— No Love Lost      Lisa Hilton in The  Spectator                                             "In her hands the lives and characters of the women who shaped the reputation of the Restoration court emerge as far more discrete and individual than the identikit line-up of Lely beauties . . It is testament to Porter's skill as a historian that by the end of Mistresses the darkness at the heart of the brilliant Restoration court is so bleakly exposed.                          Read the full review.
— The Sport of Kings        David A H B Taylor in the Literary Review "Porter's engaging and well-researched book convincingly presents them [ Mistresses ] as adding to both the glory of the king's reign and its failings. Evelyn thought Charles would have been 'an excellent prince ... had he been less addicted to women’. One of the book's strengths is Porter's uncompromisingly impartial treatment of the king while discussing the lives of the key women in his life.."  Read the full review.
Frances Owen in Historia -- "Drawing on a wide variety of original sources, including material in private archives, Linda Porter paints a vivid picture of these women and of Restoration England, an era that was both glamorous and sordid."      Read the full review.
Mistresses: Sex and Scandal at the Court of Charles II by Linda Porter reviews
— in the king’s bed     Tracy Borman's Review for The Sunday Times:          "Porter skilfully interweaves the politics with the passion . . . she provides a set of impeccably researched pen portraits of the women who dominated the king’s life . . . allowing the women, not their “Merrie Monarch”, to take centre stage makes for an enlightening read."  Read the full review.

 — lovers of the sex-mad monarch     Andrew Taylor's Review for The Times:          "The lives of seven women who shared Charles II’s bed make a colourful story of courtly lust . . . a terrific story and Porter tells it well."           Read the full review.

In with the new: the books to savour in 2020
Nick Major takes us through the wealth of intriguing titles due to arrive in book shops in the coming
months. . .

From one Cromwell to another: a century after Thomas Cromwell commanded the court of Henry VIII, Oliver Cromwell’s New Model Army hounded Charles II out of England. Linda Porter’s new book Mistresses (Picador, April) takes a fresh look at Charles’ reign through the many women who shared his bed. Porter shows how each woman – from Nell Gwynn, “history’s most famous orange seller” to Moll Davis, who bore the last of the king’s 15 illegitimate children – influenced the politics and culture of the day. It’s an interesting approach: after all, we all know that rulers act out of personal satisfactionas much as political sense.

 The Herald (Glasgow) - 4 January, 2020.

 

Books we want to read in 2020. . . what to look out for next year.

Nonfiction, April - Mistresses: Sex and Scandal at the Court of Charles II by Linda Porter Picador; Charles II was “addicted to women”, according to one contemporary. Here is the story of the women who shared his bed . . . and influenced his reign.

The Times {Saturday Review}Saturday 28, December 2019
Linda's fifth book was published on 16 April 2020.