The Good Wife of Bath

When it comes to English literature, Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales” are probably almost as well-known as Shakespeare. Many students will have been introduced to the “Tales” in school but even new translations of the original old Middle English can remain a challenge and one can be defeated by them. Thus, I approached this new interpretation via the historical fiction route with enthusiasm, that at last someone has taken one of Chaucer’s best-known characters and breathed new life into her in a way that will appeal to modern readers. There is no doubt that this is an admirable and major accomplishment by author Karen Brooks.
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The historical background to the story is full of the base living conditions and all the mud, guts and stink of 14th Century England. For current readers dealing with a modern pandemic, it is sobering to note the number of times the population of that era had to deal with epidemics of the dreaded “Botch” with resignation and fatalism.

A cousin of Chaucer, Eleanor, or the Good Wife of Bath, buries 5 husbands (or so she thinks) and tells her tale of her marriages and other liaisons in a fearless and entertaining way. She is earthy, rash, but kind-hearted, and you can’t help liking her even if some of her actions are not always wise or rational. She demonstrates optimism and determination not to let men rule her life and is a champion of other less-privileged women.
 
It’s always difficult to present an objective opinion on any book that has already garnered numerous five-star reviews in the media and websites so I hate to bring in a but … but the book is an epic on which I nearly gave up several times and it took me weeks to finish in fits and starts. 

The author’s notes are excellent at explaining the moral codes of the era and while I do accept that 12 year old girls were considered old enough to be wives, that domestic violence was almost an expected part of marriage for many and that prostitution was often the only option for those down on their luck and at the mercy of men, all of this can be wearisome after a while.

Also, there are too many secondary characters with similar stories (usually distressing) that makes it difficult to tell one from the other. The five husbands are all unattractive in appearance and/or character and they seem to just serve as backdrop to the Good Wife’s total feminine domination of the story, which is probably the intention.

Brilliant in parts, this novel is frustrating to sum up adequately. It is both good and tiresome and, in that, perhaps reflects the way people might feel about the original overblown tale by Chaucer.


(With many thanks to Edelweiss for the ARC.)
 
Three-and-a-half stars.
 

Booktopia

Amazon.com
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Amazon.co.uk (Kindle edition)

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