Gilt by Katherine Longshore
- Pub. Date: May 15, 2012
- Publisher: Penguin Group
- Pages: 416
- Series: The Royal Circle #1
In the court of King Henry VIII, nothing is free—
and love comes at the highest price of all.
When Kitty Tylney’s best friend, Catherine Howard, worms her way into King Henry VIII’s heart and brings Kitty to court, she’s thrust into a world filled with fabulous gowns, sparkling jewels, and elegant parties. No longer stuck in Cat’s shadow, Kitty’s now caught between two men—the object of her affection and the object of her desire. But court is also full of secrets, lies, and sordid affairs, and as Kitty witnesses Cat’s meteoric rise and fall as queen, she must figure out how to keep being a good friend when the price of telling the truth could literally be her head.
and love comes at the highest price of all.
When Kitty Tylney’s best friend, Catherine Howard, worms her way into King Henry VIII’s heart and brings Kitty to court, she’s thrust into a world filled with fabulous gowns, sparkling jewels, and elegant parties. No longer stuck in Cat’s shadow, Kitty’s now caught between two men—the object of her affection and the object of her desire. But court is also full of secrets, lies, and sordid affairs, and as Kitty witnesses Cat’s meteoric rise and fall as queen, she must figure out how to keep being a good friend when the price of telling the truth could literally be her head.
First Line: :"You're not going to steal anything."
Review: It's really hard to believe that Gilt was Katherine Longshore's debut novel, the writing was well perfected and you would think she has been doing this for years. Gilt is set during the Tudor Era and Longshore kept the tale of Cat and Kitty very engrossing right to the very end.
Gilt is about Kitty Tylney and Cat Howard who also was in real life the fifth wife of King Henry VIII. The story starts off with the two only dreaming of being part of Court life and then thanks to Cat's charming and mischievous ways their dreams become reality. Cat becomes queen and makes her closest friend Kitty one of her chambermaids. And what follows is a whole lot of lies, betrayal, deception and scandal mixed in with beautiful gowns, handsome men, and lavish parties.
If you know history you know things don't end too great for the characters in this book I was actually left feeling a little sad and I hate the fact that I got no closure with Kitty's character as far as her love life went. It was all very bittersweet.
As far as the characters are concerned I could not stand Cat she was just so vile, spoiled and rotten to everyone around her especially Kitty who already had no backbone when it came to their friendship and allowed Cat to take advantage of her in well...everything. Kitty was loyal to the core to Cat even at times when she should have been selfish and for once thought about her happiness. When it comes down to it Gilt was centered around their friendship. That is what kept me reading. The relationship between the two girls fascinated me while pissing me off at the same time.
In the end I loved reading Gilt. Even though I've been reading a lot of paranormal and fantasy books lately my love for historical fiction still remains. I did know some facts about King Henry the VIII wives but thanks to Longshore and her ability to captivate me with this era after reading the novel I researched more about him and his wives and learned a great deal about them. I highly recommend this book it did not disappoint even with a doormat of a character like Kitty I still found myself rooting for her till the very end.
