Review: An enjoyable excursion into the seedier sides of Tudor life
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 24, 2013
The Winchester Goose has a number of protagonists, the most memorable being Joanie, lowborn and downtrodden as she is. Ms Arnopp does a very good job of depicting Tudor London - and in particular the infamous Southwark - painting a picture of a dirty, smelly city, complete with rats and lice, ruffians and the odd courtier.The central plot revolves round a dashing young man, a beautiful young girl and the young girl's less than beautiful sister. The novel also recounts the sad story of little Katherine Howard, Henry VIII's unfortunate girl queen. Flighty, somewhat silly and with no sense of propriety whatsoever, Katherine was a tragedy waiting to happen. Katherine's story is told through the eyes of Isabella, one of her waiting women (the less than beautiful sister). What I liked is how Isabella went from being rather irritated by Katherine - disliking her, even - to feeling sorry and protective towards this very young girl, shoved into prominence by her grasping uncle.In general the characters were believable and likeable - but I did have an issue with Isabella and her feelings for her husband. From being a loveless relationship in which Isabella does her duty, no more, it suddenly evolves into a loving union, this after more than seven months apart. Hmm.Despite this little irritant, the novel as a whole is a very good read. Joanie the whore has a strong, distinctive voice, Francis the debonair courtier is a delightful mixture of cad and earnest lover, and Isabelle provides a serious counterpoint to the flightiness of  the other female characters which works very well.For anyone interested in knowing more about Tudor London this is definitely an entertaining and educational read!