a whore, so she finds her own path - she initially becomes an "orange girl" (selling oranges), then works her way up to an actress, then manages to become the king's mistress. Her 14-year old sister is a prostitute (thanks to their mother, who is a drunk). 2.75 starsAt the start of the book, it is 1662 and Nell is 12 years old.
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