Hugh and Bess is another fantastic work of historical fiction from Susan Higginbotham and one that I enjoyed a great deal. I read The Traitor’s Wife a while back and it was a favorite of mine and the story of the Despenser’s continues in Hugh and Bess making it yet another favorite. I’ve come to like the Despenser family along the journey even though some of them were less than favorable characters at times. This is a short book for historical fiction at approximately 300 pages but you know while I would have liked it to be longer I was actually pleased with the shortness of it. It was a nice break from the heavier stuff while still giving me that historical fix I crave.
This novel is really a love story between Hugh Despenser and Bess (Elizabeth de Montacute) and a really amusing one at times. Bess is almost fourteen years old when her parents arrange a marriage between Hugh and herself. She is none too happy about it either. She doesn’t want to get married and she especially doesn’t want to marry a man who is thirty-two years old and is the son of a known traitor. Goodness, what if she has to bed down with him? To her great relief her parents ask Hugh to hold off on that until she’s a little older but now she’s got that to worry about.
Hugh is a great character and a likable one, very different from his father before him who was executed as a traitor. Hugh spent enough time in prison to gain a healthy respect for freedom and life. He starts to fall for the witty and full of attitude Bess and it doesn’t help that she’s really beginning to grow into a beautiful woman. For Bess’ part though she still wants nothing to do with Hugh and is still headset on thwarting any advances from him. Slowly though Bess finds herself liking her husband and missing him when he leaves to go to war. It was great to see her come into her own and growing up from the spoiled girl she started out as. I really grew to care about her and respect her by the end of the novel.
This novel, for as short as it is, has everything. There is scandal, wars, love, romance, sadness and grief and to top it off The Plague. It amazes me how much Susan put into this novel and made it so readable. The Traitor’s Wife took a lot more concentration because it was much more detailed yet, in reading Hugh and Bess, you don’t miss that at all. You are able to immerse yourself in the story and feel yourself in the lives of these two and live through their triumphs and tragedies. I think, for me, what I liked even more was that this was kind of a continuation of The Traitor’s Wife so you already had that background and it made Hugh and Bess all the more interesting. However, I have to say that Hugh and Bess can completely stand on it’s own and you wouldn’t be in the least confused.
My thanks go to Katie from Sourcebooks for my copy of Hugh and Bess and for the opportunity to participate in another blog tour for Susan Higginbotham. I can’t wait to see what will be next as Susan has become one of my favorite historical fiction authors. You can pick up your own copy of Hugh and Bess here in the US and here in Canada. You can also visit Susan’s website here and her blog here. In addition check out the next few blog tour stops at HistoricalNovels.info today as well, Grace’s Book Blog on August 4, and The Written World on August 5.
Be sure to keep an eye out for an interview with Susan Higginbotham either tomorrow or later this week.
Yet another great review for this book. I cannot wait to read it! Light and short is sometimes what we need!
Dar, this sounds really good. Great review! It's going on my list.
This book sounds great.
I enjoyed the review, and I really want to read about Hugh and Bess now to see if they get some sort of happy ending
Thanks for the review, Dar!
I'm so glad I have this book for review later next week. It sounds amazing! And I definitely need light and short.
Sounds like a really good read. Glad you mentioned it could stand alone as I haven't read the first novel and was wondering about that during your review. Thanks!
I love your review Dar:) It's great when a book can contain so many interesting events that keep the pace moving, contaon romance and that it's not too long to read either. All good things- Thanks:)
I'm touring this book on Thursday. It's a wonderful book, I'm so glad I had the opportunity to showcase it!
Everyone seems to love Susan Higginbotham's work. I don't read a lot of historical fiction, but it sounds like she's one of the best at writing it.
I've heard such good things about The Traitor's Wife. I am glad this one was just as good. Thanks for your great review, Dar.
What I really love about the book blogging community is that I get so many fabulous recommendations for books I've never heard of by authors I never knew existed. I am not reading too much historical fiction these days, but I used to love it when I was younger, and it seems like there are many great books out there for every period imaginable 🙂 Thanks for a great post.
Dar that was a really enjoyable review. I want to read this. I want to read this. Going on the list. LOL
Have a great day.
Wisteria
I've got to read this one!! and her other one too. Sounds absolutely fantastic!!!
I passed on this one since I had a hard time with the first in the series. Great review though, and this sounds more up my alley. Maybe I'll borrow anna's copy at some point.
Thanks for the review Dar. This sounds like one that I would really enjoy.
Great review! I can't wait to add this one to my TBR pile,I know Susan is a witty person in reality so it will be a change to see some of that wit in a medieval story.
Thanks for the review!
And I must say you need to drop by later to visit the review for The White Queen, you can enter for the giveaway also. This takes place around 1480 etc. and you should like this one also.
Would you recommend reading The Traitor's Wife first?
Great review. I read and loved The Traitor's Wife, and will be picking up this one as well. Good to know you enjoyed it.
I've seen good things about this one. Nice review!
I've read several good reviews about this book. Need to check this out! 🙂
I like Susan Higginbothams work.
This one sounds very good! great review.
http://thebookworm07.blogspot.com/
I wish I had realized this book was a "sequel" to The Traitor's Wife! Great review!
Great review! It sounds like you were totally taken with this book. I was planning on reading it, but now that you mention that it has something to do with the plague, well now I must read it!!
This looks so fabulous! Thanks for reviewing!
Dar, I made a boo-boo in the earlier comment. Sorry! Thanks for the review! It sure sounds interesting.
I hadn't heard of Susan Higginbotham until I started seeing reviews for Hugh and Bess. I enjoyed the interview you did with her.
Terrific review Dar, I'm enjoying some really great historical fiction at the moment and Hugh and Bess is one I've had my eye on. Thanks for sharing
I really enjoyed this one, too. I'm surprised Higginbotham packed so much into the story and managed to keep it short. I really loved the characters and I was sad when it ended.
–Anna
Diary of an Eccentric