The Wise Woman by Philippa Gregory

Philippa Gregory has been one of my favorite authors for years. That’s why I was excited to find a book by her that I hadn’t read yet just sitting on a bookshelf waiting for me to come along and buy it.  Only a few chapters in, I remarked to Matt that I thought I had outgrown her.  He told me it was nonsense, to keep reading, and I was sure to get into it. He also told me that at the worst, everyone is entitled to a turkey, and there could be a reason I hadn’t picked this one up yet.  So I kept reading.

The Wise Woman tells the story of Alys, a wise woman’s (witch) apprentice turned nun, turned witch again.  After her convent is burned down, Alys finds escape in the local lord’s castle, and tries to keep her past a secret. She falls in lust and love (for a time) with the younger lord, and uses her dark skills to try to control her fate.  

One thing that I do know about Gregory is that she’s always faithful to the history in her work, and does her research well. This book is no different.  I know enough about Tudor England and the Protestant Reformation to be able to say that her setting is quite accurate.  The social hierarchies and descriptions of dress and culture hold true to the time as well.  This is something that I appreciate in all historical fiction.

There were two elements that really bothered me with this book.  It seemed sloppily written overall, and in particular, her use of adverbs was astronomical. I kept asking myself why Gregory couldn’t show her intentions through the actual dialogue of the characters instead of describing how they said everything.  Also, none of the main characters were likeable.  The more I read, the more fed up I got with each of them. One could argue that Gregory was showing some of the greed and scheming of the times, but I just found it increasingly difficult to take in.

I wondered if it was just me who felt this was about a beloved author.  It wasn’t.  I went to Amazon, and found mixed reviews on the book.  However, people who read in the horror genre gave this book 5/5 stars, and those who read more general fiction gave it 3/5 stars. My recommendation would be to pick this up if you are into the horror genre.  If not, I’d recommend the Boleyn series for an interesting representation of Tudor England (in fact, she just came out with The Other Queen about Mary, Queen of Scots. I have a feeling it will be good, but I just need to give myself some breathing room for a few weeks before I attempt it).