THE KING'S MISTRESS A Novel BY EMMA CAMPION

Different primary colors are associated with the lifestyles people choose to live. For example, red is a color often associated with women who are living so called sinful lives. Hester Prynne wore an embroidered A on her clothing because she had a baby out of wedlock. Scarlet O'Hara wore a bright scarlet gown to a ball. Her husband, Rhett, chose the gown for her to wear that particular night to prove she was less than a lady and no lady's friend. She was a Scarlet Woman because she chose to love a married man. The woman on the book cover of  Emma Campion's novel, The King's Mistress is Alice Perrers. She lived during the Fourteenth century. Alice Perrers lived many lives while living her one life in England. If I were asked what I would liken Alice Perrers life to in a word association game, I would say she reminded me of clay. Soft clay easy to manipulate and mold in to a bowl, a bust, an eagle. Why? Because all of her life she was a pawn in the hands of men. I have chosen to think this was not Alice's fault. She gave long thought to the actions of other people and she pondered deeply her past, present and future. Alice had one problem. She was a female. In the Medieval era men were more like rulers than husbands. Too often Alice could only bow to their wishes. At different times her jewels, her land and her children would become the property of a man. Alice Perrers lived life as a woman without a voice.

I really liked Alice Perrers. Perhaps, my feelings about her have slanted my view point. While reading the book, my mind shaped a woman who loved to love a man and wanted to be loved in return. She was a woman who loved nurturing her children and she loved the rest of her family deeply. One man who loved her was King Edward. He loved her with the sanction of his wife and queen, Queen Phillippa. King Edward and Alice Perrers passions included: the intimacy of the bedroom, falconry, horse riding, laughter while drinking a mazur of wine and most of all the ability to love one another so much that they produced more than one child. Alice Perrers loved King Edward and he loved her until his death. Before he died Edward told Alice his signet ring was to be hers after his death. In other words, he gave her his lasting protection and his power. When he took his last breath, with different emotions running through her body she lovingly pulled the ring from his finger.  Knowing her life would change for the worse Alice gave the ring to her lover, Robert, to keep as a legacy for her son, John.

Sadly after she gave all of herself to each man in her life except for the wicked liar William Wykeham, she would live a life of hell. She lived that life with grace and dignity. When King Edward died, she lost all earthly protection. People of the King's court respected her or pretended to honor her because it fulfilled the desires of their beloved King Edward. When he died, Alice Perrers had no more rights as the King's Mistress. She became the Scarlet Woman to be lied about, denounced and again controlled by the desires of the men around her. "I am powerless! How can you fear me? Why do you need to encase me in walls six feet thick? I have never had a choice except to do what I could to protect my chicks."

This is a story about not judging another person until you have worn another person's moccasins. Alice Perrers was a strong, kindhearted woman that deserves to be remembered not as The King's Mistress but as one woman who truly loved and gave King Edward a love to be remembered. One he would hold on to until his death. She was a woman who appreciated life in the good times and the bad times. I will remember this quote in the book showing her playful side. "The days were warm and sun filled. I felt blessed to be surrounded by young ones, being coaxed out to search for a wandering kitten, to see a strange-looking egg, to marvel at the water fowl." Emma Campion