A Want of Kindness

by Joanne Limburg

Overview

The wicked, bawdy Restoration court is no place for a child princess. Ten-year-old Anne cuts an odd figure: a sickly child, she is drawn towards improper pursuits. Cards, sweetmeats, scandal and gossip with her Ladies of the Bedchamber figure large in her life. But as King Charles's niece, Anne is also a political pawn, who will be forced to play her part in the troubled Stuart dynasty.Transformed from overlooked princess to the heiress of England, she will be forced to overcome grief for her lost children, the political maneuverings of her sister and her closest friends and her own betrayal of her father, before the fullness of her destiny is revealed. In A Want of Kindness, Limburg has created a richly realized time and world, and in Anne (who would have turned 350 in 2015?), a complex and all-too-human protagonist.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781681772950
Publisher:	Pegasus Books
Publication date:	12/06/2016
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	450
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Joanne Limburg is the author of a memoir, The Woman Who Thought Too Much, about her struggle with obsessive-compulsive disorder, which was praised by Hilary Mantel, among others. This is her first novel. She lives in Cambridge, England.

Editorial Reviews

It's impossible…not to be moved. "How shall I bear my life, Mrs. Freeman?" Anne cries at the novel's end. That we care about the answer is Limburg's gift to Anne, and a fine gift too.

The New York Times Book Review - Katharine Grant

09/12/2016
In her first novel, Limburg re-creates the life of Lady Anne of York, the late 17th-century granddaughter of the martyred Charles I, niece of the restored Charles II, daughter of James II, and future Queen of England. She grows up a weak-eyed and pious child in the court of her charismatic uncle, with her sister, Mary. Married off to Prince George of Denmark, Anne suffers numerous miscarriages; her surviving son, William, Duke of Gloucester, is sickly from birth. There is little love lost between Protestant Anne and her Catholic-leaning father, so Anne barely misses a beat after James is overthrown by Mary’s husband, William of Orange, in the Glorious Revolution. Unfortunately, Anne’s relationship with her sister takes a serious hit after Mary becomes queen and keeps Anne on a short financial leash. The novel ends before Anne can ascend to the throne, but the story told here is tragic without being especially dramatic. The historical record does not make Anne an easy character to portray or love, but Limburg goes full Hilary Mantel in burrowing deep into her life and the politics of the Stuart court. Writing in short chapters interspersed with actual letters to, by, and about Lady Anne, Limburg proves adept at creating the inner life of an English queen who has been overlooked by history. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

"Limburg succeeds in making the story of diffident Anne amusing and engaging. Readers who enjoy following the stories of the English monarchs through historical fiction can hardly do better than to choose A Want of Kindness for this period."

HistoricalNovels.info

"An elegant, clever novel."

Daily Express

"It’s impossible not to be moved. ‘How shall I bear my life, Mrs. Freeman?’ Anne cries at the novel’s end. That we care about the answer is Limburg’s gift to Anne, and a fine gift too."

New York Times Book Review

"Reading A Want of Kindness will prevent readers from seeing only the enigmatic crowned figure of legend or even the pathetic woman behind that well-worn image. They will never look at her quite the same way again after seeing how she came to that sad state."

Washington Times

"Limburg attempts to tell Anne’s story through a mix of fact—in the form of letters Anne herself wrote—and fiction, the author's own imaginings of Anne’s everyday life, conversations and interactions. The result is the story of a life quite undervalued by those around her, a girl ignored and brought up to be less than her station, who relied on food and cards to comfort her."

Bookreporter

"It is usual to praise the authors of memoir for their honesty. Can a writer be too honest? There is no limit to the ingenuity of the catastrophising imagination. She brings insight and a rueful wit to her story. This talented and thoughtful young woman must be braver than she imagines, to step into the fiery circus where the modern writer performs her tricks."

The Guardian [praise for 'The Woman who Thought Too Much'] - Hilary Mantel

It is usual to praise the authors of memoir for their honesty. Can a writer be too honest? There is no limit to the ingenuity of the catastrophising imagination. She brings insight and a rueful wit to her story. This talented and thoughtful young woman must be braver than she imagines, to step into the fiery circus where the modern writer performs her tricks.

Hilary Mantel - The Guardian [praise for 'The Woman who Thought Too Much']

An elegant, clever novel.

Daily Express

Limburg is a talented writer and poet and her story is revealing, honest, and thought-provoking.

Time Out (London) [praise for 'The Woman who Thought Too Much']

It is usual to praise the authors of memoir for their honesty. Can a writer be too honest? There is no limit to the ingenuity of the catastrophising imagination. She brings insight and a rueful wit to her story. This talented and thoughtful young woman must be braver than she imagines, to step into the fiery circus where the modern writer performs her tricks.

Hilary Mantel - The Guardian

Brave, witty, intelligent, wise. Her unremitting candor liberates us all.

Raymond Tallis

Reading this will compel some readers — I'm one of them — to ponder their own hang-ups. There are no easy answers, but this book offers some hope... Limburg is a talented writer, and poet... and her story is revealing, honest and thought-provoking — as you'd expect.

Time Out

2016-09-21
Limburgs first novel is an intimate portrait of a Stuart princess whom history has occasionally underestimated. Princess Anne, daughter of James, Duke of York, and niece of Charles II, the monarch who occupies the newly restored throne of England, grows up at a sensitive time. As a child, Anne is coddled and encouraged to gorge herself in a court relishing pleasure after 30 years of Puritan rule. Older sister Mary weds Prince William of Orange, a short, hunchbacked general Anne thinks of as this Dutch Abortion. As she matures, Anne forms a particularly close friendship with Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, one of her ladies-in-waiting. Annes arranged marriage to George, Prince of Denmark, proves to be a love match. However, childbearing is problematic for both royal sisters: Mary cannot conceive, and Anne, despite at least 17 pregnancies before age 35, gives birth to only one comparatively healthy child, her son, William, Duke of Gloucester. After Charles death, the ongoing clash between Papism and Anglicanism continues to divide many families, not least the royals: though Anne and Mary are firm Protestants, their father, James II, who ascends to the throne, is Catholic. Mary and William depose James and restore a Protestant regime, which they rule jointly. Anne is next in line followed by Gloucester. Her former regard for Mary quickly cools, as Mary restricts her allowance, criticizes her gambling, and, in the ultimate betrayal, forces Sarah from Annes side. The narrative is linear, providing serial glimpses into Annes obsessions, anxieties, and many physical challenges, including smallpox as a child, miscarriages, stillbirths, and crippling gout. Small scenes are telling: Annes enmity toward William of Orange is amply summed up when he hogs a dish of peas. This is decidedly a scholarly approach to historical fiction, complete with scrupulous adherence to the diction of the day and excerpts from Annes actual correspondence. The abrupt and inconclusive ending appears to signal a sequel. Limburg succeeds in humanizing Anne and bringing her worldview to vivid life.

Kirkus Reviews