Wife to Charles ll
In this reissue of a novel first published in 1965, author Lewis gamely attempts to relate the story of Portuguese princess Catherine of Braganza, destined almost from birth to marry Charles II of England. The era of Restoration England, an exciting, lively and bawdy period marked by such monumental events as the Great Plague, the Great Fire of London, the merry Stuart monarch’s multiple liaisons, and court intrigues between the Catholic and Protestant factions concerning the succession, here provides a pallid and nearly lifeless backdrop to the story. Flamboyant, glittering figures of the day, including the infamous Barbara, Lady Castlemaine, the witty actress Nell Gwyn, the ambitious Monmouth, the Catholic heir-in-waiting James Duke of York, and the notorious Louise de Kerouaille, stride across the novel’s canvas, but most are underdeveloped, wooden, and frustratingly one-note characters. Villains like the powerful Lord Shaftesbury and Titus Oates fare no better. In fact, the lazy, profligate, and charming Charles II is the only character who seems three-dimensional; even the loyal, loving Catherine, who is portrayed sympathetically and with admiration, and who is supposed to be the novel’s center, never clearly comes into focus.
Unevenly and sometimes awkwardly written, overlong, and slow-paced and ponderous in style, this novel was a major disappointment. Although they are more romanticized in nature, I’d recommend either With All My Heart by Margaret Campbell Barnes or Jean Plaidy’s The Pleasures of Love instead of this title, for fuller, more interesting chronicles of the life and times of Catherine of Braganza.
