Gather A Want Of Kindness: A Novel Of Queen Anne Constructed By Joanne Limburg Accessible In Document

to Net Galley for this book in exchange for a fair review,

There are times when I read reviews and wonder if we read the same book, This is one of those books, I never really got into to it, found the historical research to be rudimentary and the writing bland, Queen Anne was just not that interesting as written by this author,

I know little about this time period and, frankly, still know little about it, I did find out that Queen Anne had trouble with her eyes, ate without limitation, gambled excessively and suffered uncountable still births and miscarriages, Her marriage lacked very little depth and she seemed to have no interest in her subjects although she did like her ladies in waiting,

I've read good historical fiction from CJ Sansom, Phillipa Gregory and Diana Gabaldon and this is nowhere in their league, I would pass on this, It was interesting. The writing was difficult to follow sometimes as it wasn't always clear who was talking or what was happening, This meant that it took me longer to read as

I sometimes had to reread lines to figure out what was going on, I also didn't get a sense of her husband's personality as he was just kind of there and a baby maker, I did enjoy it though and the frustration and the grief of the characters was apparent and it was heartbreaking reading the last few pages where we realize just how little Sarah cares about Anne who made her her whole world.
It's also one of the only books I've found on Queen Anne so I give it bonus marks for that, Book

Title: A Want of Kindness

Author: Joanne Limburg

Genre: Historical/Romance

Rating:

: InQueen Anne ascended to the throne, the last of the Stuart monarchs, an unfortunate and unlucky royal dynasty in so many ways.
Before inheriting the throne, Anne occupied a unique position, As niece to Charles II, daughter of James II and sisterinlaw and sister of William and Mary, Anne was a witness to forty years of Stuart history.
While she may have been regarded as largely insignificant at first, the relentless stillbirths, miscarriages and dead children of these tragic Stuart Queens made Annes role as heir increasingly likely.
But before that could happen, Anne had years of intrigue, scandal and religious turmoil to observe, the excessive courtliness and bawdiness of Charles IIs immoral court, the rebellion of his illegitimate sons and the desperate state of affairs to which her own fathers reign was reduced.
These are fascinating times, a pageant of glorious, largerthanlife individuals, and Joanne Limburg places us in the heart of it,

A Want of Kindness is presented as A novel of Queen Anne but it actually draws to a close when Anne succeeds to the throne.
Its focus instead is on Annes years in waiting, years in which Anne and her ladies finally came to believe that this rather ordinary woman would become Queen.



This historical novel deals with the early life of Queen Anne, possibly a contender for Britains most neglected monarch, She reigned foryears during which time England and Scotland united as a single nation however what is generally remembered is that she was fat, endured a succession of failed pregnancies and squabbled with her favourites.
Joanne Limburgs work will go a way to counter this underestimation and to interest readers in a royal dynasty other than the Tudors,

The novel presents us with two worlds the exotic, glamorous and mannered world of the court and Annes own personal life, as herself and as a daughter, sister and wife.
The court is extraordinary, glittering, and the author paints it with the help of original letters and sources, The reigns of Charles II and his brother James II might have been decorous but there is a depression that hangs over them due to the Civil War, the execution of their father Charles I and the continued hatred of Catholicism.
Oliver Cromwells head impaled on a pole at Whitehall is a constant reminder, The glamour and artifice of the age its poetry and drama, its extreme fashions and loose morality, its mannered language and whimsical fake love affairs among the ladies of the court contrasts vividly with the political unrest, the real danger of revolution and the personal misery of Anne who has inherited the Stuart womans lot an endless line of children who dont live.


This is a beautifully written book that captures perfectly the language and rituals of the age, It makes good use of original sources but it also recreates so well the wit and extravagance of the times, The chapter headings are wonderful and much of the language is amusing and often satirical, It is addictive to read, becoming more and more so as we become fully immersed in Annes world, Anne is a really rather unusual heroine, She is increasingly fat, stricken with gout, obsessed by food but it becomes clear that much of this is an escape mechanism because she is surrounded by a chaos that the elaborate rituals of the court cannot hide.
Her family is enormously dysfunctional, Annes relationship with her parents is unconventional to say the least and William and Mary are hardly normal,

Anne is surrounded by the bright sparks of the day, notably Sarah Churchill, and Annes infatuations play a significant part of the novel, But it is all extremely tragic, Annes own marriage exists in the shadows, eclipsed by her pregnancies, It is a marvellous psychological portrait, subtly done and immensely sad, At times the courtly curtain slips and we see Anne as others see her and there is great unkindness, The title of this novel is perfectly chosen,

Extracts from Annes actual letters are linked by a third person narrative, The letters are presented in a gothicstyle type which does make them a little difficult to read but persevere as here is where you get closest to the real voice of Anne.
The clue to the novels focus is in the title, It is to get under the skin of Anne the woman and to explain her character as much as to retell the events of an albeit interesting and turbulent period of British history.


The novel opens with Anne as a girl of, a lonely outsider suffering from a want of kindness, less pretty than her sister Mary, protected to an extent from the excesses of the bawdy Restoration court, being brought up a Protestant but with a Catholic father and destined for a life as a political pawn in the European royal marriage game.
Her emotional neediness manifests itself in a series of intense passionate friendships culminating in that with Sarah Churchill they become Mrs Freeman and Mrs Morley which lasts throughout the novel.
The political and religious rifts within her family scar Anne and leave her with an abiding sense of guilt,

This is a fascinating story which ends with the death of Annes beloved son and before her ascension to the throne, I would like to think this offers scope for a second volume as Joanne Limburg has created an intriguing portrait of a fallible and needy woman of great compassion and personal loyalty and I would love to learn more about her assumption of power and the rift with her beloved Mrs Freeman.


I knew very little about Queen Anne beyond her pitiful childbirth history and her obsession with Sarah Churchill, Joanne Limburg here fills in the gaps and also makes good use of Anne as a witness, albeit sometimes a confused and misled witness, to the tumultuous events of the lateth century.
These were extraordinary times and Anne, in many ways a very ordinary woman with ordinary needs, was right in the heart of it, I felt extremely warmly towards Anne and I became increasingly cross towards the people around her, My overall feeling for this novel, though, was one of intense enjoyment, A Want of Kindness is a thoroughly immersive and sensitive read, witty and insightful, marrying historical fact and interpretation perfectly, A novel of the year for me, without doubt,

What I loved about this book was the insight we gain into the strange normality of royal life in this era a life in which you are either exalted or under mortal threat, where excess is the everyday and so the least deprivation hits hard, where no one is to be trusted and where ordinary upsets over things like a dish of peas become the ridiculous yet inevitable grounds for painful estrangement.
I loved how real and petty and poignant the characters were, and how far our minds must leap to understand the terrific swings of fortune the monarchy was subject to in theth century.


This is a beautifully and brilliantly written novel, with each sentence a pleasure, Im not at all a sequel person, but in this case I am secretly hoping one might appear, I did not enjoy it, Interesting as I didn't know too much about the period of English history after the Reformation, still Catholics and Protestants despising each other and fighting for power.
Covers the rule of William and Mary, so almost the colonial period, The main character, Anne, to become Queen Anne, is not too bright, but the poor thing loses about! children, Slow going. I received this book via RealReaders in exchange for an honest review,

I absolutely loved this book if you are a fan of Historical Fiction from the likes of Phillipa Gregory Hilary Mantel Alison Weir Livy Michaels etc then this book is for you!
Celebrating theth anniversay of the birth of Queen Anne this book really delves into the life of Queen Anne from child princess in the glittering restoration court to Queen of England
Warning this book will take up all of your spare time as it is utterly absorbing i personally found it sad amp poignant at times as I really felt for this character.

Really well written amp gives great insight into the Stuart Period,
Stuart England during the reign of Charles II was rife with keynote figures and was entertaining, to say the least, One of these figures, his brother James the Duke and next in line for the throne had his own drama to deal with, made complete by his offspring Mary and Anne.
Joanne Limburg focuses on Princess Anne in, “A Want of Kindness”,

High expectations surround “A Want of Kindness” as the book jacket summary raves with depth and the subject of Princess Anne is not often explored.
Sadly, Limburgs work is a gigantic letdown, Labeled as an adultmarket novel, “A Want of Kindness” is best described as a historical fiction novel for middle school students with more flaws than can be noted.
Limburgs novel follows the life of Princess Anne starting as a child but it is lacking depth and nuances both in terms of the character and the story plot.
Anne doesnt standout, there is an absence of a character arc or growth, and her voice is passive, This prevents the reader from getting to know Anne fictionally or historically which results in a very bland reading, As aforementioned, this period in history is quite entertaining and appealing but “A Want of Kindness” manages to fall flat,

Limburgs writing is also heavy with disconnected choppiness, Each chapter in “A Want of Kindness” is titled and basically serves as a vignette: short in text and storytelling, There is no smooth progression and neither is there a connection, The narrative therefore fails to truly have a point and there is no buildup, Although this could still work if Limburg decided on a character studydriven piece “A Want of Kindness” is not that either,

Adding to the middle school feel and disjointed nature are the alternating chapters with fictionallyproduced letters written by Anne these are even presented in a different font.
This is possibly an attempt by Limburg to drive the story and allow the reader into Annes head but quite frankly, it takes away from the alreadylacking story.
It feels like a narrator setting the stage but then with nothing truly happening,

There is also an issue with Limburg trying too hard to come off as literary and flowery but her metaphors and language are juvenile and come across like a student writing a creative story for a professor.


One a positive note, some of the events mentioned by Limburg as happening in Annes world although not usually to her are historically accurate and not fluffed up.
Sadly, though, Limburg doesnt expand on these and brushes them off,

It is evident that the main inhibitor of a strong story within “A Want of Kindness” is a lack of surmounting history resources regarding Anne.
However, a truly potent HF author can take few facts and elaborately create a novel world from them which Limburg did not, Basically, there is no story here,

Only oneliterally just one emotionally upright moment occurs in “A Want of Kindness at approximatelypages in Annes children become ill with small pox and perish.
This is the only time Limburgs writing is evocative and worth reading, If the entire novel was as strong as this spot than it would have been another novel, entirely,

Much of the latter chapters of “A Want of Kindness” are very repetitive and merely traverse Annes many pregnancies and miscarriages, It is the same overandover and even this topic which could induce reader empathy is thin and onelayered reducing the plot even more,

The finality of “A Want of Kindness” is much of the same both regarding the story and lack of impact, The ending is not momentous and overall none of the book is memorable, Plus, Limburg doesnt include an Authors Note to discuss the historical liberties taken or sources used,

“A Want of Kindness” struggles in composition leaving a disjointed mess in writing style and a story lacking any pizzazz, The novel is written on a juvenile level and best targeting juveniles, Aside from being a teen read, there are genuinely no points of merit with “A Want of Kindness” and I would not read from this author again.
If you are seeking a look at Princess/Queen Anne you wont find it here, Skip!
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