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blodeuedd's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted more from this one but it fell kind of flat for me.
First we got Ella who is a bitch. She robs her previous employer and goes to London to get pretty things and a man. I never liked her, I guess I was never meant to like her but I think she got off too easy.
Sadie could have been good, but she was just a mouse who should have found some courage and not let her sister walk all over her. First maybe she should have understood that robbing was a shitty idea.
The book takes place in London where they girls try to get by, but the whole on the run, making a new life was sort of dull.
Interesting premise, but not for me.
As it was now I would not read more books by her.
Cover
I prefer the other one
First we got Ella who is a bitch. She robs her previous employer and goes to London to get pretty things and a man. I never liked her, I guess I was never meant to like her but I think she got off too easy.
Sadie could have been good, but she was just a mouse who should have found some courage and not let her sister walk all over her. First maybe she should have understood that robbing was a shitty idea.
The book takes place in London where they girls try to get by, but the whole on the run, making a new life was sort of dull.
Interesting premise, but not for me.
As it was now I would not read more books by her.
Cover
I prefer the other one
tmleblanc's review against another edition
3.0
I discovered The Gilded Lily by Deborah Swift while wandering around our local Barnes and Noble shortly after Christmas. The novel was the only book facing out when I rounded the corner from the horribly organized Young Adult section into the General Fiction Adult area. The cover immediately caught my eye--a young lady in a hood cloak with an amazing red dress. After reading the back of the novel, I knew I had to use the last of my remaining Christmas gift cards to purchase this book.
The Gilded Lily is a mystery novel that includes characters from Swift's first novel. However, you don't have to read the first novel to understand what's happening in The Gilded Lily. There are hints of events that happened in The Lady's Slipper, but it isn't key to the story told in "Lily."
My favorite part of this novel were the two main characters, Ella and Sadie. Their personalities are richly drawn and you can feel them struggle to make it in the slums of London with little money. I was particularly drawn to Sadie. She was a hard worker and empathetic to everyone around her. She wanted to do what was right, but her sister, Ella, was a bit of a scamp who lead Sadie astray many times. Honestly, I wish the story had been focused more on Sadie. However, Ella's plight and actions really were the driving force behind the plot and gave purpose to Sadie's actions and reactions. I also had a soft spot in my heart for Dennis, the young boy that Sadie and Ella rented an apartment from. He was a true gentleman to Sadie and a reader who shared his love of stories with Sadie.
The rich characters were a huge plus for a mystery plot that was quite predictable. The girls' adventures in the city as they tried to avoid trouble and stay under the radar kept me reading until the end. This is a mystery novel where everything does get tied up neatly in the end which did get a bit saccharine for me after living on the streets with Ella and Sadie for 400+ pages.
Overall, I would give The Gilded Lily by Deborah Swift a thumbs up. The streets of London and the characters create an atmosphere that draws you in and won't let you go until the final page is turned.
The Gilded Lily is a mystery novel that includes characters from Swift's first novel. However, you don't have to read the first novel to understand what's happening in The Gilded Lily. There are hints of events that happened in The Lady's Slipper, but it isn't key to the story told in "Lily."
My favorite part of this novel were the two main characters, Ella and Sadie. Their personalities are richly drawn and you can feel them struggle to make it in the slums of London with little money. I was particularly drawn to Sadie. She was a hard worker and empathetic to everyone around her. She wanted to do what was right, but her sister, Ella, was a bit of a scamp who lead Sadie astray many times. Honestly, I wish the story had been focused more on Sadie. However, Ella's plight and actions really were the driving force behind the plot and gave purpose to Sadie's actions and reactions. I also had a soft spot in my heart for Dennis, the young boy that Sadie and Ella rented an apartment from. He was a true gentleman to Sadie and a reader who shared his love of stories with Sadie.
The rich characters were a huge plus for a mystery plot that was quite predictable. The girls' adventures in the city as they tried to avoid trouble and stay under the radar kept me reading until the end. This is a mystery novel where everything does get tied up neatly in the end which did get a bit saccharine for me after living on the streets with Ella and Sadie for 400+ pages.
Overall, I would give The Gilded Lily by Deborah Swift a thumbs up. The streets of London and the characters create an atmosphere that draws you in and won't let you go until the final page is turned.
witheverypage's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
1.75
hisdarkmaterials's review against another edition
5.0
What a wonderful novel. I feel in love with Sadie right from the start. I detested Ella at times but i understood her actions. A rich story, full of mystery and intrigue. Plenty of excellent supporting characters.
books_n_pickles's review against another edition
4.0
Literally just finished this book. I very much enjoyed it, though it didn't have much depth. A fun and fairly fluffy bit of historical fiction.
I don't know much about urban England in the 1660s, though I've read about life in the country, particularly during the plague--so this trip to the city taught me a lot. I waffled over whether to include this in my "good world-building" category and I'm going for it, though mostly because this time wasn't familiar to me and yet I could see everything clearly in my mind's eye.
The sisters were great characters, and I particularly liked Ella. Not because she was a likable character, but because she wasn't. We don't get a lot of women like her in fiction--Sadie's type of character is more usual: the girl who stands out but just wants to go unnoticed learns to find her strength. It's so formulaic I hardly consider that a spoiler. Ella, on the other hand, can be incredibly callous and selfish, wrapped up in her own efforts to get ahead in the world and experience the finer things that she never could before. Her pangs of remorse made her more complex than just the all-around the "bitch" a couple characters say she is. As much as I didn't like her, I loved her character.
I have conflicting thoughts about the pacing. On the one hand, slow: it takes a lot of time for much action to happen and everything is relatively quiet until then. This makes sense because Ella and Sadie are in hiding, and I wasn't annoyed by the pace except... Well, on that other hand, the pace was too fast: Everything happened at once at the end, the sisters' personalities changed far too quickly and permanently, one flat-out forgives the other's attempted second-degree murder, the main villain is revealed to be even more of a scuzzbucket than thought for the first 300 pages, and the tensest action fits in 30 pages (admittedly, they might have gone more quickly than usual because it is a pretty gripping scene). I never was impatient for the book to go faster--I actually wanted it to go slower at the end because I was enjoying it! But the unevenness of the page was odd.
The inclusion of an insta-love-interest was disappointing, though I did love the smaller characters that contributed to the plot. Corey Johnson was a great addition, and I hope to see more of her in Swift's no doubt forthcoming companion novels. I also want to know more about Wycliffe's background, though I have a suspicion he's an insta-love-interest in his own right.
I did appreciate the surprise of Ella's final important action. I was afraid this would be another Cinderella story, but fortunately the only rescuing involved was of a man by a young man and a young woman. Thank goodness for small mercies!
Some things I didn't like:
>> Evil is gay. Because of course. Duh. (This was so unnecessary, which somehow feels even worse than if it had been an important part of the character. Sisters, please smack me upside the head if that thought deserves it.)
>> I feel like I've read a lot of books with massive fires at the end of them lately. Obviously not a fault of the text, but I'm pretty much expecting sparks to fly at this point.
>> I did not want Jay to die so quickly. That man deserved disgrace, ruin, humiliation, jail, and a public execution. A relatively quick and painless death was too easy. Like I said, scuzzbucket.
>> The murders didn't really become central to the plot until the end, nor did the depth of Jay's nefariousness...so I was still kind of expecting him to have a soft spot even at the bitter end.
>> We never learned whether Thomas had been smothered or not. I think that might be in Swift's first novel, [b:The Lady's Slipper|8378780|The Lady's Slipper|Deborah Swift|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1311993308s/8378780.jpg|9690870], which I'll be keeping an eye out for on Free Book Day.
And as for the book's happily-ever-after? I have three words/"words" for you: London. Plague. 1665.
Quote Roundup
Not intentionally picky this time. Like I said, it was relatively fluffy reading.
14) By now the river was thick with craft of every shape and size and the air was a Babel of men and women, all shouting to each other in an accent Sadie could barely fathom.
I was delighted to see "babble" used in its original form and function.
219) "When my father told me that tale he used to say, 'Always remember, you can't hate someone if you know their story.'"
Of course I go for the metaliterary quote... Though it is particularly fitting considering that I liked Ella as a character.
326) Ella hung tight to the stair rail as she stepped out onto the frozen surface. ... And it felt like blasphemy, that any highway felon might walk on water just like Jesus had.
Wow. Just, wow. I really like this thought, that walking on ice is like Jesus's walking on water, and Ella's consideration of blasphemy really drove her fear home for me.
411) "Though sometimes I think [heaven and hell] 'tis all just a myth to keep us in line."
This line drove me up the wall. It was totally out of left field, out of character, and way too modern-feeling for a 17th-century country girl who'd been isolated in one way or another for most of her life.
I don't know much about urban England in the 1660s, though I've read about life in the country, particularly during the plague--so this trip to the city taught me a lot. I waffled over whether to include this in my "good world-building" category and I'm going for it, though mostly because this time wasn't familiar to me and yet I could see everything clearly in my mind's eye.
The sisters were great characters, and I particularly liked Ella. Not because she was a likable character, but because she wasn't. We don't get a lot of women like her in fiction--Sadie's type of character is more usual: the girl who stands out but just wants to go unnoticed learns to find her strength. It's so formulaic I hardly consider that a spoiler. Ella, on the other hand, can be incredibly callous and selfish, wrapped up in her own efforts to get ahead in the world and experience the finer things that she never could before. Her pangs of remorse made her more complex than just the all-around the "bitch" a couple characters say she is. As much as I didn't like her, I loved her character.
I have conflicting thoughts about the pacing. On the one hand, slow: it takes a lot of time for much action to happen and everything is relatively quiet until then. This makes sense because Ella and Sadie are in hiding, and I wasn't annoyed by the pace except... Well, on that other hand, the pace was too fast: Everything happened at once at the end, the sisters' personalities changed far too quickly and permanently, one flat-out forgives the other's attempted second-degree murder, the main villain is revealed to be even more of a scuzzbucket than thought for the first 300 pages, and the tensest action fits in 30 pages (admittedly, they might have gone more quickly than usual because it is a pretty gripping scene). I never was impatient for the book to go faster--I actually wanted it to go slower at the end because I was enjoying it! But the unevenness of the page was odd.
The inclusion of an insta-love-interest was disappointing, though I did love the smaller characters that contributed to the plot. Corey Johnson was a great addition, and I hope to see more of her in Swift's no doubt forthcoming companion novels. I also want to know more about Wycliffe's background, though I have a suspicion he's an insta-love-interest in his own right.
I did appreciate the surprise of Ella's final important action. I was afraid this would be another Cinderella story, but fortunately the only rescuing involved was of a man by a young man and a young woman. Thank goodness for small mercies!
Some things I didn't like:
Spoiler
>> Evil is gay. Because of course. Duh. (This was so unnecessary, which somehow feels even worse than if it had been an important part of the character. Sisters, please smack me upside the head if that thought deserves it.)
>> I feel like I've read a lot of books with massive fires at the end of them lately. Obviously not a fault of the text, but I'm pretty much expecting sparks to fly at this point.
>> I did not want Jay to die so quickly. That man deserved disgrace, ruin, humiliation, jail, and a public execution. A relatively quick and painless death was too easy. Like I said, scuzzbucket.
>> The murders didn't really become central to the plot until the end, nor did the depth of Jay's nefariousness...so I was still kind of expecting him to have a soft spot even at the bitter end.
>> We never learned whether Thomas had been smothered or not. I think that might be in Swift's first novel, [b:The Lady's Slipper|8378780|The Lady's Slipper|Deborah Swift|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1311993308s/8378780.jpg|9690870], which I'll be keeping an eye out for on Free Book Day.
And as for the book's happily-ever-after? I have three words/"words" for you: London. Plague. 1665.
Quote Roundup
Not intentionally picky this time. Like I said, it was relatively fluffy reading.
14) By now the river was thick with craft of every shape and size and the air was a Babel of men and women, all shouting to each other in an accent Sadie could barely fathom.
I was delighted to see "babble" used in its original form and function.
219) "When my father told me that tale he used to say, 'Always remember, you can't hate someone if you know their story.'"
Of course I go for the metaliterary quote... Though it is particularly fitting considering that I liked Ella as a character.
326) Ella hung tight to the stair rail as she stepped out onto the frozen surface. ... And it felt like blasphemy, that any highway felon might walk on water just like Jesus had.
Wow. Just, wow. I really like this thought, that walking on ice is like Jesus's walking on water, and Ella's consideration of blasphemy really drove her fear home for me.
411) "Though sometimes I think [heaven and hell] 'tis all just a myth to keep us in line."
This line drove me up the wall. It was totally out of left field, out of character, and way too modern-feeling for a 17th-century country girl who'd been isolated in one way or another for most of her life.
unabridgedchick's review against another edition
4.0
Set in the 1660s, the story follows Ella and Sadie Appleby, girls from rural England who flee to London after a tragedy with Ella's employer, and there they find themselves struggling to survive. Restoration London for these two is dark, dank, dirty, and exhausting, and Swift's writing made the grime, fog, and muck all too real. (I wanted to shower every time I put the book down!)
Ella -- beautiful and bold -- gets a job as a sales girl at an unusual ladies boutique called The Gilded Lily. Sadie, marked with a noticeable birthmark on her face, remains cloistered in their rented room as relatives of Ella's dead employer search London for them. Ella becomes enamored of her new employer and her increasing status as a London icon, while Sadie bristles at being trapped -- literally, as Ella locks her away to keep her sister from being tempted out into public, risking capture.
I was immediately grabbed by this book -- the novel opens with a bang -- and Ella and Sadie are fascinating characters. Swift shows their complicated relationship -- selfish Ella, shy Sadie -- and I liked both of them a good deal (even Ella, who did some rather despicable things!). There's intrigue and scandal -- this is Restoration England -- but instead of royal mistresses, The Gilded Lily features common women scrabbling for fame and fortune, safety, some measure of comfort.
One of the things I loved about this book was Swift's use of dialogue. She used what I presume were historical phrases and slang -- at times a little surprising, but I was able to guess the meaning through context -- and I appreciated that never once did the story, or the characters, sound anachronistic. (Or worse, my pet peeve, overly Shakespearean or classical.) I should note I'm reading the UK edition of this book; I don't know if the dialogue will be 'Americanized' for the US edition (I hope not.).
I also appreciated the focus on sisters - sibling relationships in historical fiction is always fun -- and the seedy focus of the story. (It is, however, pretty low on the risque factor, to my surprise.) I was initially apprehensive when I heard this was a follow up to Swift's first novel, The Lady's Slipper, as I hadn't read it, but from the author's note at the end of the book, it seems the main character of that book is a peripheral figure in this one.
At more than 460 pages, this is a chunky historical that raced, with enough intrigue and distinctive characters to keep me glued to the pages. A fun read especially if royal romances aren't your kind of historical.
Ella -- beautiful and bold -- gets a job as a sales girl at an unusual ladies boutique called The Gilded Lily. Sadie, marked with a noticeable birthmark on her face, remains cloistered in their rented room as relatives of Ella's dead employer search London for them. Ella becomes enamored of her new employer and her increasing status as a London icon, while Sadie bristles at being trapped -- literally, as Ella locks her away to keep her sister from being tempted out into public, risking capture.
I was immediately grabbed by this book -- the novel opens with a bang -- and Ella and Sadie are fascinating characters. Swift shows their complicated relationship -- selfish Ella, shy Sadie -- and I liked both of them a good deal (even Ella, who did some rather despicable things!). There's intrigue and scandal -- this is Restoration England -- but instead of royal mistresses, The Gilded Lily features common women scrabbling for fame and fortune, safety, some measure of comfort.
One of the things I loved about this book was Swift's use of dialogue. She used what I presume were historical phrases and slang -- at times a little surprising, but I was able to guess the meaning through context -- and I appreciated that never once did the story, or the characters, sound anachronistic. (Or worse, my pet peeve, overly Shakespearean or classical.) I should note I'm reading the UK edition of this book; I don't know if the dialogue will be 'Americanized' for the US edition (I hope not.).
I also appreciated the focus on sisters - sibling relationships in historical fiction is always fun -- and the seedy focus of the story. (It is, however, pretty low on the risque factor, to my surprise.) I was initially apprehensive when I heard this was a follow up to Swift's first novel, The Lady's Slipper, as I hadn't read it, but from the author's note at the end of the book, it seems the main character of that book is a peripheral figure in this one.
At more than 460 pages, this is a chunky historical that raced, with enough intrigue and distinctive characters to keep me glued to the pages. A fun read especially if royal romances aren't your kind of historical.
margreads's review against another edition
4.0
As readers we first met Ella Appleby in the pages of The Lady's Slipper. In that story Ella was portrayed as a somewhat conniving young lady who would let nothing and no-one step in the way of what she wants. And what Ella wants more than anything is to be a fine lady, sleeping in expensive linen, dressed in gorgeous clothes.
Initially, Ella is convinced that the best way to achieve that goal is to become mistress to Thomas Ibbetson, but that plan goes awry when Thomas falls seriously ill and dies. Ella knows that she has to leave the small village that she has always lived in and quickly but she can't possibly leave her sister, Sadie, behind. The two girls take everything of value in the house and flee to the relative anonymity of London but the dead man's twin brother is hot on their trail and it isn't long before there are wanted posters scattered throughout London.
Read the rest of my thoughts about this book on my blog
http://www.theintrepidreader.com/2012/09/the-gilded-lily-by-deborah-swift.html
Initially, Ella is convinced that the best way to achieve that goal is to become mistress to Thomas Ibbetson, but that plan goes awry when Thomas falls seriously ill and dies. Ella knows that she has to leave the small village that she has always lived in and quickly but she can't possibly leave her sister, Sadie, behind. The two girls take everything of value in the house and flee to the relative anonymity of London but the dead man's twin brother is hot on their trail and it isn't long before there are wanted posters scattered throughout London.
Read the rest of my thoughts about this book on my blog
http://www.theintrepidreader.com/2012/09/the-gilded-lily-by-deborah-swift.html
colleenlovestoread's review against another edition
4.0
I reviewed this book for luxuryreading.com.
After her employer dies suddenly, Ella Appleby grabs everything of value and her younger sister, Sadie, and runs for the anonymity of London. Believing she is destined for a better life than as an obedient servant to uncaring masters or an abusive father, she sees London as her chance to start fresh with endless possibilities. But 1661 London is filthy, overcrowded and cruel and while Ella’s country beauty blends in with others around them Sadie’s distinctive port wine stained face sets them apart, something that is dangerous for two girls trying to lay low. Even more dangerous is the angry twin brother of Ella’s previous employer, a man who believes the girls not only robbed but murdered his brother and will stop at nothing to seek justice.
As her former employer’s brother gets closer to tracking the girls down, offering a hefty reward to anyone who can lead him to the “Savage Sisters”, Ella believes Sadie is keeping her from fully realizing her wish for a new life and begins making dubious decisions to further separate them. However, when the gilding of this much sought after new life begins to chip away, Ella realizes that she has lead them both into a web that they might not be able to survive.
Described as a companion volume to Deborah Swift’s The Lady’s Slipper, The Gilded Lily works perfectly as a stand-alone novel. The descriptions and dialogue immerse the reader in Restoration era London and it really is a shock to look up and realize that you aren’t actually slinking down the cramped back alleys with the Appleby sisters. Everything around the girls is harsh – from the weather to the people to their circumstances – and the reader is hard pressed not to wish right alongside them for a chance at a happy life.
The sisters could not be more different – Ella is beautiful, hot tempered and selfish for the majority of the time while Sadie is shy, sweet and innocently oblivious to a lot of what happens around her – and while I can’t say I was a fan of Ella’s decisions they are both very real representations of poor women trying to survive on their own in this time and place. Every single character highlights a different form of desperation and serves to show that money, status and belongings do not guarantee happiness. Far from a feel good story it is very real and raw and does hint at some good things to come in the future for certain characters.
Loving the dark corners and shiny optimism of the possibility of a better life when it couldn’t get much worse, The Gilded Lily is a great example of realistic historical fiction. I am excited to read The Lady’s Slipper and see how it ties in to the atmosphere and world this book makes me want to linger in a little longer.
After her employer dies suddenly, Ella Appleby grabs everything of value and her younger sister, Sadie, and runs for the anonymity of London. Believing she is destined for a better life than as an obedient servant to uncaring masters or an abusive father, she sees London as her chance to start fresh with endless possibilities. But 1661 London is filthy, overcrowded and cruel and while Ella’s country beauty blends in with others around them Sadie’s distinctive port wine stained face sets them apart, something that is dangerous for two girls trying to lay low. Even more dangerous is the angry twin brother of Ella’s previous employer, a man who believes the girls not only robbed but murdered his brother and will stop at nothing to seek justice.
As her former employer’s brother gets closer to tracking the girls down, offering a hefty reward to anyone who can lead him to the “Savage Sisters”, Ella believes Sadie is keeping her from fully realizing her wish for a new life and begins making dubious decisions to further separate them. However, when the gilding of this much sought after new life begins to chip away, Ella realizes that she has lead them both into a web that they might not be able to survive.
Described as a companion volume to Deborah Swift’s The Lady’s Slipper, The Gilded Lily works perfectly as a stand-alone novel. The descriptions and dialogue immerse the reader in Restoration era London and it really is a shock to look up and realize that you aren’t actually slinking down the cramped back alleys with the Appleby sisters. Everything around the girls is harsh – from the weather to the people to their circumstances – and the reader is hard pressed not to wish right alongside them for a chance at a happy life.
The sisters could not be more different – Ella is beautiful, hot tempered and selfish for the majority of the time while Sadie is shy, sweet and innocently oblivious to a lot of what happens around her – and while I can’t say I was a fan of Ella’s decisions they are both very real representations of poor women trying to survive on their own in this time and place. Every single character highlights a different form of desperation and serves to show that money, status and belongings do not guarantee happiness. Far from a feel good story it is very real and raw and does hint at some good things to come in the future for certain characters.
Loving the dark corners and shiny optimism of the possibility of a better life when it couldn’t get much worse, The Gilded Lily is a great example of realistic historical fiction. I am excited to read The Lady’s Slipper and see how it ties in to the atmosphere and world this book makes me want to linger in a little longer.
eating_or_reading's review against another edition
3.0
First published at Lit Addicted Brit
When I first finished this book a couple of weeks ago, I wasn't at all sure how I felt about it. The opening few chapters are a flurry of action but, once Ella and Sadie reach London, the story very quickly settles down and becomes more about the two sisters, what they have to do to survive and how their experiences change them. There is a simmering tension underneath it all but it creates more of a sense of unease than excitement. It took me a little while to realise that this is one of the book's greatest strengths, rather than a weakness. The story reads a little bit slower and it can seem repetitive occasionally but when I think about the queasy feeling I often had while reading, I kind of understood why.
Characterisation is where this book really shines. The plot is solid but the characters are genuinely fascinating. I know that reviewers talk a lot about the characters that they love because they have depth but what about those that you can't love because they have depth? Because they are so intensely flawed and inconsistent and unpredictably human that you can't completely get behind them, even while your heart breaks for them. Ella and Sadie both had incredibly traumatic childhoods and they take their traumas with them to London, where they continue to affect how they grow and develop.
Sadie is quite the tragic figure. Taken away from an aggressive father and lured to London by her selfish older sister, Sadie struggles to blend in because of a birth mark on her face that makes her somewhat memorable. If you're trying to hide yourself from various people that probably want to hand you, that is obviously far from helpful. I completely sympathised with her, I really did, but for every moment where my heart hurt for her, there was another where I shook the book a little bit and just wanted her to FIGHT. Remember when I said that the characters' traumas stayed with them, though? Even while I desperately wanted Sadie to stick up for herself, I knew that if I'd been through everything she had, I probably wouldn't be up for a fight either. Likewise Ella, although she is less easy to love.
Almost inevitably, though, there were some things that I found disappointing. Restoration England was an interesting period of English history (particularly when you consider how much is being made of our monarchy recently!) and I didn't feel that this particular novel made the most of it. There are some subtle references that are apparent when you know the exact year that the novel is set in (like the decreasing outward respect for the puritan characters) but I would be very surprised if many people (myself included!) would be able to pick out the time period if given this book "blind", so to speak. I don't want a history lesson in my historical fiction but I do like to get a feel of the period that a book is set in, as opposed to just feeling as though I'm reading something set in the 16th/17th century.
The ending is also a little twee. It was something that I had thought about during the book because I couldn't quite see how Swift was going to deal with the fact that she had a criminal for one of her protagonists and an accomplice for another. I can imagine that a lot of people will think that the ending is perfect. Loose ends? All dealt with. Justice metered out? I'm less convinced...
Overall: If you're looking for character-driven historical fiction, you could do a lot worse than The Gilded Lily. If you're in the mood for something that will drag you through the streets of London without leaving you time to breathe, this isn't quite that book. If you have a little more time and aren't looking for love/action around every corner, give this a try.
When I first finished this book a couple of weeks ago, I wasn't at all sure how I felt about it. The opening few chapters are a flurry of action but, once Ella and Sadie reach London, the story very quickly settles down and becomes more about the two sisters, what they have to do to survive and how their experiences change them. There is a simmering tension underneath it all but it creates more of a sense of unease than excitement. It took me a little while to realise that this is one of the book's greatest strengths, rather than a weakness. The story reads a little bit slower and it can seem repetitive occasionally but when I think about the queasy feeling I often had while reading, I kind of understood why.
Characterisation is where this book really shines. The plot is solid but the characters are genuinely fascinating. I know that reviewers talk a lot about the characters that they love because they have depth but what about those that you can't love because they have depth? Because they are so intensely flawed and inconsistent and unpredictably human that you can't completely get behind them, even while your heart breaks for them. Ella and Sadie both had incredibly traumatic childhoods and they take their traumas with them to London, where they continue to affect how they grow and develop.
Sadie is quite the tragic figure. Taken away from an aggressive father and lured to London by her selfish older sister, Sadie struggles to blend in because of a birth mark on her face that makes her somewhat memorable. If you're trying to hide yourself from various people that probably want to hand you, that is obviously far from helpful. I completely sympathised with her, I really did, but for every moment where my heart hurt for her, there was another where I shook the book a little bit and just wanted her to FIGHT. Remember when I said that the characters' traumas stayed with them, though? Even while I desperately wanted Sadie to stick up for herself, I knew that if I'd been through everything she had, I probably wouldn't be up for a fight either. Likewise Ella, although she is less easy to love.
Almost inevitably, though, there were some things that I found disappointing. Restoration England was an interesting period of English history (particularly when you consider how much is being made of our monarchy recently!) and I didn't feel that this particular novel made the most of it. There are some subtle references that are apparent when you know the exact year that the novel is set in (like the decreasing outward respect for the puritan characters) but I would be very surprised if many people (myself included!) would be able to pick out the time period if given this book "blind", so to speak. I don't want a history lesson in my historical fiction but I do like to get a feel of the period that a book is set in, as opposed to just feeling as though I'm reading something set in the 16th/17th century.
The ending is also a little twee. It was something that I had thought about during the book because I couldn't quite see how Swift was going to deal with the fact that she had a criminal for one of her protagonists and an accomplice for another. I can imagine that a lot of people will think that the ending is perfect. Loose ends? All dealt with. Justice metered out? I'm less convinced...
Overall: If you're looking for character-driven historical fiction, you could do a lot worse than The Gilded Lily. If you're in the mood for something that will drag you through the streets of London without leaving you time to breathe, this isn't quite that book. If you have a little more time and aren't looking for love/action around every corner, give this a try.
panichistory's review against another edition
3.0
I really enjoyed this until the last 15% or so. Then there were threats of rape and everything just turned out very differently than I had expected given how the first chunk of the book went.