The Poison Bed - E. C. Fremantle

Date of Reading: 07/11/2019

Author: E. C. Fremantle

Publisher: Penguin Random House

Published Year: 2018

Source: NetGalley

Rating: 4/5

About the book:

A king, his lover and his lover's wife. One is a killer.

In the autumn of 1615 scandal rocks the Jacobean court when a celebrated couple are imprisoned on suspicion of murder. She is young, captivating and from a notorious family. He is one of the richest and most powerful men in the kingdom.

Some believe she is innocent; others think her wicked or insane. He claims no knowledge of the murder. The king suspects them both, though it is his secret at stake.

Who is telling the truth? Who has the most to lose? And who is willing to commit murder?

Review:

      What will you do if your best friend is besotted with an evil person? If you are someone who will resort to any means to save your friend, then you need to hear this story. The death of Thomas Overbury is a lesson that history teaches us; in the tug of war between friendship and love, the winner will always be the latter. 

      Reading 'The Poison Bed' helped me brush up some of my history lessons. The fact that I was not familiar with this poisoning case which shook the Jacobean court at least played in my favour. But those who are familiar with the story will surely know the real culprit. All the same, this is going to give you a different perspective and will surely satisfy the history buff in you.

     Fremantle's beautiful and strong writing shook me and I closed the book with a feeling of distaste to all this political warfare. No one is invincible here and a mere lack of judgement will result in the downfall of even the mightiest. Isn't that one of the amusing things about historical fiction? It gives the reader a sense of power which comes from the knowledge of the futures of the characters involved. The story of Robert Carr and Frances Howard is no different. A love story, a murder, a tragedy -- you can call it what you may. It is all these.

Meet the author:

As a child I was the one in the corner with my nose in a book who wanted to be a writer, but with the onset of a turbulent adolescence I left school, under a cloud, aged fifteen with nothing more than a fistful of O Levels and a hapless sense that things would somehow work themselves out. Eventually, after working in various dodgy dives – I've served grey scrambled eggs to squaddies at 5.30am; I've served vintage champagne to raucous hoorays; I've pulled pints for all and sundry – I managed to find myself, much in the way Forrest Gump always landed on his feet, working as a dogsbody on a fashion magazine. Over a decade, I worked for titles such as Vogue, Elle and The Sunday Times and contributed to many others. Marriage took me to Paris, a stint at French Vogue and the birth of my two children but divorce saw me back home in London where I have remained. Fuelled by frustration with a fashion world that does no favours to women, I decided to complete my truncated education as a mature student which led, in a long and roundabout way with many frustrating impasses, to my fulfilling that childhood dream to become a novelist.