The King's Mistress by Gillian Bagwell

Hardback: 400 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Avon 2012
Source: Read on My Kindle
First Sentence: The afternoon sun dappled through the leaves of the oak tree. Jane Lane sat in its shade, her back against its stalwart trunk, the Second Folio of Shakespeare's works open on her lap.
Review Quote: “The King’s Mistress is that spellbinding combination of history, adventure, suspense and a fast-beating pulse of pure eroticism…a real romantic treat.” Lancashire Evening Post
My Opinion: As far as I have been able to ascertain this novel is the only fictional account of the real-life adventure of Jane Lane, who risked her life to help the young Charles II escape after the Battle of Worcester in 1651. An important  moment in the history of the British Monarchy. Gillian Bagwell with her love and fascination of British History and her through research brings this captivating tale to life for the reader. For fans of historical fiction that have not yet discovered this author's work, I recommend you give her a try as she writes with passion about real people and places.

Precis of 'The King's Mistress' courtesy of  Goodreads

Set against the volatile backdrop of the English Civil War, dive into this enthralling tale of danger, bravery, and a woman who would do anything for the man she loved.

It's 1651 and Jane Lane leads a privileged life inside the walls of her family's home. At 25 years old, her parents are keen to see her settled, but Jane dreams of a union that goes beyond the advantageous match her father desires.

Her quiet world is shattered when Royalists, fighting to restore the crown to King Charles II, arrive at their door, imploring Jane and her family for help. They have been hiding the king, but Cromwell's forces are close behind them, baying for Charles' blood -- and the blood of anyone who seeks to help him. Putting herself in mortal danger, Jane must help the king escape to safety by disguising him as her manservant.


With the shadow of the gallows dogging their every step, Jane finds herself falling in love...

My Previous Review of a Gillian Bagwell novel

The Darling Strumpet


Author Profile

Gillian Bagwell grew up in Berkeley, California, and began her professional life as an actress, studying at the University of California Berkeley and the Drama Studio London at Berkeley before relocating to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film and television. She moved into directing and producing theatre, founding The Pasadena Shakespeare Company, where she served as artistic director for nine years, producing thirty-seven critically acclaimed productions. 

She united her life-long love of books, British history, and theatre in writing her first novel, "The Darling Strumpet," based on the life of Nell Gwynn. Her second novel, 'The September Queen' is called 'The King's Mistress' in the UK has Charles II and Jane Lane as protagonists.  Her third novel  "Venus in Winter" is based on the first forty years of the life of the formidable four-times widowed Bess of Hardwick,  


Photographs and biographical information courtesy of the following sites.

Goodreads - Author Profile     Facebook - Gillian Bagwell  

 Official Author Website           Amazon's Gillian Bagwell Page

The Darling Strumpet by Gillian Bagwell

Paperback: 414 pages

Genre: Historical Fiction

Publisher: Avon, Harper Collins 2011

Source: Gift from a blogging friend over at Southhams Darling

First Sentence : ‘London – Twenty-Ninth of May, 1660, The sun shone hot and bright in the glorious May sky and the streets of London were rivers of joyous activity .’

Review Quote : ‘Richly engaging’ Diana Gabaldon, Author.

Award: Named Number 1 in the 10 Best Historical Novels of 2011 by Kayla Posney of the Pittsburgh Historical Fiction Examiner.

My Opinion: A brilliant first novel.            

I have rediscovered historical novels since I have been reviewing books here, so I was delighted when a blogging friend of mine Southhams Darling offered to send me a novel she had just finished reading and thought I would enjoy.


Considering this was a first novel  I thought it was very ambitious of the author to not only pick Nell Gwynn as her protagonist but rather than just cover a particular period of her life she chose to tell her complete life story.  By her own admission in the notes at the end of the novel she has  tried to do so as fully and truthfully as possible, keeping to the facts as known as much as possible.  I think she has succeeded very successfully and only true historians will pick up the few minor liberties that Gillian Bagwell tells us she altered as to the timing of events. She also copes successfully with a vast cast of characters, the vast majority of which were real life people in Nell's world.  With this brilliant first novel there seems no doubt that Gillian Bagwell is going to be a historical fiction writer to look out for. 

The story is a bawdy one and the detail in the novel is sexually explicit, but it will make you realise exactly what life was like for this little girl growing up in 17C London.  From oyster seller, to courtesan, orange seller to actress.  Nell becomes one of  London's favourite actresses when she is still a very young woman and her beauty, personality and ambitious dedication soon make her a favourite of Charles the Second. It is her relationship with Charles that changes her life for ever, as the novel progresses you can feel just how much this famous historical figure was passionate in her love for the King.  A wonderful fictional read about real people and places. 

Author Profile

Gillian Bagwell grew up in Berkeley, California, and began her professional life as an actress, studying at the University of California Berkeley and the Drama Studio London at Berkeley before relocating to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film and television. She moved into directing and producing theatre, founding The Pasadena Shakespeare Company, where she served as artistic director for nine years, producing thirty-seven critically acclaimed productions. 
She united her life-long love of books, British history, and theatre in writing her first novel, "The Darling Strumpet," based on the life of Nell Gwynn. Her second novel, 'The September Queen' which was published in paperback in November 2011 is the first fictional account of the perilous and romantic odyssey of Jane Lane, an ordinary English girl who risked her life to help the young Charles II escape after the disastrous Battle of Worcester in 1651 by disguising him as her servant. Gillian is now writing her third novel, about the formidable four-times widowed Tudor dynast Bess of Hardwick.  Visit her official website, Gillian Bagwell for further information about her books and upcoming events, and links to her blogs, articles, and videos of sites in Nell Gwynn’s London.


The video I have included gives a brief glimpse of present day Covent Garden and the church of St Paul's Covent Garden, which were the setting for scenes from the novel.

                                                Uploaded by acorn1651 on Jul 1, 2011




The biographical information photo and the video used in this post are with thanks to the following websites.


Goodreads Author Profile,    Gillian Bagwell      Facebook Profile


Number 6 in the Awards listed at the top of this post just happens to be another novel about Nell Gwynn, which I also reviewed Exit the Actress by Priya Parmar enjoy one and  I think you will also enjoy the other. 


I have chosen to read this title as the letter D for The A - Z Book  Challenge which I have decided to attempt to achieve in alphabetical order. I have a good selection of titles to choose from our bookshelves, it will be interesting to see how far I can get before I get stuck. You can follow my progress here.