The Good Wife of Bath

by Karen Brooks

In the middle ages, a poet told a story that mocked a strong woman. It became a literary classic. But what if the woman in question had a chance to tell her own version? Who would you believe?

'Brooks' mischievous retelling [of Chaucer's The Wife of Bath] dials up the feminist themes - and the fun - to 11.' The Canberra Times


England, The Year of Our Lord, 1364

When married off aged 12 to an elderly farmer, Eleanor Cornfed, who's constantly told to seek redemption for her many sins, quickly realises it won't matter what she says or does, God is not on her side - or any poor woman's for that matter.

But Eleanor was born under the joint signs of Venus and Mars. Both a lover and a fighter, she will not bow meekly to fate. Even if five marriages, several pilgrimages, many lovers, violence, mayhem and wildly divergent fortunes (that swoop up and down as if spinning on Fortuna's Wheel itself) do not for a peaceful life make.

Aided and abetted by her trusty god-sibling Alyson, the counsel of one Geoffrey Chaucer, and a good head for business, Eleanor fights to protect those she loves from the vagaries of life, the character deficits of her many husbands, the brutalities of medieval England and her own fatal flaw... a lusty appreciation of mankind. All while continuing to pursue the one thing all women want - control of their own lives.

This funny, picaresque, clever retelling of Chaucer's 'Wife of Bath' from The Canterbury Tales is a cutting assessment of what happens when male power is left to run unchecked, as well as a recasting of a literary classic that gives a maligned character her own voice, and allows her to tell her own (mostly) true story.

'Astonishingly good - an instant classic. Certes 'tis a tale for everywoman.' Tea Cooper, Bestselling International Author

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Medieval, Retellings, Audiobook, British Literature

560 pages, Paperback

First published July 7, 2021

Reviews

[jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

uh oh. i feel a new obsession brewing… and its medieval stories. and i didnt even like ‘the canterbury tales’ when i read it in high school, but this is honestly making me want to give it another shot.

the wife of bath is traditionally known for her many marriages and sexual behaviour. and its no secret that some characters are inspired by real life muses. so was the wife of bath as promiscuous as many men think her to be?

while theres no evidence that eleanor was a real person, i adored that she was able to “reclaim” her story. i really enjoyed seeing her grow, overcome the many challenges life (and men) threw at her, how she developed over the course of her many marriages, and especially her connection to geoffrey chaucer.

and similar to ‘hester,’ i love this kind of retelling - the kind that speculates as to the history of the women who inspired classic literary characters.

↠ 4.5 stars

[Phrynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book far, far more than I was expecting to. In fact I loved it! I have always rather liked Chaucer's Wife of Bath and Karen Brooks does a fantastic job of bringing her to life in this "(mostly) true story."

It was interesting too to read a piece of historical fiction set in a period which is less often written about. The Good Wife of Bath: A (Mostly) True Story is set in the mid 1300s and it was not a comfortable time to be alive. The Black Death was always there to be reckoned with, sanitation in the cities was non existent, health care was primitive and poverty was rife. Against this backdrop Eleanor was legally married at the age of twelve to a man in his sixties. So begins her rise and fall and rise again in status and fortune.

Eleanor is an exceptional woman for her times. She never accepts the idea that women could be lesser than men and fights back in all the ways that she can. When fortune fails her she goes on pilgrimages and composes the most entertaining letters home to her cousin who happens to be Geoffrey Chaucer.

This is an intriguing slant on a possible background to the oh so famous The Canterbury Tales. Beautiful writing, many delightful characters, lots of humour and a great story all make this a very readable book. An easy five stars for me.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this wonderful retelling of Chaucer's 'The Good Wife of Bath' from his Canterbury tales, the wife (Eleanor) gets to use her own voice to tell her side of the tale. And what a tale it is! Five husbands, the first at the tender age of twelve, each time helping to build her husband's wealth and each time on his death losing it to his heirs or to her next husband and having to start all over again. Her husbands come in many forms - old, young, kind, violent, unfaithful, impotent but she learns to live with each and make the most of what she has until she finally decides she has had enough of marriage and is better off fending for herself.

Geoffrey Chaucer appears in the wife's tale as a distant cousin and life-long friend, popping in and out of her life as his career progresses. They write wonderful letters to each other, especially when Eleanor embraces on pilgrimages, first to Canterbury, then later to Rome and Jerusalem. Eleanor is a great character, an intelligent, strong and courageous woman at a time when women were expected to be ruled by their men. The historical details of Chaucer's life and the way people lived, ate and loved in the fourteenth century were all well researched, as was the spinning and weaving of cloth from wool which aids Eleanor in making her marriages wealthy. Despite all the pain and hardship Eleanor has to endure before she realises what she needs to be happy, there is much wit and humour, and a little bawdiness, to enjoy in the engaging writing of a more feminist version of a classic tale

With many thanks to Harlequin Australia and Netgalley for a copy to read

[Janelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a wonderful read! A historical novel all about Chaucer’s Wife of Bath from The Canterbury Tales. It’s extremely well researched and using the basic details of her life provided by Chaucer in the prologue to the wife of Bath’s tale, Brooks has created a very believable character in Eleanor/Alyson, full of life and love. Chaucer himself appears throughout the book as Eleanors friend, all the details of his life being historically accurate. Chaucer’s character also provides a way for all the historical events in the wider world to appear in the story briefly, from the various kings, their wives and mistresses, the peasants revolt and so on.
The book is well written and told in first person, structured between narratives of Eleanors five marriages interspersed with letters written to Chaucer from the pilgrimages she went on between husbands. The language is full of wit and humour, bawdy where appropriate and the hardships of her life are told unflinchingly. I’m going to miss these characters now I’ve finished!

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three and a half stars. A good read, marked down for being too long and for trying to cover too many ways in which women find being independent impossible in the middle ages (and beyond).

Academics and readers alike apparently debate whether Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath is a proto-feminist expose of the way women are treated as the imbecilic property of men in the middle ages, or a rant of the true ‘witch like, shrewish’ nature of women forcing men to do their bidding.

In this book author Karen R Brooks gives space for the Wife to speak.

And speak she does. In an epic covering the first 50 years of her life. A behind the scenes look at her five marriages (this you can determine from the table of contents) and her life post marriage as she attempts to try to make her way in life on her own terms, not beholden to another person.

There’s a WHOLE LOT of amazing research that has gone into this book and the detail will have you googling as much as you read. You will not miss the connection between the themes in the book and those women still face in the 21st century and the importance of being able to write your own story.

And yet, while I appreciated the work, the important themes, the bringing to the fore of women’s lives in the middle ages, I found the book too long and thus I (whispers) got bored. Technically the writing is spot on. Characters are well drawn and the narrator's voice is consistent (although doesn't really age the way I'd expect from 12-50 years) For my taste, the book suffers from information diarrhoea and too many story lines such that I felt I was in a game of tennis in which instead of being able to return serve I was simply hit in the face with all the balls as the protagonist lurches from disaster to disaster, commenting lavishly on all manner of ways in which women could not attain independence. This is not helped by a strictly chronological telling of her tale.

So while a good read that many will love - for all its excellence on many levels it doesn't have that X-factor for me that lifts it above three and a half stars.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5★

This was pretty much a sure thing for me - loads of GR friends loved it, it was chunky and it was my favourite genre. What I didn't expect was that only a short way into the novel, Ms Brooks would have me researching and then buying the most accessible (fingers crossed) edition of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales that I could lay my hands on! It's not something I would have ever contemplated reading previously. Brooks has done such an incredible job of telling the Wife of Bath's story from the character's perspective, that I can't help but be curious about her origins.

Why not 5 stars then? Well, it did seem to drag a little towards the end. But that could even be Chaucer's fault for all I know! I fully intend to find out.

Highly recommended to lovers of historical fiction.

[Marianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Good Wife of Bath: A (Mostly) True Story is the fourteenth book by Australian author, Karen Brooks. Motherless from birth and fatherless by age ten, Eleanor Cornfed is put into service at Noke Manor. By twelve, subsequent to an incident that might have seen her maligned and cast out, she finds herself in an arranged marriage to sixty-one-year-old, Fulk Bigod, a smelly, despised and avoided local wool grower about whom rumours of cruelty and murder abound. And if her first impression of his farm is a negative one, and her reception from his daughter Alyson is chilly, Eleanor is puzzled to discover the real man.

With that introduction to her story, most readers will be hooked. Eleanor is easily likeable and the reader is soon cheering her on, sympathising with her losses and celebrating her triumphs. The loyalty of her friends and employees becomes easily understandable. We follow her journey through marriage (five times), friendship, good fortune and difficult times (that include natural disasters and plague), widowhood (several times, the first at age seventeen) and beyond.

Eleanor certainly does find herself married to a variety of men: one whose gruffness and grubbiness belies his genuine goodness; one whose greed presents a challenge; one whose proposal is strictly business; a womaniser; and one who is free with his fists. Two of her husbands die from natural causes, two are murdered, and the fate of one would be a spoiler if revealed.

Her resilience is perhaps a product of her early childhood, a father who counsels: “You have to create opportunities where you can. No matter what life hurls at you, child, catch it. If it’s shit, turn it into fertiliser. If it’s insults, throw them back. Grip opportunity with both hands and ride it like a wild colt until you’ve tamed it. You’ve come from nothing, and unless you make something of yourself with what you’re offered, it’s to nothing you’ll return.”

The setting, fourteenth Century England, Rome, Cologne, and Jerusalem is of course utterly fascinating, and the level of historical detail is evidence of the author’s extensive research. The narrative, both directly, and in the form of letters, is exclusively Eleanor’s, so it her perspective of world events, her impression of a number of historical figures, including Geoffrey Chaucer, that is presented here. And as this is a version of his tale, Chaucer plays a significant role.

When Eleanor learns of his Wife of Bath Tale, her sense of betrayal (“Or is that what writers did? Sacrifice their friends, make public their secrets and desires, their innermost fears, all for personal gain?”) leads to a period of estrangement between the friends.

Eleanor begins her tale with “when my story is complete, you can judge for yourself whose version you prefer: the loud, much-married, lusty woman dressed in scarlet who travelled the world in order to pray at all the important shrines yet learned nothing of humility, questioned divinity, boasted of her conquests and deceits, and demanded mastery over men. Or the imperfect child who grew into an imperfect woman –experienced, foolish and clever too –oft at the same time. Thrice broken, twice betrayed, once murdered and once a murderer, who mended herself time after time and rose to live again in stories and in truth –mostly. All this despite five bloody husbands. All this, despite the damn Poet.”

Eleanor gives her version of Chaucer’s Wife of Bath tale and, while it might give a helpful background to have read Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, in her Introduction, the author gives sufficient information, so it is not in any way necessary for the enjoyment of Eleanor’s story. And, prefacing each section, the relevant portion of verse is reproduced.

Even in the fourteenth century, Brooks gives Eleanor a feminist voice: “Denied access to learning, to knowledge, and treated like children at best, property at worst, women were deemed weak and incapable. It still caused me great consternation. As I’d said to Geoffrey, if we females could but exercise our minds as we did our bodies, then we could give birth not just to babes, but ideas, and be valued for more than our queyntes and our wombs.” Brilliant historical fiction.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and HQ Fiction.

[Cinzia DuBois · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m afraid I have a lot to say about this and it’s not favourable, so forgive me. When I first read Chaucer’s Wife of Bath tale, I bloody loved Alyson. I remember saying to my teacher “it’s refreshing to read of such a hilariously unapologetically vulgar woman”. She had the feistiness of Miss Piggy, and she was equally as confident as she was wittily self-debasing (to mock sexist male assumptions about her).

Nothing of Chaucer’s Alyson came out in this novel. This book’s protagonist was nothing more than a a watered down, post-modern conventional “girl boss” that we see in absolutely every retelling — nothing was unique about her character. You could swap the same personality for any female protagonist in a feminist retelling and not tell the difference. She was bland, predictable, basic, quite humourless, and any negative qualities were quickly redeemed or corrected — she was Mary Sue perfect, and that’s wasn’t the Alyson I know from the original tale.

I’m tired and bored of these pristine female characters. Why can’t a book be about a female antihero?

Also, another massive pet peeve of mine is historical fiction written with lazy research. Yes, Alyson was a fictional character, but medieval England was not. I knew early on the author had been lazy with her research when, in one of Alyson’s letters, she wrote of a French man and wrote “oh la La” after it. “Oh La La” wasn’t a phrase until the 19th century, five centuries after this book is set. This was but one of many modern phrases that threw me out of the novel, and was completely unnecessary considering the treasure trove of witty phrases Chaucer himself provided in his work which could have been used throughout the text. “Air so cold you could cut it with a knife”? Really? I don’t think this idiom makes any sense, coldness it not really considered a “thick” atmosphere. And, once again, it’s a deviation of more modern idiom “X was so thick you could cut it with a knife” that I can’t find being used in the English language before the 18th century, and likely comes from a translation of the French idiom “à couper au couteau.” Really at this point, it’s not just lazy research, it’s also quite poor writing.

If you don’t care about fact checking the language, phrases and linguistics used when writing a historical novel you might as well add other anachronistic things such as vaccines or telephones. Language and linguistics in historical fiction are essential for scene setting and immersion, especially considering the amount is epistolary chapters in the book. An author can’t highlight the emotional significance of female illiteracy in the 14th century whilst giving zero consideration for the language and phrases these women actually used. If someone wants to highlight the significance of women’s literacy, then they should truly try to capture their voices by honouring the language of their time and the tongues they would have spoken with.

Aside from nitpicking historical inconsistencies, the book itself was just incredibly mediocre. Poor writing at times and incredibly disjointed pacing made it a slog to read, particularly the first two quarters. I found the name changing plot line quite unnecessary and, again, nonsensical considering her role in Chaucer’s later work (or as the plot would tell us) — why change your name only to reveal your identity in a famous poem as a woman of five husbands, a profile which doesn’t match the person who’s identity you’ve stolen? It was just rather silly to me, I’m afraid. The book took more away from Alyson than gave; she was a deeply watered down and transformed into a basic, modern conventional woman heroine — she sounded exactly like all the other fictional women whose stories are being retold. They’re interchangeable with one another at this point, and just fear retellings are doing far more harm to these fictional women than good at this point.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book could be titled How To Become A Prostitute, and Enjoy It. I thought I'd like it more than I did. Even though the author tries to make it fun with the queynte references and swiving trysts, I didn't really enjoy the style of writing. Kudos to the research (why 3 stars equalling good, and more solely based on that) but still mostly a chick-lit book with the addition of Geoffrey Chaucer, and in the second half some murder and mayhem thrown in (I was like okayyy). Going into it naive of The Canterbury Tales, you'll be just fine.

[Sharah McConville · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first novel I have read by Karen Brooks and I found it to be a very well-researched historical fiction that was perhaps just slightly too long for my liking. The Good Wife of Bath begins when Eleanor is just 12 years old and enters into her first marriage. Her epic journey through life and quite a few more marriages, has many highs and lows. Set in 14th century England, in a time where women were considered inferior to men, life for women of any class was generally challenging. Eleanor is a strong, defiant character compared to Alyson, Eleanor's humble, kindhearted companion. Overall this was a very interesting read. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my digital copy of this book. 4.5 Stars.

[Kahlia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been meaning to read something from Karen Brooks for a long time (I even own at least one of her books, buried deep somewhere in my Kindle), and I'm very glad I finally did - I will definitely be bumping her work up my TBR. The Good Wife of Bath is, as the title suggests, based on Chaucer's "The Wife of Bath". I've never read the Canterbury Tales, but that's no impediment to enjoying this story of a women's life in 14th century England, which is filled with strength, determination, and a little vanity and self-righteousness. Oh, and five husbands.

What really stood out to me about this book is how deftly Brooks' deals with the constraints on women's agency historically. It's not an easy book to read at points; the main character is married off at twelve years old to a man old enough to be her grandfather, and is then physically and sexually assaulted by later husbands, not to mention the plague, and the various realities of life that are unfathomable now (sleeping on straw and bathing once a month, ew). But, I appreciated that Brooks didn't shy away from these realities and showed a woman who knew she deserved better and fought for a better existence, within the boundaries of what would have been possible for a woman of the time. There is an extensive author's note at the back which is what convinced me to bump my rating up to five stars, upon seeing the care and sensitivity of the author in telling this story.

Despite this, it's also fun; there is plenty of wit and humour in the main character's telling of her story, and many a pithy aside about the follies of men. It also highlights the importance of friendships among women, and celebrates the various ways in which women bond together even as they seek different things from their lives. These scenes were a nice counterpoint to all the ways in which life was awful for women, historically, and added significantly to my enjoyment of the book.

I received an ARC from HQ Fiction - thank you for the opportunity to read and review.

[Jennifer (JC-S) · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘In her own words …’

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. Set between 1364 and 1401, Ms Brooks takes Geoffrey Chaucer’s ‘Wife of Bath’ out of the pages of the Canterbury Tales and breathes life into her. A woman mocked in ‘The Canterbury Tales’ becomes a strong woman trying to make her way in a world in which women were definitely second-class citizens. This is a world haunted by the plague of the Black Death, where religion is important and where poverty is rife.

And what an interesting woman Eleanor Cornfeld becomes! In her own first-person narration, we follow Eleanor’s life, from her first marriage at age 12 in 1364, through her four subsequent marriages, pilgrimages, business ventures and wild fluctuations in fortune. Geoffrey Chaucer himself appears in the novel, occasionally giving Eleanor advice along the way. Eleanor fights hard to gain control of her own life and to take care of those who are important to her. She might not win every battle, but she certainly tries hard. Join Eleanor as she negotiates the ordure flung at her with humour and cunning. Wonderfully written historical fiction and thoroughly recommended.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Australia, HQ for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

[Marianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Good Wife of Bath: A (Mostly) True Story is the fourteenth book by Australian author, Karen Brooks. THe audio version is narrated by Fran Burgoyne. Motherless from birth and fatherless by age ten, Eleanor Cornfed is put into service at Noke Manor. By twelve, subsequent to an incident that might have seen her maligned and cast out, she finds herself in an arranged marriage to sixty-one-year-old, Fulk Bigod, a smelly, despised and avoided local wool grower about whom rumours of cruelty and murder abound. And if her first impression of his farm is a negative one, and her reception from his daughter Alyson is chilly, Eleanor is puzzled to discover the real man.

With that introduction to her story, most readers will be hooked. Eleanor is easily likeable and the reader is soon cheering her on, sympathising with her losses and celebrating her triumphs. The loyalty of her friends and employees becomes easily understandable. We follow her journey through marriage (five times), friendship, good fortune and difficult times (that include natural disasters and plague), widowhood (several times, the first at age seventeen) and beyond.

Eleanor certainly does find herself married to a variety of men: one whose gruffness and grubbiness belies his genuine goodness; one whose greed presents a challenge; one whose proposal is strictly business; a womaniser; and one who is free with his fists. Two of her husbands die from natural causes, two are murdered, and the fate of one would be a spoiler if revealed.

Her resilience is perhaps a product of her early childhood, a father who counsels: “You have to create opportunities where you can. No matter what life hurls at you, child, catch it. If it’s shit, turn it into fertiliser. If it’s insults, throw them back. Grip opportunity with both hands and ride it like a wild colt until you’ve tamed it. You’ve come from nothing, and unless you make something of yourself with what you’re offered, it’s to nothing you’ll return.”

The setting, fourteenth Century England, Rome, Cologne, and Jerusalem is of course utterly fascinating, and the level of historical detail is evidence of the author’s extensive research. The narrative, both directly, and in the form of letters, is exclusively Eleanor’s, so it her perspective of world events, her impression of a number of historical figures, including Geoffrey Chaucer, that is presented here. And as this is a version of his tale, Chaucer plays a significant role.

When Eleanor learns of his Wife of Bath Tale, her sense of betrayal (“Or is that what writers did? Sacrifice their friends, make public their secrets and desires, their innermost fears, all for personal gain?”) leads to a period of estrangement between the friends.

Eleanor begins her tale with “when my story is complete, you can judge for yourself whose version you prefer: the loud, much-married, lusty woman dressed in scarlet who travelled the world in order to pray at all the important shrines yet learned nothing of humility, questioned divinity, boasted of her conquests and deceits, and demanded mastery over men. Or the imperfect child who grew into an imperfect woman –experienced, foolish and clever too –oft at the same time. Thrice broken, twice betrayed, once murdered and once a murderer, who mended herself time after time and rose to live again in stories and in truth –mostly. All this despite five bloody husbands. All this, despite the damn Poet.”

Eleanor gives her version of Chaucer’s Wife of Bath tale and, while it might give a helpful background to have read Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, in her Introduction, the author gives sufficient information, so it is not in any way necessary for the enjoyment of Eleanor’s story. And, prefacing each section, the relevant portion of verse is reproduced.

Even in the fourteenth century, Brooks gives Eleanor a feminist voice: “Denied access to learning, to knowledge, and treated like children at best, property at worst, women were deemed weak and incapable. It still caused me great consternation. As I’d said to Geoffrey, if we females could but exercise our minds as we did our bodies, then we could give birth not just to babes, but ideas, and be valued for more than our queyntes and our wombs.” Brilliant historical fiction.

[Theresa Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly entertaining, The Good Wife of Bath is a retelling of sorts, of Chaucer’s ‘Wife of Bath’ from The Canterbury Tales. Now, I have never read any part of The Canterbury Tales, much less the wife’s tale, so I can’t comment on this novel in relation to Chaucer’s original work. However, Karen Brooks does pay homage to the Wife of Bath, and Chaucer himself, within this novel and I feel I was given much insight into the original verse as well as the author himself through the pages of this story. In other words, I got the gist.

I am quite a fan of Karen Brooks. Her attention to detail and immersive writing is the fine wine of historical fiction. The research that her narrative rests on is phenomenal, there is literally no stone left unturned and she even nails the dialogue and language of her era with such authenticity. Set in the Middle Ages, there was so much about daily life I was completely ignorant to. But she also weaves in the bigger things: changes to kings, uprisings, plagues, trade, commerce, social conventions and all manner of mores; really, in terms of recreating an historical period, this novel is brilliant.

‘If I continued to burden myself with guilt, then Jankin wins – they all do.’
‘Who, mistress?’ she asked quietly.
‘The men who continue to make us women pay for their sins; who have done so since Eve offered the apple to Adam. But –’ I twisted around in the tub so I could look Milda in the face. ‘Remember Mistress Ibbot? Wace’s midwife? She said – and I’ve always thought – Eve didn’t make him eat the bloody fruit. She offered Adam a choice and he made one. So whose sin is it really? Who is really responsible for the Fall of mankind? Is it her or him? Or are they both equally culpable?’

The beating heart of The Good Wife of Bath though is its focus on women’s agency, particularly that of wives, because let’s face it, that’s pretty much all you were going to get to be. By giving her main character five very different marriages, we as readers were treated to a varied experience. We got to see, not only what it would have been like to be a wife of the Middle Ages, but also the restrictions that crossed class as our main character moved up the social ladder with each new union. Basically, when it came to marriage, you were damned if you did and damned if you didn’t. And in the end, social class did not dictate what sort of marriage (or man) you would be getting, despite the material comforts wealth offered.

‘I always enjoy placing women back into history, demonstrating, albeit through researched fiction, that while they may not be recorded or remembered in the same way as their male counterparts, they were there. Herstory happened too. The omission of women from history doesn’t mean they didn’t live it, nor that they didn’t influence it. But just as we forget that to our detriment, so too it’s a mistake to think women fighting for their rights is exclusive to contemporary times. Many women have, over time, fought to be recognised as more than simply walking wombs, the ‘weaker vessel’, good only for sating men’s desires, ‘feeble-minded’ penis-less poor copies of men, responsible for the Fall, men’s inability to control their urges, and so much more. What’s true about the past is that women didn’t have the freedoms, education or ability to fight for their rights the way we continue to today.’ – AUTHOR NOTE

The narration of this novel makes for a highly entertaining read. It is above all a comedy, but there are throughout significant moments of heartbreak. Towards the end, the novel does bear down a bit under its own weight, and I have to be honest, I wasn’t too keen on the trade our main character settled into once she moved to London. It just felt…inevitable in a way I wish the author had resisted. Still, The Good Wife of Bath was a superb read, a real treat for fans of historical fiction, particularly those who like a good long saga to sink into.

Thanks to the publisher for the review copy.

[Jeanette · Rating 5 out of 5]

While only at Chapter 9 when the Botch (Black Plague) infests the household that appears to have been carried by the gift given by Turbet Gerrish, Eleanor knows the family and those who had come into the house must isolate and the entire farm must be in quarantine. Further on in the read the compliance of a "Certificate of Good Health" is adopted for those wishing to travel to another town when another plague affects communities. [Airlines are now proposing that overseas travellers in particular will need a Certificate of Good Health and a Vaccination Certificate]. How far back has the world gone! This is in the 1300's! What a lesson to present day society and those who complain about loss of freedoms with Covid19, having to wear a mask, social distancing, quarantine and lockdowns to prevent the spread of the disease. How those from past centuries would be disappointed with some in 2021.

However with that aside, this is a fabulous read. A little difficult to review as the author almost does this at the end giving details of the connections to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and historical connections. Not necessary, sometimes like an artist painting, overworked.

One annoyance is that a couple of swear words are not used this early in English history and it's surprising to see them in the read considering the blurb at the end.

Eleanor who is caught trying to save herself from rape from a priest for which as a priest and a man is believed rather than twelve year old Eleanor, female. She is promptly married off to a rather unremarkable, mocked by the villagers, much older widower as a punishment for her perceived sexual antics and to save her reputation. Farmer Bigod is a man who has an abhorrence for soap and water (along with the whole family) and has a putrid odour along with his putrid clothes. His daughter Alyson is like a wild beast not at all happy to have a "new mother" of just twelve years, she is six years older. Eleanor tries to placate this girl by assuring her she doesn't want to upset the balance of the household but until the two girls fight in the dung heap after the two dogs are scolded by Eleanor for doing just that Eleanor is fighting a losing battle. However this fight lets the wind out of Alyson's animosity and the two girls shriek with laughter at the look and smell of themselves. After a bath Eleanor sees Alyson is quite a beauty and with Master Bigod returning home the resemblance to each other is remarked upon. (This resemblance will play a big part in Eleanor's life later in the read). Eventually Eleanor convinces the whole family that keeping clean and washing regularly will not impede their health. Master Bigod now clean is a different man with Eleanor more attracted to him.

The Poet, as referred to by Eleanor up until this stage visits the farm and to her surprise Alyson is already familiar with him welcoming him as Master Geoffrey who is a distant cousin of her's and Eleanor now also.

From here on Geoffrey Chaucer plays a big role throughout Eleanor's life and all her marriages. Eleanor is a woman before her time endeavouring to be her own person but she fights against the establishment and male dominated society where women are treated less than a valued horse or dog. Against Geoffrey's advice she marries unsuitable men who come as wolves in sheep's clothing. She is unable to "read" these men and each time as a widow with inherited wealth she loses control of it each time she marries. All wealth proceedings are handed to the husband.

Eleanor never conceives her own child but her empathic nature and sense of family inherited by the teachings of her father offers protection for other women, teaches them to spin and weave and takes children and orphans into her household. Her nature is feisty and determined. The bond between Alyson and her becomes strong with Alyson and her wisdom, loyalty and common sense the strength by which Eleanor leans on.

[Lyn Elliott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chaucer’s Wife of Bath speaks with her own strong female voice in Karen Brooks’ retelling her tumultuous story.

[Heather Barrett · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read it as part of my Bookclub annual list. It was a rollicking tale up to the point it went too fast and lost a lot of depth. A medieval romp, based on Chaucer’s tale about the wife of Bath, with the female protagonist, Eleanor, telling her tale of an improbable life. I felt it was a bit entry-level and not great literature at all. Nevertheless I read it all for the sake of “what happens next?”, and “can it get any worse?”.

It doesn’t compare in the use of language with any of the better historical novels I’ve read: just read Hilary Mantel and you know this Good Wife is inconsistent twaddle. For a start the language used is largely a casual used 20th century voice with random insertions of old language in an attempt to create a period piece.

One merely has to see how the author plonks in the word mayhap!
Mayhap, just mayhap, if I trod carefully p152
Mayhap …. “profligate of the highest order…making the sort of money he needs to maintain his lifestyle” (p153) all in one sentence so you see how anachronistic the text was! I dared not count how many times that word mayhap was used; it was too many.

Modern euphemisms also ruined the idea that our heroine was actually a woman of the Middle Ages, and she came across instead as a sort of displaced time traveller catapulted from the twentieth century into middle England. Some of the style included:
“Running up … racking up … debt” p152
“I racked my brains…” p106
“In the scheme of things” p92
“…a business decision “ p181
“…a cash cow” p 180

The voice doesn’t change - it’s the same age throughout the fifty odd years the reader shares with Eleanor; no reflectivity to set an earlier time to her 12-16 year old self grow to maturity. By the fourth and fifth husbands it lost any attempt to maintain character and I was fairly over her foolhardy ways. The same pattern of behaviour repeated, never wising up, no depth in the Wife’s character over 50 years. And so many mayhaps!

The narrator has a 21st century way of thinking and expression that doesn’t have credibility for the Middle Ages, hence my low star rating, and I would not recommend anyone read it as good literature.

[Nadine in California · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is fun, and feisty Eleanor is a great character to spend time with. She reminded me of another historical survivor, Moll Flanders. I think the book did a good job balancing historical accuracy with 21st century sensibility (and diction), making Eleanor's life and thoughts relatable without seeming anachronistic. Chaucer himself wanders in and out of her story, and while that's a creative idea, in practice it didn't work for me. His relationship with Eleanor felt manufactured, unlike all the other relationships in the book. The final chapters started to feel a bit sentimental (whiffs of Dickens), which is not an emotion I would associate with Eleanor, but on the other hand, she was 'old' by that time (in her forties) so I'm ready to concede that this softening of her character is conceivable.

[Emily Rainsford · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an absolute saga of a novel and such truly inspired and heartfelt literature that it earns a rarely-awarded full five stars from me.

I admit that I have not read Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, much less the Wife of Bath's prologue and tale, but the idea of giving a woman's voice to the tale of a bold and brash woman originally told by a man, intrigued me.

In Eleanor, her version of the Wife of Bath, Brooks has created a vivid and incredibly real woman of the late 1300s, married off at 12 to a man old enough to be her grandfather, who is merely trying to wrest some form of control over a life that society is determined belongs to men - Her father, her husband(s), the powers that be - anyone but her own self. Eleanor is a spunky woman who refuses to take that lying down (so to speak), who no matter the trials and tribulations of her life (and of the former there are many), always maintains a thread of foolhardy idealism, the perhaps foolish and yet somehow admirable idea (for the time) that a woman deserves mastery over her own life and choices.

Our Good Wife marries five times and goes on a number of pilgrimages, as described in Chaucer's tale, and this book is Brooks' imagining of how that life played out. The heart and soul she breathes into Chaucer's bawdy caricature of a woman is frankly breathtaking. She's a flawed character who makes some flawed decisions, and yet she has so much heart, so much tenacity, you can't help but love her the way her found family does over the years. You can't help but admire the way she continues to claw herself from the muck of her life and refuses to allow herself to be buried by it.

This story is no quick or light-hearted read. This story is pain and death and poverty and constant struggle - and yet there's humour and love and a stubborn hopefulness too. And what is that if not life itself?

This novel has clearly been meticulously researched. It is very true to the time period, and importantly, to the struggles women in particular faced. There are elements that may be hard for the modern reader to swallow - the fact that Eleanor is married at 12 being one of them. The author seems worried about this in her final author's note, that people may think she's somehow condoning it. On the contrary, I think she would have done the women of this time period a disservice by glossing over or changing this for the modern palate. This was the truth of their lives, and I think we owe it to the women gone before us to acknowledge that.

It's hard to put into words how this story made me feel. How connected I felt with this character and all the others she pulled into her orbit. This is a tale that will stay with me a long time.

[eyes.2c · Rating 5 out of 5]

Medieval Wife’s Tale! A pleasure!

How could I not want to pursue this title? I love Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, and the Wife of Bath was a particular favorite. Dare I say a post modern look at the Wife? Probably not, but this raucous tale hits all the right notes, exploring the roles and expectations of and for women in the Middle Ages, and giving us an alternative story that fills in the “who” of the Wife of Bath. The Good Wife, Mistress Eleanor Cornfed is the protagonist. We see her story from her perspective, complete with five husbands. A keen wit keeps the novel moving along. Randomness and playfulness present opportunities.
I kept thinking about previous novels I’ve read where women at these times have similar struggles and stories. I remember well Brooks’ The Lady Brewer of London. If you liked that, you will also like this. Yes, this is bawdy and the language is earthy, but the Anglo Saxon language has always had short four letter words. The Anglo Saxons ate fish, the French Normans poisson. So different! And this follows through to other regularly used words that are frowned upon today. Brooks has once again given us a realistic slice of a medieval woman’s life—The Good Wife of Bath. Her Author’s Notes are definitely worth perusing.
To hear tell it’s the Poet who’s shielded Eleonor “from the consequences of my darker deeds by distracting those who would call me to account. For, while folk are titillated and shocked by his portrait, they don’t see me.” Now Eleanor declares, “it’s time for me to wrest my tale back and tell it in my own way.” And she does! A solid read that raised my eyebrows quite a few times. I enjoyed this immensely. Brooks has done justice for Eleanor.

A William Morrow & Custom House ARC via NetGalley
Please note: Quotes taken from an advanced reading copy maybe subject to change

[Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Taking an under-appreciated character from a classic story and giving them a voice is such a cool idea for a book. (Kind of like what Jennifer Saint did for Ariadne from Greek mythology). And it was done so well here, with the Wife of Bath from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales (which, admittedly, I haven’t read).

I raged, I laughed, I cried - I felt a wild range of emotions. And I couldn’t put it down. I can only imagine the skill and knowledge this must have taken to write. Highly recommended, especially for fans of historical fiction (as long as you can handle flawed characters who sometimes make infuriating choices)!

**Thanks to William Morrow for the gifted review copy!

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing historical novel.... draws you in!

[Steve Kimmins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised how absorbed I was by this modern retelling of the Wife of Bath’s story, the original being one of the most famous components of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.

For most school children in England of my generation (and I believe currently too) the Canterbury Tales was a ‘set book’ in our English Literature classes at some point in our schooling. Well, one of the Tales anyway. Despite having an inspirational teacher it was a serious problem for a teenager to appreciate the story as it was presented in the foreign language that Medieval English seemed to be. Nonetheless our excellent teacher gave us an overview of the range of tales. The Wife of Bath’s tale is well known as the story of a bold, outspoken medieval businesswoman, sexually forthright, married and widowed five times! Whether Chaucer intended to caricature, even mock, her in the story (strictly speaking, the Prologue to the story), in the way cheap contemporary comedians do with jokes about dominating female relatives (for example) or whether he offered her as an admirable example of female independence is, I believe, uncertain.

In this retelling major points from Chaucer’s story are kept and elaborated upon. Such as Eleanor (the Wife) being married off by her guardian to an old tenant farmer soon after her monthly periods start, at age 12. The reality of life for medieval women is not avoided. I won’t describe the plot any further, but it is a mix of historical research and an expansion of the strong, passionate and flawed character in Chaucer’s story. Despite her desire to control her circumstances she regularly finds her life is defined by men, and that after marriage they really have full control. Sometimes just an irritating control, sometimes benevolent but also sometimes violent.

I enjoyed the character creation. It’s told in the First Person, by the main character. The author keeps Eleanor’s independent character from the original, in spades, but she’s flawed too, especially by stumbling into poor relationships because of her desires. Unlike today if you ended up in a bad relationship in that period it was impossible for the medieval wife to extricate herself from it. She is the husband’s property.
It’s far from being all dark as Eleanor has many opportunities to exercise independence and run business ventures even if that takes work to achieve and has its dangerous side too. The poet, and government official, Chaucer, has a significant role in the book, his friendship with Eleanor being an important relationship.

One slightly bizarre feature for me personally was in accidentally confirming the detailed historical research of the author, as I’d only recently read a history book concerning the area of London where the latter part of the story takes place. The similar, overlapping descriptions in both books of this area of medieval London was unreal!

I enjoyed this retelling of a story taken from classical literature. A distant relation to a similar idea employed by Margaret Atwood in her retelling of the Odyssey from the point of view of Odysseus’ wife, The Penelopiad. I enjoyed that one hugely. Unlike Atwood’s book the prose didn’t flow as smoothly for me here, so a slight knock back from 5* for that alone. A compelling story though and an interesting angle on what faced medieval women.

[Katrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to @netgalley and @harlequinaus for the ARC 🙌

I absolutely adored this retelling of the Wife of Bath's tale. Karen Brooks presents a character that's so full of life, of wit, of charm, and of strength. There is an impressive amount of detail and research in this book which really brings day to day medieval life to, well, life. I was completely immersed in Eleanor's story every step of the way. If you love historical fiction, and are interested in the retelling of the stories of characters you may already know, or indeed if you simply love a story where women have the chance to be heard, this is the perfect book for you 🤓

Eleanor starts off as a fun, cheeky, likeable, and capable young girl. Married at a startlingly young age (to modern eyes), she is both a joy and a despair to watch develop.

Gradually, life wears her down, and by god she suffers through some trials and tribulations, but that cheeky wit is still always there somewhere. She is the most creative swearer I've ever read and I love her for that 😂

But you do begin to feel exhausted along with her as she's cheated out of her rights, her work, and justice. The shocking double standards women endured (and still do) are made painfully clear, and makes Eleanor's strength and will to go on even more impressive. Women had no recourse to help or justice unless they created it themselves, an Eleanor is an inspiration to so many around her 💪

[Sally906 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in 14th century England, The Good Wife of Bath is a retelling of “The wife of Bath’s Tale”, one of 14 tales published by Geoffrey Chaucer in the Middle Ages called The Canterbury Tales. It was a fictional insight into women and social structures at that time and her tale reveals the double standard and the widely held belief that women are inferior to men.

The main character of The Good Wife of Bath is Eleanor, who is twelve as the book opens with her fighting off a priest who is trying to rape her. They are caught but the priest convinces everyone that Eleanor came on to him. As punishment she is married off to a much older, much despised widower who stinks to high heaven and has a daughter who is six years older than Eleanor. Her new husband is a gentle and kind man despite his reputation and Eleanor manages to turn his household around and becomes fast friends with her step daughter and life is good. Sadly her much older husband dies and as women cannot own their own land, she has to marry. This is the start of her many marriages, and how Eleanor manages to survive each one.

Author, Karen Brooks, had brought the Middle Ages to life. Her main character, Eleanor, lives through the plague, endures physical abuse, accumulates wealth and makes close friends. Unlike her husbands she is smart and manages to build up wealth through trading prowess, only to lose it when she marries a new husband. Smart, intelligent and loving women are trampled by society’s belief that women are inferior to men. Eleanor is down many times - but never out.

I really enjoyed how Karen Brooks managed to give voice to Chaucer’s woman of Bath. Her side of the story is a little naughty, often funny, and sometimes heart wrenching until Eleanor works out how to be her own woman.

With thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin Australia for my copy to review

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Australian author Karen Brooks writes a historical fiction set in medieval times, a retelling of Geoffrey Chaucer’s “Good Wife of Bath” from the Canterbury Tales, in the wife’s own words. A well-researched feminist telling, that takes us through Eleanor’s five marriages, beginning with the first as a twelve-year-old to a man in his sixties. She experiences love, hardship, abuse, and most of all a struggle to be master of her own destiny. Despite her natural giftedness for weaving and business, she fights at each step of the way against a society that oppresses and hampers women, viewing them as evil seductresses and denying them any independence. Her first husband Fulk Bygod is surprisingly gentle, her second husband is insecure, impotent and evil, her third husband Martin shows her friendship and respect, her fourth is careless and unfaithful, and her fifth violent and dangerous. Throughout it all Eleanor maintains her cynical humour and fight for self-determination. She is a real and flawed character, always up for some swything and sarding, and not opposed to using her queint (queynte) to get what she wants. This was on track to be a four star read for me if only it had been 200 pages shorter. Its 560 pages, or just under 20 hours of audiobook, take you through every variety of female hardship in the medieval ages, far beyond the point of enjoyment. My only other complaint, common to historical fiction, is that the narrator seems to take a 21st century attitude and way of thinking into the Middle Ages, probably not entirely authentic, but maybe this helps us relate. A good but overly lengthy read.

[Stacie Champlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://theglossbookclub.com/the-good...

[Hayley · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

When I started reading this I was a little dubious as to how much I was going to like it. I am happy to say I was wrong and that I loved it. The writing initially took a little to fall into the rhythm of but I realised straight away that it was written intentionally in that particular style to emulate Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. (not Middle English but the bawdy style).

I felt that Karen Brooks did a remarkable job in telling the tale of The Wife Of Bath from the female perspective. This was a long book and there were many husbands but not once did I find myself tiring of the story. Eleanor was a gutsy self sufficient women for her time despite the relentless amount of men that entered her life.

My interest has well and truly been sparked by Karen Brooks and I am eager to read all of The Canterbury Tales and I think I will tackle the modern Neville Coghill translation. I also am excited to read another one of Karen’s books that I own called The Darkest Shore which is about the witch trials of the 1600s.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an epic medieval tale for which you’ll need to brace yourself for over 19 hours worth of listening on audible. It follows the life of Eleanor from when she is first wed to an old man when she is only twelve. Yes there are some challenging things to get your modern-day, anti-paedophilic head around but this is how things were in the Middle Ages and the story, although an imagined life of Chaucer’s Wife of Bath from The Canterbury Tales, incorporates much historical fact. Eleanor is a feisty survivor and she narrates the story in a no nonsense way with plenty of humour and I really enjoyed the style of language used. The characters are great, bordering on melodramatic, with evil villains and heroines who support each other and become a force to be reckoned with in the face of male brutality and outrageous misogyny.

[Adam Windsor · Rating 3 out of 5]

NB: free copy received for honest review

I love the idea of providing a new perspective on a long-maligned female character; giving her her own voice and a chance to state her case, and I was keen to read this book. I'm pleased to say that it is well written, with the narrator's voice coming through clearly and her wry observations over the foibles of men generally being on point.

Unfortunately, I did find the overall tone and progress of this particular tale a bit too dark for my tastes. Eleanor's struggles for respect and a voice of her own are brave and consistent, but often doomed. True to the era that might be, but I don't generally read fiction in order to feel angry and frustrated by injustice (the real world gives me plenty of opportunity for that already).