Product Description

Alice Verney is a young woman intent on achieving her dreams. Having left Restoration England in the midst of a messy scandal, she has been living in Louis XIV’s Baroque, mannered France for two years. Now she is returning home to England and anxious to re-establish herself quickly. First, she will regain her former position as a maid of honor to Charles II’s queen. Then she will marry the most celebrated duke of the Restoration, putting herself in a position to attain power she’s only dreamed of. As a duchess, Alice will be able to make or break her friends and enemies at will.

But all is not as it seems in the rowdy, merry court of Charles II. Since the Restoration, old political alliances have frayed, and there are whispers that the king is moving to divorce his barren queen, who some wouldn’t mind seeing dead. But Alice, loyal only to a select few, is devoted to the queen, and so sets out to discover who might be making sinister plans, and if her own father is one of them. When a member of the royal family dies unexpectedly, and poison is suspected, the stakes are raised. Alice steps up her efforts to find out who is and isn’t true to the queen, learns of shocking betrayals throughout court, and meets a man that she may be falling in love with—and who will spoil all of her plans. With the suspected arrival of a known poison-maker, the atmosphere in the court electrifies, and suddenly the safety of the king himself seems uncertain. Secret plots are at play, and war is on the horizon—but will it be with the Dutch or the French? And has King Charles himself betrayed his country for greed?

The long-awaited prequel to Koen’s beloved Through a Glass Darkly, Dark Angels is a feast of a novel that sparkles with all the passion, extravagance, danger, and scandal of seventeenth-century England. Unforgettable in its dramatic force, here is a novel of love and politics, of romance and betrayal, of power and succession—and of a resourceful young woman who risks everything for pride and status in an era in which women were afforded little of either.


From the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #75272 in Books
• Published on: 2007-05-29
• Released on: 2007-05-29
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 544 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780307339928
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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From Publishers Weekly
In this sprightly prequel to her bestselling Through a Glass Darkly, Koen transports readers to the Restoration court of England's King Charles II. As England recovers from civil war, the court is awash in intrigue, treachery and debauchery. Koen's protagonist, Alice Verney, "a born courtier, wily, patient, steadfast," and maid-of-honor to Queen Catherine, moves seamlessly through this glittering world. When King Charles's sister is poisoned, Alice suspects the mysterious Henry Angel is responsible and has Queen Catherine as his next target. Alice allies with the duke of Balmoral, a statesman and one of the king's advisors whom she hopes to wed, and the young handsome Richard Saylor, the commander of the Queen's Guard, to foil Angel's plot and expose the conspirators within the English government. As she races to save the queen, Alice is increasingly torn between the wealthy, powerful duke of Balmoral and the lowly but dashing Saylor. Koen knows her material and painstakingly recreates the Restoration period. Her large cast—both historical and fictional—are sharply rendered, and the larger-than-life Alice makes a memorable heroine—imperious, even vindictive, but always unwavering in conviction. Koen blends history, mystery and romance to craft a historical romance that will delight fans of the genre. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From The Washington Post
What you see in Dark Angels is what you get -- an old-fashioned historical romance, a page-turning read full of love, betrayals, political intrigues and cool clothes. Set in the England and France of 1670, this new novel is a prequel to Koen's bestselling Through a Glass Darkly and its sequel, Now Face to Face. It tells the story of the early life of Alice Verney, seen briefly in the previous books as an elderly duchess, and her involvement in a life-or-death plot against the king of England. While telling a love story, Koen focuses most of her effort on recounting historical events of the period, and a fascinating period it is, too.

In the mid-17th century, Charles I was beheaded, and England became a protectorate under Oliver Cromwell. At Cromwell's death, however, no successor proved able to hold the country together, and the late monarch's son was invited to return as King Charles II. The Restoration was a time of slippery politics and fascinatingly shifty characters. The chief strength of Koen's novel is her thorough understanding of the era and its people, and her skill in briefly explaining complex historical circumstances while telling a good story.

Alice Verney, a maid of honor to Princess Henriette of France (the king of England's sister), returns to England after her mistress's mysterious and horrible death (a real event), with the ambition to marry the elderly, wily (and really rich) Duke of Balmoral. This ambition holds firm in spite of her attraction to Richard Saylor, a not-so-rich but enterprising soldier who, while he appreciates Alice's wit and political savvy, is competing with the king himself for the affections of a French beauty with sheep's eyes and a brain to match (Louise de Keroualle, one of Charles's actual mistresses).

Alice is a great character, vivid and three-dimensional, constantly seething with plots, ploys and pride. Unfortunately, Saylor is little more than a necessary hero for most of the book, and the required romantic resolution is therefore something of a letdown, the two principals having not so much overcome all obstacles to their union as having had them conveniently removed so the story could end.

Aside from the romance, though, the plot is terrific, involving professional poisoners; court politics; murder in a homosexual brothel; Nell Gwynn, an orange-selling actress and most famous of the King's mistresses (a bit player here, but naked); illegitimate babies and the precariously interwoven lives of everyone near the king -- himself the most precarious of monarchs. While the story is undeniably Alice's, the king is the true focus of the book. The plot is woven around him and his court, and Koen understands not only the politics but the man, giving us a surprisingly empathetic portrait of a ruler often dismissed by history as a playboy sex-fiend. In Koen's hands, we see Charles instead as a monarch whose façade of confidence drapes the rickety skeleton of the political structure that holds him aloft and whose many amours fail to hide his essential loneliness.

Koen's prose here is pedestrian, but it gets the job done. You don't have beautiful imagery or striking insights to linger over, but you do keep turning pages. She also has a deft touch with historical trivia, sliding entertaining factoids and necessary background in without interfering with the story. The book does show signs of ruthless editing, particularly in Book Two, but the few loose ends and incomplete references that result don't really damage the story.

For a story that deals heavily in adultery, sodomy and other forms of interesting human sexual behavior, though, Koen's scenes are surprisingly chaste. The murders that take place aren't particularly graphic but do involve blood or descriptions of the horrid details of poisoning. Her love scenes, though, are brief and few, generally going no further than a scorching kiss or two. Those kisses are often described in terms of thunder and lightning, which gives the reader an odd impression of passion equipped with sound and visual effects. Evidently kissing was a more highly developed art in the 17th century than it is today.

The chief difference between history and good historical fiction (we won't mention the bad kind) is that fiction has a more coherent dramatic structure. Dark Angels is the best kind of historical fiction: very accurate, highly dramatic and thoroughly entertaining.

Reviewed by Diana Gabaldon
Copyright 2006, The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved.

From Bookmarks Magazine
Karleen Koen has been largely absent from the literary scene for 20 years, and critics who enjoyed Through a Glass Darkly herald her return. Reviewers agree that Koen's deep knowledge of world politics and daily life during the Restoration contributes to the strength of her writing, which appears undiminished by her time off. Her handling of romance is delicate, with passion confined to a few kisses and clearly peripheral to the plot. The real focus is scandalous intrigue, much of it based on historical fact. The novel's length bothered some, but all agreed that Dark Angeles is a richly imagined historical romance.

Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Dark Angels tells the backstory of Alice Verney
Of late there seems to be quite a few books being released about Charles II of England and Restoration England. This I don't mind at all, since I'm always on the look-out for a good read, fiction or otherwise. And author Karleen Koen certainly knows how to craft a good story, filled with plenty of details, dark deeds, and romance. Having written two previous novels, Through a Mirror Darkly and Now Face to Face, she takes one of the major characters from the previous works, and gives new depth and understandstanding to Alice Verney in Dark Angels.

Alice Verney is a tough young survivor, serving the King of England's sister, Henriette-Anne, as one of her maids-of-honour. Married at a young age to Louis XIV's brother, Monsieur, Madame is coming to England to visit her beloved brother, Charles II, and Alice is coming with her. Of course, for stubborn Alice, it's also going to be a chance to see her machinating father, Sir Thomas, and the man who jilted her for one of her best friends. It's a rare chance to serve up a dish of cold revenge, and Alice is more than ready to do so with a plan that will not only catapult her into the heights of the king's court, but also enable her to snap her fingers at any future trouble as well.

But that is going to take some patience and skill, as Alice's target is rather unaware of her scheme. The Duke of Balmoral is elderly, and the uncle of Lord Colefax, the man who spurned Alice years earlier. Cole, married to the stuttering Caro, is still hot for Alice, so she is not only dodging her former suitor, but others who are interested in her as well. Finally, there are Alice's fellow maids-of-honour, her friend Barbara, shy and loving a man who has little to recommend him and Renee, a beautiful French girl of good birth and little money.

But Madame, as Princess Henriette is known, isn't just on a homey visit with family, for she is on a mission to bring England and France closer together, forging an alliance between the two kings, and an even bolder plan underneath. But when the princess returns to France, she is taken ill and dies suddenly, quite possibly at the hands of her own husband, the jealous Monsieur. And Alice suddenly finds herself returned to England, up against a poisoner, and a young soldier who is more than she thinks, and the prize of the Duke of Balmoral is hovering just beyond her grasp.

It's quite a tale, moving beyond the typical historical romance, and spinning a tale that blends plenty of plotting and actual history. It's that last touch that made the book very enjoyable for me, with the author able to keep the balance between what really happened and the author's own creations. The characters of the Verneys, Balmoral, and Richard Saylor are all fictional, but they would have easily lived in Restoration England. It may be interesting to other readers that Queen Catherine, Charles II's wife, was pretty much as she is portrayed here, struggling to be Catholic in a very protestant England, and always living under the threat of being divorced and sent away. She was also able to openly tolerate her husband's many mistresses, and the open distrust that the courtiers had for her. So too are the varied mistresses, from actress Nell Gwynn, the greedy Barbara Villiers, and his chase of other women.

But there are a few drawbacks as well. Some might find the use of homosexuality and sex to be a bit disturbing -- Monsieur was well-known for his fondness for handsome young men, and the character of Mistress Neddie is far from an oddity of the times. As for the sinister Henry Angel/Henri Ange, history has always been arguing over what caused Madame's sudden and painful death that so horrified people at the time, and there is the famous 'Affair of the Poisons' that shook the French court a few years after her death. Both Balmoral and Alice are a touch more ruthless than what we usually see in historical novels, but I found them to be a refreshing change. One other aspect that I found a bit tiresome was the character of Jerusalem Saylor, Richard's mother, who is the 'white witch' of the novel -- despite the fondness of modern authors who keep thrusting such folk into their novels, the idea of the modern 'good' witch who uses her powers for healing and magick is a fairly recent idea, and although folk rememdies were certainly well-documented from the time, there is very little to actually be seen in the surviving histories. But it makes for a clever touch, and at least Koen doesn't go overboard with it as say, Philippa Gregory does in her work. So it's a forgiveable sin.

For those who like their novels full of details, and what might have been, this is an enjoyable read. It was enough to make me want to reread both of Koen's previous novels, and rediscover Alice Verney and her family.

THERE ARE NO ANGELS HERE, DARK OR OTHERWISE.
Welcome to the court of Charles II, hotbed of corruption, both political and moral. Enter Alice Verney, who aspires to a command a position of power within the court and seeks to attain her goal by marrying the aging Duke of Balmoral. Longstanding friendships are threatened by Alice's quest as well as her unequivocal need to control not only her own life but also the lives of those around her.

Alice is an unconventional heroine in the respect that she has always had money and been accustomed to the finer things. Unlike the "up from the gutter and into the glitter" characters that usually make their appearance in these historical sagas, Alice is initially not a very likable character. She is manipulative and deceitful, but does manage to present the reader with a colorful portrait of a woman of her era.

The author manages to evoke the flavor of the 17th century and capture of the Restoration-era mindset with its brazen women and conspiratorial men. Most of the characters in this narrative quagmire subscribe to the theory that their machinations and schemes are a necessary by-product of success and that "life isn't filled with easy choices and we all get our hands dirty from time to time". Personally, there is only one character in this entire novel that I would be inclined to trust with my life.

Finally, let me say that the book ends on a somewhat unfulfilling note. Two of the characters, Henri Ange the poison-maker, and Walter the young stable hand disappear from the pages without a resolution to their stories. Guess I am one of those readers who wants all loose ends neatly tied up with a big red bow. 2 1/2 STARS.

Welcome to the Restoration: Decadence, romance, intrigue and deception
Is there a more fascinating time or place than the court of King Charles II? I cannot think of one, and Karleen Koen lends her pen to bring it alive in "Dark Angels".

Koen has a knack for hooking the reader early on with hints and promises, and interesting characters. She writes romantic heroes, heroines and villains extremely well, as readers of "Through a Glass Darkly" know. I flew through the pages and loved the characters, costumes and themes centering on the struggles between love and greed or jealousy, forgiveness and revenge, and strategic scheming and surprise. Koen transports you to the decadent Courts of the Sun King (Louis XIV of France & creator of Versailles) and Charles II of England, and drapes you in damask, jewels and lace, and on the next page sends you to seedy brothels and privy court chambers for some debauchery, drunkeness and gambling. Regicide, religious wars, royal gossip and exploits, romance and gold digging rule the day. It is delicious fun!

The real story of "Dark Angles" introduces us to Alice Verney who is first a young Maid of Honor to Princess Henrietta Anne of France (sister to Charles II of England) and then a not-so-young Maid of Honor to the shunned Queen Catherine in England. She's had her heart broken in love and loyalty through the betrayals of a friend and lover, and the murder of Madame, Princess Henrietta. Alice puts up a condescending, stand-offish front in an attempt to protect herself and others, and finds that such a barrier isolates us from those we love, rather than keep them close. She is sassy, spoiled, scheming and sophisticated, and yet disillusioned by life at court. We see an early glimpse of the life lessons that shaped the loving, accepting and wise grandmother we met in "Through a Glass Darkly".

Koen brings alive the sexual charge of the time through accurate presentations of its rogues from the well documented exploits of Kings Charles II of England and Louis XIV of France to the English Earl of Rochester and Sir John Sedely who drunkenly bumble and grope their way through the background of this book. It was a drunken, decadent time of debauchery and hedonism, and great fun to re-live through books such as this, "The King's Touch", "The Perfect Royal Mistress", "Duchess: A novel of Sarah Churchill" or even "Forever Amber" (I am not a huge fan, but many others are).

I gave this book a "4 star" rating because it is just simply an intriguing, fast, fun escape read, but it does have its flaws. The main draw back is that Koen seems confused as to whether she wanted to write a "whodunnit?", a romance or a fantastic period novel. She delivers pieces of all three, and that leaves fans with genre preferences feeling disappointed. The good news is that this novel seems ripe for a sequel (or two!) to fill the time between its end and the beginning of her stellar debut, Through A Glass Darkly. I love the promise of more to come... I only hope the wait is short!