A Constant Heart

Painful read. My modern sensibilities balked at why a woman should so debase and disfigure herself in order to win the Queen's affection and favor for her husband. This seemed a story both of spousal neglect and spousal abuse—all for the sake of vanity (reverse vanity??) and rank or position.

The depravity and immorality that flooded the pages were simply too much for me.

One thing I adored was the coded salad discussion. So creative!

I really wanted to love the aspects of a woman learning to please and help her husband and the husband learning to trust and love his wife, but the above-mentioned abuse prevented my enjoyment of those threads.

The final page was so beautiful but also felt a bit rushed. I would have loved to see that scene stretched out for at least two and half pages, to give me time to savor the beauty of it.

Content: derogatory terms, alchemist, taverns, sexual innuendo and overtones throughout, alcohol, expletives, gambling, mythology (goddesses held in esteem), numerous losses (of babies; includes miscarriages), graphic violence