The King's Favorite: A Novel of Nell Gwyn and King Charles II
A Novel of Restoration England
by Susan Holloway Scott
New American Library
July, 2008
The King's Favorite: A Novel of Nell Gwyn and King Charles II
Acclaimed historical author Susan Holloway Scott returns to the court of King Charles II with all its intrigue and passion, to tell the unforgettable story of Nell Gwyn –– the pretty, witty beauty who rose from the slumsthe poverty of Covent Garden to become the King’s last love and London’s darling…
London, 1660.
Nell Gwyn was never a lady, nor did she pretend to be one. The illegitimatedaughter of a royalist soldier, she is taken to London by her widowed mother to work in a bawdy-house. At fourteen, she becomes the mistress of a wealthy merchant who introduces her to the world of the theater. Blessed with impudent wit and saucy beauty, she swiftly rises from an orange-seller to a leading lady. She is still in her teens when she catches the eye of King Charles II, and trades the stage for Whitehall Palace and the glorious role of a royal mistress.
Yet even as she delights the king, she must learn to negotiate the cut-throat royal court, where ambition and lust for power drive everyone rule the hearts of all around her. For beneath her charm and light-heartedness, Nell has her own ambition: to become no less than the king’s favorite.