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Bliss & Blunder
"Exquisitely written and structurally bold ... a deeply impressive novel" --Eva Dolan, author of This Is How It Ends
Selected for TLS Summer Books 2023
Arthur and Gwen married young. Twenty years on, Gwen's got it wealth, beauty, a famous husband who's the founder of Britain's most successful tech company, stables full of horses, millions of followers on Instagram, an unstable lover, a wayward son, a hoard of secrets, an aching heart, and a cyberstalking blackmailer who calls himself The Invisible Knight.
As the Wiltshire town of Abury prepares to celebrate the fortieth birthday of its favourite son, Morgan, Gwen's former best friend, is on her way back to Abury after two decades away, keen to expose Abury's long buried secrets and hell-bent on revenge.
An inventive, magisterial reworking of Britain's greatest myth, Bliss & Blunder is a heartrending novel of power, friendship and betrayal.
Selected for TLS Summer Books 2023
Arthur and Gwen married young. Twenty years on, Gwen's got it wealth, beauty, a famous husband who's the founder of Britain's most successful tech company, stables full of horses, millions of followers on Instagram, an unstable lover, a wayward son, a hoard of secrets, an aching heart, and a cyberstalking blackmailer who calls himself The Invisible Knight.
As the Wiltshire town of Abury prepares to celebrate the fortieth birthday of its favourite son, Morgan, Gwen's former best friend, is on her way back to Abury after two decades away, keen to expose Abury's long buried secrets and hell-bent on revenge.
An inventive, magisterial reworking of Britain's greatest myth, Bliss & Blunder is a heartrending novel of power, friendship and betrayal.
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First published August 3, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
August 18, 2023
Holy Grail, Batman! This is a fantastic contemporary variation on the Arthurian stories. Here Arthur is a tech wizard with Gwen his trophy wife a social media influencer. Lance(lot) is a soldier with PTSD who falls in love with his friend's wife. An absorbing tale that includes a mysterious blackmailer and dead maidens plus treachery, passion and betrayal. Brilliant.
May 28, 2023
Bliss & Blunder is a novel which retells Arthurian legend in a modern setting, placing Arthur as a tech company CEO and Gwen as his Instagram-famous wife, as a blackmailer and someone from the past both try and tear down Arthur's empire by revealing hidden secrets. In the Wiltshire town of Abury, Arthur's name is writ large, with his tech company and band of loyal men who work for him, but there's secrets lingering, like what his wife has been doing, and why her childhood best friend Morgan hates both of them, and what to do with Arthur and Gwen's wayward adoptive son, Mo. When Morgan returns to Abury, people are forced to revisit the past and things are about to get dramatic.
Bliss & Blunder is basically a modern AU (alternate universe) version of Arthurian legend, perhaps most recognisably Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur. I've read (and written) a fair few classic literature modern retellings, and loved Malory as an undergrad, so I felt I needed to read this one and see what it does. In short, it does what it says on the tin: updates Arthur's role to a modern tech CEO, rewrites many famous characters in various ways, and tries to find modern ways to explain some of the less straightforward elements of Arthurian legend (when I realised Gawain and the Green Knight was actually going to be a subplot, I was a bit impressed, as I'd assumed it would just be the pub name and that's it).
The narrative moves between the present day of the story and the past, mostly the schooldays of Arthur, Gwen, and Morgan, but there's plenty of the modern day story to move things forward. There's a lot of characters, and in most other books that might be tricky to manage, but the thing is, because it's based on something with so many characters (and a tendency to suddenly focus on one for a while), it does make sense, especially if you're familiar with the source material. Arthur himself, though important to the plot, doesn't really get as much of a focus as a character as Gwen and Morgan do, but generally the narrative has to move on characters pretty quickly to fit everything in (again, like in Malory, really, and that's long enough). Morgan in particular gets a nice deep delve into her as a character, with a strong emotional core to what she's doing and enough complexity to her feelings.
The actual plotline is pretty straightforward, following all the points you'd expect to tell a modernised version in which a tech company falls apart due to surveillance choices and treatment of employees and perhaps the most famous affair in literature is exposed (it can't be a spoiler to say it's Gwen and Lance, given that it's both incredibly famous and in the book from the start). There's fun subplots as well, bringing in other stories, but the story itself isn't really what makes the book, as with most modern retellings, as you can tell that certain elements have to be used just to make it work. If you don't know Arthurian legend, I don't know what you might think of the plot, and the fact that some of the subplots can feel a bit random without knowing why that they're based on (like Mo and Gal's eventual plotline, and definitely Wayne's).
The danger of a modern retelling is that people who know the source material will like some choices and dislike others. For me, I liked Galahad being a non-binary hacker who wasn't actually treated that well at the company as it draws something interesting out about Galahad being different to the other knights from Malory (if anyone could be a token non-binary character, it's probably Galahad), and I liked Mo, this book's version of Mordred, and I liked how their plotlines came together. I enjoyed that Gwen and Lance's relationship was translated into something still vital to them, but I also did wish we got more insight into Lance, and definitely into Lance and Wayne and the whole history between them, as that's one of my favourite bits of Malory. The use of a tech company instead of knights of the round table is an obvious modern retelling option, but is actually fleshed out enough here that it works, and the use of conflict in Afghanistan as a backdrop for some of the characters having actual being soldiers was interesting, but I think both elements were more background that really explored in depth, especially the latter. A lot of this is probably because more of the focus is on the female characters, so you get more of Gwen and Morgan's backstories than other parts that are more there to explain parts of the narrative.
On an almost side note, as someone who knows a lot more about Henry IV than Arthurian legend generally, I was very confused when a character starting speaking Falstaff's lines, and even more confused when said character turned out to actually be Falstaff. I mean, it's fun, for sure, and the book is full of easter eggs for people who know Arthurian stuff so why not also a bit of Shakespeare, but also, it was a tad bewildering.
The ending is going to be predictable, not just because of it being a retelling but really so is the end of a lot of knightly romances anyway, and I liked the attempt to give an overview of what happens to most characters, given how many there are of them. Overall, Bliss & Blunder has the wide ranging genre elements and characters of medieval romance, and the obvious modernisations of a retelling. Because a lot of the retelling choices felt like well-written fanfiction to me, I did find that at times I missed having a central character or relationship that was the focus, even though you don't get that with plenty of versions of Arthurian legend (Malory definitely not) but by the end, I do think it managed to pull together the many different threads in a way that felt purposeful, whilst still leaving people wondering a bit what happens next.
There are some books you cannot write a short review for. I'm not a medievalist, but as a non-binary fan of Malory who has done modern retellings of Henry IV and talks about tech companies and privacy at work, this was a book I had to read, and it certainly brings the fun, romp-like element of Arthurian legend into the modern day. Not everything in the book satisfied and there were parts of the modernised stuff that felt like they needed a bit more exploration of the implications (at times I wished it were grittier, but that's my tastes), but also you've got to appreciate a book that tries to pack in so much Arthurian legend into a modern version. It makes me long to get my scribbled-in copy of Le Morte D'Arthur back out.
Bliss & Blunder is basically a modern AU (alternate universe) version of Arthurian legend, perhaps most recognisably Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur. I've read (and written) a fair few classic literature modern retellings, and loved Malory as an undergrad, so I felt I needed to read this one and see what it does. In short, it does what it says on the tin: updates Arthur's role to a modern tech CEO, rewrites many famous characters in various ways, and tries to find modern ways to explain some of the less straightforward elements of Arthurian legend (when I realised Gawain and the Green Knight was actually going to be a subplot, I was a bit impressed, as I'd assumed it would just be the pub name and that's it).
The narrative moves between the present day of the story and the past, mostly the schooldays of Arthur, Gwen, and Morgan, but there's plenty of the modern day story to move things forward. There's a lot of characters, and in most other books that might be tricky to manage, but the thing is, because it's based on something with so many characters (and a tendency to suddenly focus on one for a while), it does make sense, especially if you're familiar with the source material. Arthur himself, though important to the plot, doesn't really get as much of a focus as a character as Gwen and Morgan do, but generally the narrative has to move on characters pretty quickly to fit everything in (again, like in Malory, really, and that's long enough). Morgan in particular gets a nice deep delve into her as a character, with a strong emotional core to what she's doing and enough complexity to her feelings.
The actual plotline is pretty straightforward, following all the points you'd expect to tell a modernised version in which a tech company falls apart due to surveillance choices and treatment of employees and perhaps the most famous affair in literature is exposed (it can't be a spoiler to say it's Gwen and Lance, given that it's both incredibly famous and in the book from the start). There's fun subplots as well, bringing in other stories, but the story itself isn't really what makes the book, as with most modern retellings, as you can tell that certain elements have to be used just to make it work. If you don't know Arthurian legend, I don't know what you might think of the plot, and the fact that some of the subplots can feel a bit random without knowing why that they're based on (like Mo and Gal's eventual plotline, and definitely Wayne's).
The danger of a modern retelling is that people who know the source material will like some choices and dislike others. For me, I liked Galahad being a non-binary hacker who wasn't actually treated that well at the company as it draws something interesting out about Galahad being different to the other knights from Malory (if anyone could be a token non-binary character, it's probably Galahad), and I liked Mo, this book's version of Mordred, and I liked how their plotlines came together. I enjoyed that Gwen and Lance's relationship was translated into something still vital to them, but I also did wish we got more insight into Lance, and definitely into Lance and Wayne and the whole history between them, as that's one of my favourite bits of Malory. The use of a tech company instead of knights of the round table is an obvious modern retelling option, but is actually fleshed out enough here that it works, and the use of conflict in Afghanistan as a backdrop for some of the characters having actual being soldiers was interesting, but I think both elements were more background that really explored in depth, especially the latter. A lot of this is probably because more of the focus is on the female characters, so you get more of Gwen and Morgan's backstories than other parts that are more there to explain parts of the narrative.
On an almost side note, as someone who knows a lot more about Henry IV than Arthurian legend generally, I was very confused when a character starting speaking Falstaff's lines, and even more confused when said character turned out to actually be Falstaff. I mean, it's fun, for sure, and the book is full of easter eggs for people who know Arthurian stuff so why not also a bit of Shakespeare, but also, it was a tad bewildering.
The ending is going to be predictable, not just because of it being a retelling but really so is the end of a lot of knightly romances anyway, and I liked the attempt to give an overview of what happens to most characters, given how many there are of them. Overall, Bliss & Blunder has the wide ranging genre elements and characters of medieval romance, and the obvious modernisations of a retelling. Because a lot of the retelling choices felt like well-written fanfiction to me, I did find that at times I missed having a central character or relationship that was the focus, even though you don't get that with plenty of versions of Arthurian legend (Malory definitely not) but by the end, I do think it managed to pull together the many different threads in a way that felt purposeful, whilst still leaving people wondering a bit what happens next.
There are some books you cannot write a short review for. I'm not a medievalist, but as a non-binary fan of Malory who has done modern retellings of Henry IV and talks about tech companies and privacy at work, this was a book I had to read, and it certainly brings the fun, romp-like element of Arthurian legend into the modern day. Not everything in the book satisfied and there were parts of the modernised stuff that felt like they needed a bit more exploration of the implications (at times I wished it were grittier, but that's my tastes), but also you've got to appreciate a book that tries to pack in so much Arthurian legend into a modern version. It makes me long to get my scribbled-in copy of Le Morte D'Arthur back out.
May 10, 2025
4.5 / 5 stars
i enjoyed Bliss and Blunder much more than i expected to. i was initially drawn to it by the cover, and even though mythological retellings usually don’t appeal to me (especially modern ones), this one felt different.
i’m not deeply familiar with Arthurian legend. i know the basics - Arthur, Morgan le Fay, the round table - but i’ve never read any in-depth versions or adaptations.
i also thought it was going to be one of those contemporary novels; minimal plot, emotionally muted, focused on introspection, and quietly miserable, a bit too woke, a bit too pretentious (e.g. Sally Rooney-esque, even if I enjoy part of her oeuvre) the kind that often gets praised as a definitive portrait of modern relationships or generational disillusionment.
but Bliss and Blunder surprised me. it turned out to be much more of a thriller, fast-paced, bold, adventurous, both plot and character driven—even though it’s set in the present day, it never felt static or overly internal. it reminded me a little of Eleanor Catton‘s Birnam Wood, maybe in scope and cast. at moments i even thought of The Luminaries, though they’re very different books. it’s not a direct comparison, just a sense of ambition and scale that felt similar.
the writing was strong, the cast was large, and the pacing kept me engaged throughout. looking back, the plot didn’t go exactly where i thought it would - it wasn’t a revenge story per se ultimately, and the conflict really came down to one unhinged figure at the center (but at the same time at the periphery) - but i didn’t mind that shift too much, it worked within the confines of the story and didn’t come out of the left field. it defied expectations in a way that felt earned.
i enjoyed Bliss and Blunder much more than i expected to. i was initially drawn to it by the cover, and even though mythological retellings usually don’t appeal to me (especially modern ones), this one felt different.
i’m not deeply familiar with Arthurian legend. i know the basics - Arthur, Morgan le Fay, the round table - but i’ve never read any in-depth versions or adaptations.
i also thought it was going to be one of those contemporary novels; minimal plot, emotionally muted, focused on introspection, and quietly miserable, a bit too woke, a bit too pretentious (e.g. Sally Rooney-esque, even if I enjoy part of her oeuvre) the kind that often gets praised as a definitive portrait of modern relationships or generational disillusionment.
but Bliss and Blunder surprised me. it turned out to be much more of a thriller, fast-paced, bold, adventurous, both plot and character driven—even though it’s set in the present day, it never felt static or overly internal. it reminded me a little of Eleanor Catton‘s Birnam Wood, maybe in scope and cast. at moments i even thought of The Luminaries, though they’re very different books. it’s not a direct comparison, just a sense of ambition and scale that felt similar.
the writing was strong, the cast was large, and the pacing kept me engaged throughout. looking back, the plot didn’t go exactly where i thought it would - it wasn’t a revenge story per se ultimately, and the conflict really came down to one unhinged figure at the center (but at the same time at the periphery) - but i didn’t mind that shift too much, it worked within the confines of the story and didn’t come out of the left field. it defied expectations in a way that felt earned.
May 6, 2024
3.5 🌟
A book like nothing I have ever read before. I understand it’s a modern retelling of the Arthurian myths however this gave me no context as I don’t believe I have ever read / learned about those.
Interesting and new however the character development fell flat at points and some sub-plots felt unnecessary and random.
A book like nothing I have ever read before. I understand it’s a modern retelling of the Arthurian myths however this gave me no context as I don’t believe I have ever read / learned about those.
Interesting and new however the character development fell flat at points and some sub-plots felt unnecessary and random.
October 7, 2024
I really enjoyed this. It starts off quite slow and steady and superficial... Then wham! You're in deep and you have a number of mysteries on the pages, and it all ties up nicely but not as you necessarily guess.
January 10, 2024
amazing. review to come
April 30, 2024
Interesting, but just too many storyline and characters, and some just felt very forced or seemed to come out of nowhere
October 30, 2025
DNF for me :( I really couldn’t get into this?? Found it quite infuriating. Was like the author wanted everything to be a mystery so I felt out of the loop a lot and quite confused. Maybe that’s a me problem lol, gorg cover though
December 26, 2023
it's boxing day (happy christmas to those who celebrate) and I wanted a light read to pass the time whilst I wait for the new year (and reading goal), so I picked this up. I got sent this back in August and have been hoarding it since.
unfortunately, this failed to grab me. the characters are undeveloped and the style does not compensate. morgan had potential, but alas -- it was already too late.
*i received an arc for free. thank you to the publisher for sending it to me*
unfortunately, this failed to grab me. the characters are undeveloped and the style does not compensate. morgan had potential, but alas -- it was already too late.
*i received an arc for free. thank you to the publisher for sending it to me*
November 13, 2023
2 ⭐️
Bliss and Blunder had a very interesting premise, but the execution was lacking.
Plot
Gwen and Arthur got married young. Twenty years later, Gwen has it all: money, beauty, a well-known husband who founded the most prosperous tech company in Britain, a stable full of horses, millions of Instagram followers, an unstable partner, a misbehaving son, a stash of secrets, a broken heart, and a cyberstalking blackmailer going by the name of The Invisible Knight.
After twenty years gone, Gwen's old best friend Morgan is returning to Abury, Wiltshire, as the village gets ready to celebrate the fortieth birthday of its favorite son. Morgan is determined to uncover Abury's long-kept secrets and get retribution.
The plot could have been interesting and there was some interesting parts, especially seeing the past of some of the characters. However, I was also bored in some parts and for me ending was really rushed.
Characters
The characters could have been interesting, but I don't think they were really well developed. Arthur created the best tech company in Britain, Gwen is being stalked, Gal (Galahad) is the future Arthur as he is a genius when it comes to computers, Lance has PTSd, because of the time he spend fighting in the Afghanistan, Morgan could have been interesting, but I wish she could have been more developed.
Writing
I didn't like the writing of this novel. I don't think the author's writing style is bad, I just don't think it worked for me as a reader.
Romance
The romance could have been very interesting, but it wasn't developed enough. In fact, most of the relationship between the characters weren't developed. I never understood why Arthur and Lance are best friends or why Arthur and Gwen decided to marry each other. The novel had potential, but I think the romance and the love triangle between Lance-Gwen-Arthur was really underdeveloped.
Final Thoughts
It really wasn't my cup of tea.
Bliss and Blunder had a very interesting premise, but the execution was lacking.
Plot
Gwen and Arthur got married young. Twenty years later, Gwen has it all: money, beauty, a well-known husband who founded the most prosperous tech company in Britain, a stable full of horses, millions of Instagram followers, an unstable partner, a misbehaving son, a stash of secrets, a broken heart, and a cyberstalking blackmailer going by the name of The Invisible Knight.
After twenty years gone, Gwen's old best friend Morgan is returning to Abury, Wiltshire, as the village gets ready to celebrate the fortieth birthday of its favorite son. Morgan is determined to uncover Abury's long-kept secrets and get retribution.
The plot could have been interesting and there was some interesting parts, especially seeing the past of some of the characters. However, I was also bored in some parts and for me ending was really rushed.
Characters
The characters could have been interesting, but I don't think they were really well developed. Arthur created the best tech company in Britain, Gwen is being stalked, Gal (Galahad) is the future Arthur as he is a genius when it comes to computers, Lance has PTSd, because of the time he spend fighting in the Afghanistan, Morgan could have been interesting, but I wish she could have been more developed.
Writing
I didn't like the writing of this novel. I don't think the author's writing style is bad, I just don't think it worked for me as a reader.
Romance
The romance could have been very interesting, but it wasn't developed enough. In fact, most of the relationship between the characters weren't developed. I never understood why Arthur and Lance are best friends or why Arthur and Gwen decided to marry each other. The novel had potential, but I think the romance and the love triangle between Lance-Gwen-Arthur was really underdeveloped.
Final Thoughts
It really wasn't my cup of tea.
October 6, 2024
There was a lot to marvel at here. Gosling’s tech-empire Arthurian retelling is verdant, provincial and modern. I loved her Morgan Le Fay— fierce, ugly and intelligent—the sword of a woman who sets the whole tragedy in motion.
But I won’t be rereading this novel, and I know in a few weeks only fragments of it will remain in my mind. There were phrases and scenes in this book that hit me like an arrow in the heart: Gwen and the falcon, Galahads weed addiction spelled out in sticky-sweet familiarity, and most of all the honour—the chivalry that Morgan strives for.
But as clever and well-sketched all those moments in the story were, and as nicely as Gosling mapped them on to her very well thought-out interpretation of Camelot, it was only ever that: clever. I actually don’t know how to articulate the criticism I’m trying to make here. The story was genuinely okay, and the characters were diverse and surprising.
I don’t know. It felt like getting slapped by 2019. By burgeoning slick trends and ideas that were —if not erased—then made less relevant by the pandemic. It felt like a clever book by an educated millennial who probably has a lot in common with me, ostensibly writing other people, but really only ever writing her own smart, sensitive and specific self, playing dress-up in knightly clothing.
But I won’t be rereading this novel, and I know in a few weeks only fragments of it will remain in my mind. There were phrases and scenes in this book that hit me like an arrow in the heart: Gwen and the falcon, Galahads weed addiction spelled out in sticky-sweet familiarity, and most of all the honour—the chivalry that Morgan strives for.
But as clever and well-sketched all those moments in the story were, and as nicely as Gosling mapped them on to her very well thought-out interpretation of Camelot, it was only ever that: clever. I actually don’t know how to articulate the criticism I’m trying to make here. The story was genuinely okay, and the characters were diverse and surprising.
I don’t know. It felt like getting slapped by 2019. By burgeoning slick trends and ideas that were —if not erased—then made less relevant by the pandemic. It felt like a clever book by an educated millennial who probably has a lot in common with me, ostensibly writing other people, but really only ever writing her own smart, sensitive and specific self, playing dress-up in knightly clothing.
August 18, 2023
I don't know if I like it or not. I read a lot of Arthurian novels of any kind from Mary Stewart to Andrew Norton, from Lavie Tidhar to Uuliet Mckenna.
Each of those book had an original take on the massive Matter of Britain.
Problem with a modern retelling is that the Arthur, Gwen, Morgan are archetype and essentially timeless.
It was an intriguing book but it took ages to get some action. I liked the characters but they were sort of avatar more than original.
There's a lot to love and there's some part that this old grumpy lady didn't love.
I will try again.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine
Each of those book had an original take on the massive Matter of Britain.
Problem with a modern retelling is that the Arthur, Gwen, Morgan are archetype and essentially timeless.
It was an intriguing book but it took ages to get some action. I liked the characters but they were sort of avatar more than original.
There's a lot to love and there's some part that this old grumpy lady didn't love.
I will try again.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine
February 25, 2024
Reading the reviews makes me wish I knew the Arthurian tale that this book was based on because I feel like that would have helped me follow all the characters more clearly. It sometimes felt a little too wordy but the wording also gave it that medieval aspect to a modernized story so it mostly felt fitting. I think Wayne and his relationship with the bar owners felt like the most unnecessary side tale to me although I did like him as a character.
June 27, 2024
Reading this book reminded me of myself trying to tell a story, and if you have ever heard me tell a story you might agree. There are so many characters and moving parts and at times you aren’t sure what’s happening or the need for the extensive details but then it all finally comes together.
Read
May 12, 2023Oof, I don't think I'm smart enough for this one, but damn am I looking forward to interviewing the author. It's a brilliant and original way of modernising a timeless story!
March 3, 2024
4.5⭐️ honestly obsessed with this, need time to collect my thoughts but love love love!
July 21, 2024
This was a bookseller’s recommendation. I was intrigued by the modernisation of the King Arthur myths, however being unfamiliar with everything except the sword in the stone tale I really couldn’t say whether this was a clever, accurate, or inventive take on the myths. What I can say is that it’s an overly complicated domestic drama (too many players, not enough real plot strands), with mostly unlikeable characters and quasi-spiritual musings in the role and impact of technology in today’s society. It felt current yet dated and somewhat rambling. Maybe I just a not cultured enough to appreciate the “jaw-dropping brilliance” quoted on the jacket by Marian Keyes!
March 11, 2024
It took me a while to get into this book: it throws a lot of disparate information at you at once. I probably would have dropped the book had I not borrowed it from a bookclub.
The fact it was a rewriting of the Arthurian canon had intrigued me and at times the modern versions and substitutions were a touch irritating, Gwen being a social media celeb for example. It has a lot of random reference to war and PTSD, which I get is an attempt to simulate the knighthood elements, but for me fell a little flat and empty. I feel as though in trying to insert as much medievalism into the text as possible, Gosling gave herself an incredibly difficult job.
There are, however, moments of unmatched strength in writing, Gosling has obviously done a level of research around the canon and some substitutions are incredibly bewitching, for example There are also beautiful excursions into further medieval (and beyond) literature: and a particularly stunning use of the medieval bestiary tradition of the whale being a false and devilish island waiting for people to land to then swallow them.
As I hope I've indicated: this book might have escaped me if I hadn't had to persevere with it, BUT I'm glad I did have to, it brings interesting ideas to the concept of medievalism and creates a fun, interesting cast of characters hurting in their own modern and indeed medieval manners. I'm not sure I'd read it again, or recommend it intensely, but I had fun!
The fact it was a rewriting of the Arthurian canon had intrigued me and at times the modern versions and substitutions were a touch irritating, Gwen being a social media celeb for example. It has a lot of random reference to war and PTSD, which I get is an attempt to simulate the knighthood elements, but for me fell a little flat and empty. I feel as though in trying to insert as much medievalism into the text as possible, Gosling gave herself an incredibly difficult job.
There are, however, moments of unmatched strength in writing, Gosling has obviously done a level of research around the canon and some substitutions are incredibly bewitching, for example There are also beautiful excursions into further medieval (and beyond) literature: and a particularly stunning use of the medieval bestiary tradition of the whale being a false and devilish island waiting for people to land to then swallow them.
As I hope I've indicated: this book might have escaped me if I hadn't had to persevere with it, BUT I'm glad I did have to, it brings interesting ideas to the concept of medievalism and creates a fun, interesting cast of characters hurting in their own modern and indeed medieval manners. I'm not sure I'd read it again, or recommend it intensely, but I had fun!
July 30, 2023
Bliss & Blunder is marketed as a modern retelling of the stories of Arthur and the knights of the round table. In this Arthur is tech genius who owns a massive company, Gwen is his bored housewife and Lance is his friend that he trusts to look after his family when he can’t. But…after finishing this, I don’t think it needed this spin. The modern day story stands on its own merits without those links. I found it to be a very slow read until the last third. It is very unusual and the story flits between timelines incessantly - sometimes far back in the past and sometimes a week ago - whilst also weaving in voices from the past, supernatural elements and mental illness. It can be hard to stay on top of where the story currently is. Notwithstanding this, I will be thinking about it for a while. The writer is obviously very talented and addresses some very pertinent issues without being remotely preachy. I also couldn’t put it down in the final third. This won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but I am very glad I read it.
September 5, 2023
I really wanted to like this book. It has a great premise and captures 21st century sensibilities well. Unfortunately, the author misses the inherent hope, as well as the resultant tragedy, of the Round Table. Perhaps this is because she is unfamiliar with the joys of true male friendship, about which authors like C. S. Lewis write.
This is exchanged for what appears to be an LGBTQ+ agenda that runs like a thread throughout the plot, culminating in an ending in which all the male characters are crushed, defeated, or subservient. Only Mordred and Galahad, both portrayed as potentially gay or bisexual, emerge somewhat unscathed.
It would be interesting to see another attempt at a contemporary retelling that has less of an axe to grind.
This is exchanged for what appears to be an LGBTQ+ agenda that runs like a thread throughout the plot, culminating in an ending in which all the male characters are crushed, defeated, or subservient. Only Mordred and Galahad, both portrayed as potentially gay or bisexual, emerge somewhat unscathed.
It would be interesting to see another attempt at a contemporary retelling that has less of an axe to grind.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 30, 2023
i received an arc of this!
this book is pushed forward by viciously moving prose -- any problems i have with it come from the source material, which means it's a little overlong and slightly incredulous and lots of the interjoining plot lines feel a little underworked, but i'm going to blame arthurian legend. this was great but i maybe wish it was a different book? one about the conditions of girlhood and queerness rather than lots of the other things it was about. but that's a taste thing.
this book is pushed forward by viciously moving prose -- any problems i have with it come from the source material, which means it's a little overlong and slightly incredulous and lots of the interjoining plot lines feel a little underworked, but i'm going to blame arthurian legend. this was great but i maybe wish it was a different book? one about the conditions of girlhood and queerness rather than lots of the other things it was about. but that's a taste thing.
July 28, 2024
not enough merlin.
in all seriousness, i’m exhausted. so many names, so many places, so many times. some of that is on me – i expected a modern retelling of arthurs tale but as in relationship drama and spice. instead i got stories of war in afghanistan, computer viruses and men. i really didn’t care for any of them, but that was kinda the point i guess
in all seriousness, i’m exhausted. so many names, so many places, so many times. some of that is on me – i expected a modern retelling of arthurs tale but as in relationship drama and spice. instead i got stories of war in afghanistan, computer viruses and men. i really didn’t care for any of them, but that was kinda the point i guess
October 16, 2025
Sometimes he’ll be mopping the floor and listening to a couple of the regulars, and he knows it’s not from now. It’s from before. What’s more, time is supposed to be sequential, right? One thing happening after another. Things further back receding, more recent things feeling, well, more recent. Not for Wayne. [loc. 1637]
The Matter of Britain meets Jilly Cooper! The setting is the medieval town of Abury, in Wiltshire: the characters drink at the Green Knight, where Vern the landlord has an odd agreement -- 'anything you gain you give to me' -- with Wayne the barman. Arthur is a tech billionaire, Lance is a veteran with PTSD, Gwen is an influencer, Mo was adopted from a Bangalore roadside, Morgan is ... vengeful.
The novel opens with the celebration of Arthur's fortieth birthday, a grand gala where several old friends appear unexpectedly. Gwen can't concentrate on the festivities: she's being blackmailed. Could it be the Invisible Knight again? There are flashbacks to when they were all teenagers together in the 1990s: alliances forged and broken, grudges taking root, Arthur already making his mark as a tech genius, Morgan the target of the bullies on the school bus. And then forward again, to 'Right Here, Right Now', and an attempt on Arthur's life, the reconsideration of an old murder, the risk of a computer virus that'd wipe out civilisation.
I loved this: the resonances with Arthurian myth, the surprising but thoroughly credible identity of old John who props up the bar, the way the characters' opinions and perceptions evolve as they mature. The focus was on the women as much as the men: Morgan bemoans the fact that there are 'no epic poems, no legends, no bardic songs, no Romeo and Juliet, that exist to explain it to her. The record is nigh empty, as though women never adored each other, never went into battle, never fought the monster, never wept and bled, killed and died for each other, who separated, didn’t feel the other’s absence like a missing limb.' [loc. 1037] For me, her relationship with Gwen felt like the core of the novel. And it is a novel about how women -- whores or saints, quest objects or evil sorceresses -- behave, are expected to behave, are punished for not conforming.
I liked the love poem (or is it a confession?) hidden in the comments of a piece of code ('/* Until I found, beneath her fairness/Putrefaction. [she] died choking on roses/Embracing the lover she earned, Death*/' [loc. 2367]) and the nomenclature of the viruses and worms Arthur creates/defeats: Wasteland, the Black Prince...True, there were a couple of false notes: 'pay a ten-pound bill with a hundred-pound note' (sorry, not in this universe); 'the comet goes over a little after ten' (comets don't visibly move). But they are forgiveable in the wit and flow of the whole.
Appreciating this novel definitely requires more than a passing acquaintance with Arthurian mythology, but it's thoroughly rewarding to spot all the little references and hints. Bliss and Blunder interrogates the original stories, highlighting misogyny and re-examining canonical relationships. And it's fun: a cracking read which I galloped through.
August 31, 2024
This book was selected for my book club to read for the theme of "Retelling". Not knowing much about the Arthurian myths (other than Disney's The Sword in the Stone and a few episodes of Merlin watched when my stepsons were small!), I had virtually no knowledge of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table so was looking forward to Bliss and Blunder.
I thought that the contemporary setting worked really well - Gosling has established 'King' Arthur as the founder of a hugely successful global tech company and his 'Knights' are either within his close circle at the firm or have returned to the village of Abury following tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. Gwen is married to Arthur and is a lifestyle influencer facing a scandal that could blow apart her carefully curated life when footage of her affair with Lance is 'captured' by her online stalker, The Invisible Knight. Various other characters are brought in along the way, including Morgan, the childhood friend of both Gwen and Arthur who wants to exact revenge on both of them...
The novel's synopsis makes out that the setting for the showdown of these various storylines will be Arthur's fortieth birthday, and whilst all the characters are brought together at the exclusive black tie event, the novel is spread out over several weeks (if not months) after that night. For that, I think the storyline suffers. The pace had been ticking along well and I was really looking forward to seeing how the fireworks would go off, but there was a lot of meandering through side plots that didn't feel relevant. For example, Mo (the adopted son of Arthur and Gwen) and Gal (non-binary tech nerd) rescuing a Vietnamese illegal immigrant from a cannabis farm. No idea what the point of that was! As a result, the characters never felt fully developed and I didn't really care one way or the other about Arthur, Gwen, Morgan or any of the others.
If the storyline had been kept really tightly to the night of the party or maybe 48 hours afterwards, I think it would have kept pace and worked better as more of a thriller style novel.
The storyline did take an interesting look at how women are treated online and within the tech industry but it felt like a secondary strand. I would have liked more on this angle (and the destruction and rebuilding of Gwen and Morgan's friendship) than a lot of the other stuff.
Lots of promise but it never really felt cohesive or engaging enough for me.
I thought that the contemporary setting worked really well - Gosling has established 'King' Arthur as the founder of a hugely successful global tech company and his 'Knights' are either within his close circle at the firm or have returned to the village of Abury following tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. Gwen is married to Arthur and is a lifestyle influencer facing a scandal that could blow apart her carefully curated life when footage of her affair with Lance is 'captured' by her online stalker, The Invisible Knight. Various other characters are brought in along the way, including Morgan, the childhood friend of both Gwen and Arthur who wants to exact revenge on both of them...
The novel's synopsis makes out that the setting for the showdown of these various storylines will be Arthur's fortieth birthday, and whilst all the characters are brought together at the exclusive black tie event, the novel is spread out over several weeks (if not months) after that night. For that, I think the storyline suffers. The pace had been ticking along well and I was really looking forward to seeing how the fireworks would go off, but there was a lot of meandering through side plots that didn't feel relevant. For example, Mo (the adopted son of Arthur and Gwen) and Gal (non-binary tech nerd) rescuing a Vietnamese illegal immigrant from a cannabis farm. No idea what the point of that was! As a result, the characters never felt fully developed and I didn't really care one way or the other about Arthur, Gwen, Morgan or any of the others.
If the storyline had been kept really tightly to the night of the party or maybe 48 hours afterwards, I think it would have kept pace and worked better as more of a thriller style novel.
The storyline did take an interesting look at how women are treated online and within the tech industry but it felt like a secondary strand. I would have liked more on this angle (and the destruction and rebuilding of Gwen and Morgan's friendship) than a lot of the other stuff.
Lots of promise but it never really felt cohesive or engaging enough for me.
August 7, 2023
So...I *wanted* to like this because the resurgence in myths is something that I am 100% here for. But...this was a bit of a hot mess, altho I imagine that that's what it was probably like (lol).
I'm forever intrigued by how people choose to portray Guinevere and Morgan in literature because no one can ever decide on who these women are. Is Gwen a entitled cow who is beautiful and has no consideration for the people around her OR is she a woman thrust into a lonely position of support while her husband is off Doing Things while she just has to have children. And Morgan - is she a beautiful femme fatale OR is she a full-bodied intelligent woman who happens to be gay and have a strong moral centre for the people she cares about? No one seems able to decide tbh.
The best part of this novel if I'm honest were the 'knights of the round table' and their personalities. I like that that they're portrayed as boys who used to bully Morgan because she was 'different' (smart and not skinny FYI) and then some of them go to war and come back with their own demons BUT they are constantly in Arthur's orbit and it's incredibly toxic. It's great! And frankly probably what the round (lols) table would have been like. Galahad being reimagined as a non-binary, vegan hacker was a stroke of genius because it COMPLETELY gels with the essence of who Galahad is. I wasn't sure about Mo - but then Mordred is always more of a concept to be interpreted by anyone than being a character IMO. Arthur reimagined as a genius tech bro is a lot of fun - and works really well.
Lancelot has (as always) more airtime than I think this guy should ever have. In this incarnation he's handsome, competent and bit broken which obvs makes him irresistible and Arthur's best mate and they go running together etc etc. The story goes off in multiple directions, is timey-wimey wibbly wobbly and a hot mess.
So....it was fine. A nice addition to field of 'reimagined Arthurian lore' but not great.
I'm forever intrigued by how people choose to portray Guinevere and Morgan in literature because no one can ever decide on who these women are. Is Gwen a entitled cow who is beautiful and has no consideration for the people around her OR is she a woman thrust into a lonely position of support while her husband is off Doing Things while she just has to have children. And Morgan - is she a beautiful femme fatale OR is she a full-bodied intelligent woman who happens to be gay and have a strong moral centre for the people she cares about? No one seems able to decide tbh.
The best part of this novel if I'm honest were the 'knights of the round table' and their personalities. I like that that they're portrayed as boys who used to bully Morgan because she was 'different' (smart and not skinny FYI) and then some of them go to war and come back with their own demons BUT they are constantly in Arthur's orbit and it's incredibly toxic. It's great! And frankly probably what the round (lols) table would have been like. Galahad being reimagined as a non-binary, vegan hacker was a stroke of genius because it COMPLETELY gels with the essence of who Galahad is. I wasn't sure about Mo - but then Mordred is always more of a concept to be interpreted by anyone than being a character IMO. Arthur reimagined as a genius tech bro is a lot of fun - and works really well.
Lancelot has (as always) more airtime than I think this guy should ever have. In this incarnation he's handsome, competent and bit broken which obvs makes him irresistible and Arthur's best mate and they go running together etc etc. The story goes off in multiple directions, is timey-wimey wibbly wobbly and a hot mess.
So....it was fine. A nice addition to field of 'reimagined Arthurian lore' but not great.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 29, 2023
This modern retelling of the King Arthur legend almost netted 5*, but towards the end it kept on veering towards slapstick and then finished up with an over the top happy ending, so back down to 4* it goes.
I was amazed how well the choice to make Arthur a billionaire tech CEO worked - I actually can’t think of a setting that would’ve translated as perfectly as this one did. The transposition of the various subplots at times fit to a T and at other times were just kind of weird: Gwen/ Guinevere is a bored trophy wife having an affair with Lance/ Lancelot, a military vet with PTSD; Morgan/ Morgana and Arthur hook up at one point off screen (hello The Mists of Avalon), but then she becomes delusional with grief after her girlfriend dies; there’s an misogynist stalker/ murderer on the loose who has it out for Gwen; the knights of the round table are total lads and bullies; Mo/ Mordred is an Indian street kid who Arthur picks up somewhere and then essentially abandons.
As you can tell, it’s just a lot (and that’s not even all of the subplots!) and much of it is a hot mess.
I loved the first part where we get most of the backstory of all the interpersonal relationships, but because I’m a drama queen, I wanted more from the various unrequited love stories and affairs between the main characters in the second half. Give me some unrequited Morgan/ Arthur romance over Morgan’s perfect righteous girlfriend dying in a tangentially related way (sorry, that’s the teenage Mists of Avalon fan in me speaking again). Also, Mo should’ve been Arthur’s illegitimate son for added messiness, don’t @ me.
It is wildly entertaining though. Mostly wild, but also entertaining. I had fun.
I was amazed how well the choice to make Arthur a billionaire tech CEO worked - I actually can’t think of a setting that would’ve translated as perfectly as this one did. The transposition of the various subplots at times fit to a T and at other times were just kind of weird: Gwen/ Guinevere is a bored trophy wife having an affair with Lance/ Lancelot, a military vet with PTSD; Morgan/ Morgana and Arthur hook up at one point off screen (hello The Mists of Avalon), but then she becomes delusional with grief after her girlfriend dies; there’s an misogynist stalker/ murderer on the loose who has it out for Gwen; the knights of the round table are total lads and bullies; Mo/ Mordred is an Indian street kid who Arthur picks up somewhere and then essentially abandons.
As you can tell, it’s just a lot (and that’s not even all of the subplots!) and much of it is a hot mess.
I loved the first part where we get most of the backstory of all the interpersonal relationships, but because I’m a drama queen, I wanted more from the various unrequited love stories and affairs between the main characters in the second half. Give me some unrequited Morgan/ Arthur romance over Morgan’s perfect righteous girlfriend dying in a tangentially related way (sorry, that’s the teenage Mists of Avalon fan in me speaking again). Also, Mo should’ve been Arthur’s illegitimate son for added messiness, don’t @ me.
It is wildly entertaining though. Mostly wild, but also entertaining. I had fun.
August 6, 2023
In the small town of Abury tech billionaire Arthur is getting ready to celebrate his 40th birthday. He grew up here, based his global company here despite other offers, employs half the town and even married local beauty Gwen, to the jealousy of many of his friends.
Together Arthur and Gwen seem to have it all - a gorgeous house, good looks, global admiration, millions of social media followers, a stable full of horses and a billion pound cyber security company. Yet while they go about their lives Morgan, Gwen's former best friend, is returning to Abury after two decades away, hellbent on vengeance, while a cyberstalking blackmailer named the Invisible Knight is watching Gwen’s every move.
Some things are above even Arthur’s carefully managed control, and soon secrets long held will finally be brought to light…
My thoughts:
This novel is a very clever modern reworking of the myths around King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, and I was hooked from the very first chapter. It is beautifully written and I was fully engrossed in both Victoria Gosling’s almost lyrical prose and the mysteries surrounding the Invisible Knight and the death of Carly.
Although this is a reworking of ancient legends it covers modern topics such power imbalances, mental health, war, masculinity and patriarchy along with infidelity, betrayal and a murder mystery, and I loved that while much of the book focuses on the actions and reactions of male characters, female experiences, autonomy and agency were still at the forefront. I’ll definitely be reading more of Victoria Gosling’s books in future.
A massive thank you to Tandem Collective UK and Serpent’s Tail for my copy!
Together Arthur and Gwen seem to have it all - a gorgeous house, good looks, global admiration, millions of social media followers, a stable full of horses and a billion pound cyber security company. Yet while they go about their lives Morgan, Gwen's former best friend, is returning to Abury after two decades away, hellbent on vengeance, while a cyberstalking blackmailer named the Invisible Knight is watching Gwen’s every move.
Some things are above even Arthur’s carefully managed control, and soon secrets long held will finally be brought to light…
My thoughts:
This novel is a very clever modern reworking of the myths around King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, and I was hooked from the very first chapter. It is beautifully written and I was fully engrossed in both Victoria Gosling’s almost lyrical prose and the mysteries surrounding the Invisible Knight and the death of Carly.
Although this is a reworking of ancient legends it covers modern topics such power imbalances, mental health, war, masculinity and patriarchy along with infidelity, betrayal and a murder mystery, and I loved that while much of the book focuses on the actions and reactions of male characters, female experiences, autonomy and agency were still at the forefront. I’ll definitely be reading more of Victoria Gosling’s books in future.
A massive thank you to Tandem Collective UK and Serpent’s Tail for my copy!
July 16, 2024
This is definitely a different kind of novel, very unique to my reading habits. I could never give it 5 stars because of the insistence on leftardisms, the new cancers of the world, but as far as a piece of literature, I did enjoy it. I expected something superficial and very light but I actually found depth and I especially loved the use of language. Essentially, this is a British soap opera written in something that desires to be modern classic literature. I can definitely say that the use of language was great.
What sucked? Literally every character with the exception of Mo(rdred). Gwen is a whore, Lance is a traumatised hot coward, Morgan is a useless frustrated chick and Gal is bullshit. Arthur was okay, probably the only character I actually understood, a rip off of tech millionaires with shitty tastes in women and low self esteem.
Overall the only laughably bad part of this book is the fact that it sees itself as feminist. Only making most of the male characters lame, rapists, stupid or cowards and forcing a bunch of random women in the plot for representation and quota is not enough but hey, this is applied to companies, politics and businesses all the time in the real world so why not force this in literature as well? But the women in this novel are for the most part, shit, which brought me great amusement.
In conclusion, superb use of language, great idea, mediocre implementation. It reads like a one season British mini series that I enjoyed for its duration, told my mum about it and never gave it a second thought.
What sucked? Literally every character with the exception of Mo(rdred). Gwen is a whore, Lance is a traumatised hot coward, Morgan is a useless frustrated chick and Gal is bullshit. Arthur was okay, probably the only character I actually understood, a rip off of tech millionaires with shitty tastes in women and low self esteem.
Overall the only laughably bad part of this book is the fact that it sees itself as feminist. Only making most of the male characters lame, rapists, stupid or cowards and forcing a bunch of random women in the plot for representation and quota is not enough but hey, this is applied to companies, politics and businesses all the time in the real world so why not force this in literature as well? But the women in this novel are for the most part, shit, which brought me great amusement.
In conclusion, superb use of language, great idea, mediocre implementation. It reads like a one season British mini series that I enjoyed for its duration, told my mum about it and never gave it a second thought.
July 31, 2023
After her debut novel Before the Ruins, a book I had immensely enjoyed in the otherwise drab weeks of the first Covid wave, Gosling returns with Bliss & Blunder, a contemporary retelling of Arthurian legend.
Set in the same Wiltshire setting of her earlier work, Gosling casts Arthur as the founder and head of an international hi-tech cyber security software company, Guinevere as Arthur’s Instagram-star wife Gwen, who is having an affair with Arthur’s friend Lance, and Mordred as Arthur and Gwen’s adopted son Mo. Other characters from the medieval epic also appear in modern-day guises, with vengeful Faye Morgan (no points to guess the character providing the inspiration) and a stalker who calls himself the Invisible Knight, introducing a sense of menace.
I must admit that my knowledge of Malory and other sources of the tales of King Arthur and his merry knights, is pretty limited. But the plot itself, a genre-bending mix of thriller, love story and coming-of-age novel, can be appreciated (with some suspension of disbelief) without any deep knowledge of the source material, even if that would add further "strata" to the novel. If you’re looking for a brainy page-turner, look no further.
https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/20...
February 1, 2025
Mnohovrstevnatý příběh o přátelství, pomstě, vztazích, občas kódování a hackování; překvapivé queer linky.
Děj má odkazovat na artušovské legendy (čemuž napovídají i neobvyklá jména postav - Lance, Garlon, Morgan, atd.), v čemž nejsem vůbec teda zběhlá a určitě znalejší čtenář si to užije asi víc.
Hlavní linka sleduje Arthura, majitele společnosti, která vyvíjí antivir, jeho femme fatale manželku Gwen a jejich společnou přítelkyni ze školy Morgan. Byla skvěle vykreslena motivace postav a komplexnost jejich emocí tím, jak jde část knihy i do minulosti.
Co je však problém je, že to není jen o několika málo postavách, za chvíli je jich na ne tolik tlustou knihu celkem dost, co hůř, s podobnými jmény - Garlon, Gal, Gareth, …
Občas jsem se v tom ztratila, některé kapitoly by snad ani nemusely být a zasloužilo by to možná proškrtat. /Některé back-stories skutečně odkazují na artušovské legendy a ti, co je četli, si to pochvalují, so maybe I’m just a litte bit dumb for this book, but…/ Ale i navzdory tomu musím dát zasloužené čtyři hvězdičky, protože i styl psaní samotný je prostě krásný.
„So university, first year, first term, my verdict: you do meet a lot of people, only in my case the people are books. I’ve been eaten by the library, swallowed up whole. The library has eaten me and I am eating the books. I am relentless. I spare none of them.“
Děj má odkazovat na artušovské legendy (čemuž napovídají i neobvyklá jména postav - Lance, Garlon, Morgan, atd.), v čemž nejsem vůbec teda zběhlá a určitě znalejší čtenář si to užije asi víc.
Hlavní linka sleduje Arthura, majitele společnosti, která vyvíjí antivir, jeho femme fatale manželku Gwen a jejich společnou přítelkyni ze školy Morgan. Byla skvěle vykreslena motivace postav a komplexnost jejich emocí tím, jak jde část knihy i do minulosti.
Co je však problém je, že to není jen o několika málo postavách, za chvíli je jich na ne tolik tlustou knihu celkem dost, co hůř, s podobnými jmény - Garlon, Gal, Gareth, …
Občas jsem se v tom ztratila, některé kapitoly by snad ani nemusely být a zasloužilo by to možná proškrtat. /Některé back-stories skutečně odkazují na artušovské legendy a ti, co je četli, si to pochvalují, so maybe I’m just a litte bit dumb for this book, but…/ Ale i navzdory tomu musím dát zasloužené čtyři hvězdičky, protože i styl psaní samotný je prostě krásný.
„So university, first year, first term, my verdict: you do meet a lot of people, only in my case the people are books. I’ve been eaten by the library, swallowed up whole. The library has eaten me and I am eating the books. I am relentless. I spare none of them.“
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