Reviews

Girl on the Golden Coin: A Novel of Frances Stuart by Marci Jefferson

jenstarz's review against another edition

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4.0

What a great read! I am finding that as I get older I really love fictional histories. It reminded me of the Other Boleyn Girl. I was transported to another time and place. I felt like I wanted to curtsy daily. :)

jeynus's review against another edition

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3.0

It's an enjoyable look at historical figures I was not familer with.
A little bit of fluff and a little bit of history. The characters were all a little one dimensional, so I didn't connect with them much and the narrative could use a little more personality.

I received a copy of this book for free through Goodreads First Reads

katsmiao's review against another edition

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4.0

Well-researched, interesting and intriguing.

I usually enjoy historical novels. Firstly, I like to learn about real people, but in a fictionalized account. It usually makes the book more readable, than a straight biography. Secondly, it gives a nice balance to the YA, NA and romantic fiction books that make up the bulk of my books-to-review backlog.

I didn't find this book to be overly fast-paced or full of suspense or action. It's a slower paced book, that brings a real person to live through meticulous research and opens a window to a different time and an unusual women, who is mostly unmentioned in history.

well worth reading.

shogins's review against another edition

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2.0

(I received this book through the Goodreads First Reads Program.)

It's nice to read a historical fiction novel about a British royal family that's NOT the Tudors, and this book was perfectly serviceable, but I doubt it'll really stick with me. Frances Stuart seems like an interesting character and experienced a lot of history but the writing was just ok. Some of the choices - like how her mother would continually hint that there were important family secrets but never disclose them - didn't ring true. If you're going to have your daughter live in royal courts, you should probably let her know those secrets so she knows the situation and can avoid any issues those secrets might bring! Although the plot is obviously constrained by real life, I often didn't understand why Frances chose the way she did, which seems like a failure of characterization. Still, I largely enjoyed the book.

districtreads's review against another edition

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3.0

Cross-posted to http://off-the-book.org.

The cover of Marci Jefferson’s debut novel, Girl on the Golden Coin, is gilted, elegant and gleaming, and most of all – perfectly suited to a novel about Frances Stuart, a 17th century belle of the French and English courts.

Frances survives the overthrow of the English crown only because she happens to be a Stuart – a royal family with tenacious ties to the monarchy. When the Restoration lands her family back in favor with the king, Frances discovers the power that her beauty has on others. When she rejects King Louis XIV’s offer to make her his Royal Mistress, she is exiled to England with the task of seducing his brother, King Charles II, and stop imminent war.

While at times Frances could be a little cloying, ultimately that fit her political maneuvering and the character becomes more and more admirable as the story goes on. Her strength, intelligence, and desire to keep what she felt was her "integrity" offered an interesting new facet to the Stuart saga.

This glittering novel is entertaining, historically accurate, and beautifully descriptive. The tale of Frances Stuart, a beautiful and headstrong woman whose portrait ultimately graced coins as “Britannia” is one that I couldn’t put down. Her characterizations of both kings were multi-faceted and offered a unique portrayal of their individual reigns. A recommended read.

loreofthebooks's review against another edition

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1.0

When it said recommended for people who like Gregory I should have known and stayed away from this book. (Nothing particularly wrong with Gregory, her books just aren't my style.)

That said, I was bored.

I skimmed a lot and felt like I'd missed nothing. Perhaps this era isn't my cup of tea, or the writing. I don't know, I had to stop reading and go read other things to even finish this novel.

Ah well, you win some you lose some.

eschaalman's review against another edition

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3.0

I could not wait to get my hands on this novel, and in the end it was just alright. I felt that the Frances Stuart depicted here fell flat and was shallowly written. The novel does follow a well thought out arch and there are many interesting supporting characters, that at times are more interesting than the main character.

steph_geneie's review against another edition

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sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

samantha_randolph's review

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5.0

"Frances Stuart has little money, but she has beauty that can attract kings. When she goes to the French court with her newly wed friend, King Louis XIV is enraptured and asks her to be his mistress. Guided by her morals and her desire to protect her family from scandal, she refuses, and he sends her back to England, charging her to capture King Charles II's eye. While she attempts to win Charles over with kindness instead of seduction, she starts falling for the monarch she can't have. Her loyalty is tested, and Frances must decide how long she can say no." Full review at Fresh Fiction: http://freshfiction.com/review.php?id=44299

unabridgedchick's review

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5.0

I have been dying to read this book since last June, when I hosted the author on my blog ahead of the Historical Novel Conference. Since then, there's been a lot of buzz about this book because one, the author is sweet and adorable and I just want to eat her up with a spoon; and two, the novel has a staggeringly gorgeous cover (click the image for the full-blown hi-res version).

As it turns out, there's a pretty fabulous story here, too!

Set between 1661 and 1688, at the height of the Restoration in Great Britain -- the rule of Charles II -- the novel is narrated by English noblewoman Frances Stuart. Frances is part of a group of exiled English royalists holed up in France, serving the Queen Mother there while hoping for an invitation to join the court in England. When her great beauty attracts the attention of King Louis XIV, she becomes a pawn in a greater political struggle for power, as she is essentially ordered by both Louis and the Queen Mother to become mistress to the 'merry monarch', Charles II.

At risk of literally recounting the whole novel, I'll stop here, but add that Frances is an intriguing, complicated heroine. Loyal to her family, she tries to be obedient to Louis and the Queen Mother, but finds herself attracted to the rakish king.  Her purity and admiration of the man Charles can be becomes a kind of erotic charge between her and her monarch -- not helped that his wild mistress, the infamous Countess Castlemaine, Barbara Palmer, throws parties that invite sexual shenanigans.

Frances could have been portrayed as uncomfortably priggish or judgmental, but instead appears to be a very human woman: tempted, conflicted, concerned with both her honor and with the yearnings of her body.  She made the entire novel for me -- her 'voice' was warm and real -- and I loved every minute with her.  This is a coup for Jefferson, because ever since reading Susan Holloway Scott's Royal Harlot, her novel about Barbara Palmer, I've had a soft spot for the woman -- and in this book, I wanted to slap her for being so awful to Frances.

The historic details here are rich without overpowering the story and the pace is very fast -- Frances' life is full of excitement and drama. There are some sexytimes, too, but those scenes fit with the story and didn't feel egregious or outrageous to me. My only complaint is that I would have liked a little more lingering near the end -- the novel felt rushed at times, especially with Charles' death -- but otherwise, I was sucked in from the first page.

There's a full six pages of Who's Who at the novel's open, for which I'm deeply grateful, and a four page Author's Note.

A delicious debut, Jefferson's novel is a delightful introduction to a tempting heroine and a rich story of a wild, tumultuous era. In an interview with Megan of A Book Affair, Jefferson says she "became obsessed with the desire to do for the Stuarts what Philippa Gregory had done for the Tudors" and I think she's done that! Here's to more Stuarts, and to more from Jefferson.