The Good Wife of Bath By Karen Brooks
Synopsis.
A provocative, immersive medieval novel starring one of literature’s most unforgettable characters in her own words–Chaucer’s bold and libidinous Wife of Bath.
In the middle ages, a famous poet told a story that mocked a strong woman. It became a literary classic. But what if the woman in question had a chance to tell her own version?
England, 1364: When married off at aged twelve to an elderly farmer, brazen redheaded Eleanor quickly realizes it won’t matter what she says or does, God is not on her side–or any poor woman’s for that matter. But then again, Eleanor was born under the joint signs of Venus and Mars, making her both a lover and a fighter.
Aided by a head for business (and a surprisingly kind husband), Eleanor manages to turn her first marriage into success, and she rises through society from a cast-off farm girl to a woman of fortune who becomes a trusted friend of the social-climbing poet Geoffrey Chaucer. But more marriages follow–some happy, some not–several pilgrimages, many lovers, murder, mayhem, and many turns of fortune’s wheel as Eleanor pursues the one thing that all women want: control of their own lives.
The Review
Even as it constitutes a woman’s entire life, it is still far too long.
On page 157 I thought of DNF ing. I set it down at the end of a chapter and no part of me wanted to pick it up again. I thought of setting it aside, but I had to be honest with myself, I was going to like it now or never.
Then on page 161, in a heated conversation, the author starts repeating information and concepts from earlier in the book. It was completely unnecessary to repeat these concepts as we were all spending the last 50 or so pages seeing the evidence.
This could have been a short story rebuttal.
The beginning was very interesting. The writing is solid, (I imagine my gripe is more in editing)I loved the language and Eleanor’s plight.
There were even parts of the book where I thought of Matrix by Lauren Groff.
Somewhere between husband number 1 and husband number 2, you lost me. And I couldn’t imagine doing (reading) the same thing over again with different husbands and lovers.
I will say perhaps if you’ve read Chaucer and are looking for exploratory reading related to that, this book will do that for you.
That is not me…
DNF on page 161 for being quite boring, rehashing those boring concepts, and dragging this out to over 500 pages.
Thank you to William and Morrow Books for this advanced copy!
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