I loved this from beginning to end as it showed all the layers of Francis Bacon's personality. There was equal part mystery, plotting, romance and intrigue with a helping dollop of queerness on top. I liked how it presented the historical figures in this way and it showed them as 3d and not as passive players in courtly struggles but rather the mastermind behind them. This book made me want to read Neil Blackmore's first fiction book even more.

I got this book from NetGalley to review.

The Dangerous Kingdom of Love is a rarity: one of those books that pulls you over the line from reading into experiencing.

Sir Francis Bacon, our narrator, has an acerbic, clever, humorous voice and he targets everyone. Well possibly not the Queen whom he seems to esteem, but everyone else, himself most of all. He is, after all, the cleverest man in England, but as Bacon says "...only two things matter: the nobility of one's lineage and the exquisiteness of a boy's face". From the first sentence to the last I was absolutely glued to the page, which is rare for me.

This story contains so much: Bacon's constant plotting, his face-offs against his many enemies, handling King James, keeping a thousand plates spinning in the air, doing a full-time job as the Attorney General. And yet all of it is portrayed in the kind of detail that makes you feel like you're in the thick of everything. The good and the bad.

And then of course, there's the chance to learn more about a period of history I'd previously not explored in much detail. James 1 and his Queen Anne of Denmark, Robert Carr and his eventual wife Frances, the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury, George Villiers, Edward Coke and of course the great man himself, Sir Francis Bacon.

I was a little surprised that Bacon's wife wasn't mentioned at all but then I guess his marriage doesn't really play out in the context of a queer (love?) story.

I have to admit a certain smugness at the end, reading Bacon and Villers' last chapter and knowing that Villiers too would come to a indecorous end being stabbed at the age of 35.

Overall, I just loved this story. Neil Blackmore has done a brilliant job with this book. And I'll be looking for more of his works in the future.

*Many thanks to Neil Blackmore, Random House UK, and NetGalley for arc in exchange for my honest review.*
I have read several books on The Overbury Affair so I was intrigued by yet another novel which includes it. Sir Francis Bacon knows his value and knows how to navigate at the court of James I. Power is the highest reward of all. Bacon looks for new ways to influence the king after Rober Carr's downfall and he finds an eager student who is supposed to play the role Bacon has prepared for him.
I think this was my first LGBTQ historical fiction. Being the fan of HF and having some knowledge of the historic events, I did not concentrate much on the gay theme but was more invested in Bacon's philosphy of survival and his perspective regarding this particular period. The Author makes Bacon a likeable character, at least I could not resist standing right behind him, and his meandering through court intrigues is more than admirable. Also, Bacon's irony and sarcasm or even cynicism got my seal of approval. Mr Blackmore's vision of the court and the king is not favourable and to be honest, I do not have a soft spot for James VI either.
Overall, a decent read that held my attention.

“Love can kill men like me. Love gets you dragged from your home in the middle of the night, puts a noose around your neck. Love is something to murder – before it murders you.”

My thanks to Random House U.K. Cornerstone/Hutchinson for the invitation to read an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Dangerous Kingdom of Love’ by Neil Blackmore in exchange for an honest review.

Like his 2020 ‘The Intoxicating Mr Lavelle’ this is a work of literary historical fiction that explores aspects of love that at the time were not only considered socially unacceptable but could lead to imprisonment and death.

Blackmore opens with an Author’s Note stating that its significant characters were real people and that its major events were inspired by historical fact. He goes on to note that some “sequences of time have been altered for narrative effect, and some linguistic choices are intentionally modern.” He then presents a witty Dramatis Personae.

The novel’s narrator is Francis Bacon, politician, philosopher, novelist and scientist. He describes himself ironically as a know-it-all. He then recounts events from the spring of 1613, ten years into the reign of James I, and concludes with his political downfall in 1621.

This is a bawdy novel in terms of language and activities. Some of the novel’s events and its characters also appeared in Lucy Jago’s ‘A Net for Small Fishes’. Interestingly, Bacon didn’t appear in Jago’s novel even though he played an important role in the prosecution of the Earl and Countess of Somerset for their part in the Overbury Affair.

In terms of historical figures I will note that Bacon’s wife, Alice Barnham, was dropped from Blackmore’s tale. Presumably this was in order to focus exclusively on Bacon’s attraction to men and his subsequent sense of isolation. I would also note that both Bacon’s and James I’s sexual preferences are an area of debate among historians.

I found this a superb historical novel with Bacon proving an intelligent and witty narrator of his own story. I felt that overall Blackmore’s portrayal of the intrigues and excesses of the Royal Court and the atmosphere of Jacobean London were excellent and I was totally engaged.

It brings me great pleasure to read historical fiction of this quality. In addition, I have always had great admiration for Bacon and acknowledged his place in history in terms of his writing, so even via a fictional portrayal it was fascinating to spend some time with the man behind the quill.

Highly recommended.

This is a nice story to anyone who is interested in history, namely England history, but also to anyone who is interested in getting to know a bit more the life of well-known Francis Bacon.
While the book felt a bit drawn-out at times and the action wasn't particularly fast-paced or super interesting, the 1st person POV really made this reading a joyful one. Francis Bacon as a character in The Dangerous Kingdom of Love made me laugh and smile throughout most of the book, but also think deeply about morals and ethics. At the same time, it is not really an happy book, since the life of our main character was not particularly happy - from homophobia to murderous enemies and a broken heart.
The story made me feel all types of things and the cover of the book is amazing - I definitely recommend this!

**Book miraculously received from NetGalley on the basis of I have no idea in return for a review**

Oh my stars, this was everything I was hoping for, and more besides. I have an ongoing fascination with this period in history: it’s obviously as fucked-up as hell, like most history and now I think about it, the actual present, but I just find all the courtly intriguing, power-vying and fucking even more engaging when, y'know, It Queer?

And obviously what is “queer” is really complicated in a historical context. But, whatever he did with them in practice, James I was all about his boyfriends and there were several high level conspiracies during his reign to manoeuvre specially selected hot guys into his bed and favour. I know from one perspective that's really icky. But from another it's ... kind of really fun to read about?

The Dangerous Kingdom of Love concerns one such conspiracy: specifically it’s about the ousting of Robert Carr, James I’s, established favourite, and his replacement George Villiers, a plot the book proposes was orchestrated by Francis Bacon, with the support of the Queen. Entirely plausible, given the way Bacon supported Villiers’ rise to power, and it is in this realm of historical plausibilities that book deliberately dwells.

If anything, in its approach to the material, TDKOL put me in mind of Hulu’s The Great (a show I love, by the way): it has the same exuberance, the same bawdiness, and the same confidence in navigating its own ahistoricism. And, for that matter, the same unexpected capacity to just whack you hard in the feels.

Narrated by the (profoundly unreliable) Francis Bacon, apparently the cleverest (and, in some regards, the stupidest man) in England, TDKOL was, to me, an absolute delight. Of course, knowing the historical context, gives it an edge of dark inevitability too: we know already that Francis Bacon suffers a catastrophic fall from grace and that George Villiers—for all he commanded the love of two kings—will die at the age of 35 in a random stabbing. Francis Bacon sees himself as modern man and this is very much a modern book: it uses the historical setting to tell a story of power, love, corruption, and self-deceit. It is not, for all its wit and energy, a happy or straightforward story, and Bacon is a narrator it is both impossible to like and impossible to dislike, but my God. Much as I imagine George Villiers would be himself, TDKOL a wild, fascinating, and bittersweet ride.

And, I assume this goes without saying, it’s queer AF.

(I mean, so queer we’re all pretending Francis Bacon’s wife didn’t exist, but *eh*).

Looking at this book with non-dazzled eyes, I can see there might be some people for whom it wouldn’t work for. If you don’t like your history played fast-and-loose with, prefer your language clean, and your sodomites largely invisible: it is definitely not the adventure for you.

However, if you take this book on its own terms, it’s absolutely fucking brilliant. And I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this book!

This book was definitely out of my comfort zone reading wise as someone who reads historical romances but not much historical fiction, so I wasn't sure if this would be for me, but it sounded so good that I wanted to give it a go. I ended up really enjoying it!

I found the story, while slow paced, super engaging and the characters intriguing. The writing style was so good and I can't wait to read more by this author in the future! And while I don't know much about this point in history, I didn’t find myself confused or lost.

Overall, I highly recommend this one to fans of historical fiction, court intrigue and engaging storyline.

England 1613, and Francis Bacon travels to the royal palace at Theobalds, to be told by King James that he is to be elevated to the post of Attorney General. Bacon, the writer and intellectual narrates in the first person the slippery, treacherous life of the Jacobin courtier and politician. King James is bewitched by his lover Robert Carr, who demands payment from Bacon to stop him from poisoning Bacon to the King’s ear. Bacon comes up with a strategy to displace the favourite and replace it with another beautiful and irresistible youth – and finds George Villiers in a country house in Leicestershire. But Bacon on this occasion bites off a little more than he can chew, and Villiers, the future Duke of Buckingham, affects Bacon more than he thought possible.
This is a violent profanity-filled narrative of the despicable nature of human ambition and jealousy – where you either use others or are used and abused yourself. A cruel theatre of hatred, convenient and temporary alliances, and treachery. While the king is obsessed with his favourite boys, Bacon who is also homosexual, attempts to navigate the duplicitous and dangerous waters of court life, where a wrong word or a well-placed enemy can see you thrown into the Tower. Notwithstanding his intelligence, Bacon is by no means a wholly reliable narrator. The language is a strange amalgam of contemporary and archaic diction, which does seem to work, King James speaks in a kind of comedy current day Glaswegian more like something from Irving Welsh than seventeenth century diction It is a romping read, a little over-dramatic at times and plays fast and loose with historical authenticity, but nonetheless a most enjoyable read.

I cannot say I cared about the historical events behind The Dangerous Kingdom of Love. Therefore at first I was not sure what to make of it. Luckily it did grow on me as I advanced to the point I've done some searches trying to understand the main characters better. Turns out that I even knew about Robert Carr and Frances as I've read another historical novel from Frances' perspective. Despite warming somewhat to the subject, overall I was not impressed in any way. I could have read the story from Carr's or Villiers' perspective and it wouldn't have made any difference to me!
But what I absolutely loved, and the reason why I've rated this book 4* is Neil Blackmore's writing. I adore his sarcasm and overall humour. I loved how he manages to make even historical character seem quirky - I loved the crassness of the kind, for example, and even Beicon's, err I mean Bacon's hahahaha. I also loved how he subtlety explored societal issues like the abuse of power, corruption, sexual abuse and even assault - and yes, arguably issues that one can consider post-modern, but it's nevertheless important and thought-provoking to see historical events through modern lenses.

Many thanks for the opportunity to read it!

***Special thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review***

This was definitely a quirky read. The story follows the life of Lord Francis Bacon. While Bacon accepts his homosexuality, he knows that he cannot fully live openly and doesn't have hopes for a romantic future. Through wit and humor, Blackmore is able to bring the reader into the mind of Bacon.

I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it!

The Dangerous Kingdom of Love by Neil Blackmore is a superbly entertaining account of the rise of the 17th century philosopher who become former Lord Chancellor of England, Francis Bacon. As a philosopher, he set out to challenge Aristotle's thinking whilst becoming a trusted friend of King James I. Bacon used his connections and deviousness to further his social standing but not without making a few enemies along the way. As a contemporary of Shakespeare and Ben Johnson, Bacon's interactions with them in this dramatisation are nothing short of hilarious. The central theme of the story is based on the relationships between Bacon, the Scottish King James I and the boy who the King favours, Robert Carr. Bacon seeks an ally in the Danish Queen as he plots to upset the status quo and further his own career.

A fantastic book to rival the Hilary Mantel trilogy.

This was a weird book. But I (mostly) liked reading it!

It took me some time to get into it but after reading the first twenty percent I started to enjoy it. At first I thought that I might dnf it since the writing style has some characteristics I usually don't like - like for example being addressed as a reader by the narrator but after having read it I think the style fit really well to the story and the main character. I didn't go into this expecting a historically accurate story and I probably wouldn't recommend it to someone who looks for historically accurate books about real people. But I still (or maybe it was because of, maybe deliberate, anachronisms) had a lot of fun reading and was fascinated by the main character and his development throughout the story.

3.5 stars

I really enjoyed this novel about the gay British philosopher Sir Francis Bacon. I kept jumping out of the book to Google to check the history, which was always spot on.

Bacon comes through as a complex, fascinating character, accepting of his sexuality but still conflicted about acting on it. I loved learning about the intricacies of British history at the time, and a bit about Bacon's own work, but the relationship between him and the man he comes to love, despite his best intentions, forms the heart of this very affecting novel.

I didn't expect to be so enthralled by a book about Francis Bacon, and yet the way his perspective was written really worked for me. The book was written almost like diary entries, and with Bacon being a 'modern man', it allowed the novel to have a more modern tone even if it was set in the 1600s. Seeing characters like King James, the Carrs, and Villiers from his point of view was fascinating and really portrayed the tensions of the court. Villiers in particular was such an interesting character which made it easy to see how Bacon was so enamoured by him. By the end of the novel, I was surprised by how much sadness I felt for Bacon, and I think this shows that the one-sided perspective really worked for me. While it didn't bother me, the novel was at times crude and used a lot of slurs, which may be an important factor for some readers. It may not be the most historically accurate novel, but overall it was an exciting - and at times hilarious - read.

Unfortunately this book just wasn’t for me, I could appreciate the writing style and did enjoy some of the characters, but the overall experience reading just didn’t do it for me. I would still read more by this author as I do like their style.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fascinating book. The Stuarts get ignored for their Tudor cousins all of the time, so I was happy to see James I's court in the spotlight I knew little about Francis Bacon, aside from reading a few parts of tracts, making him a great protagonist- it felt like I was seeing the court from a new angle. As an historian who has studied the period in decent depth, I appreciated "getting to know" George Villiers. In a lot of books, he is reduced to "James' favourite, Charles' friend", and Blackmore allows him to be his own person.
While it isn't historically accurate, I think that this book will be a great hook for more people "finding" the Stuart period in England. Blackmore has a fantastic way with storytelling, and he covers many different episodes while still weaving them together seamlessly into the larger plot. He is certainly a talented writer!
The one aspect that I found difficult about this book was how crude it could be, and how frequently sex was brought up. I tend not to read incredibly graphic sex scenes, so that aspect was not for me.

This book tells the story of Francis Bacon, a gay man living in Jacobean England (and obviously a real-life historical figure) as he plots and schemes his way through the court of King James I. On his journey, he crosses paths with other notable historical figures, the biggest name of which is William Shakespeare.

The story starts when Francis’ enemy, who also happens to be the lover of the King begins plotting. Francis, in his need to secure his position at court, devises an opposing plan. He will team up with the Queen and find a young love interest for the King to take his enemy’s place. (For anyone wondering about the problematic nature of this relationship, I can’t tell you it’s not in anyway problematic, but the person chosen is above the modern age of consent.)

In the course of Francis scheming, he fails to account for one thing: human nature. It becomes very clear that our main character is a natural plotter, but he fails to recognize the human element in the people he plots against. This leads to his ultimate downfall.

One thing I really liked about this book was that Francis Bacon is portrayed as an unreliable narrator. I wish it had been made more clear earlier on in the book. In my opinion, the reveal at the end was a bit too late. However, it does add to the book positively. This book gave me similar vibes to As Meat Loves Salt by Maria McCann. That is also a book with a gay unreliable narrator who plots and schemes, and is also set in a similar time period (though that one is during the English Civil War).

Overall, I’d recommend this book if you like retellings. I thought this was a great way to make the personalities and situations from history stand out and be more palatable to a modern audience. While I cannot confirm the accuracy of the portrayals, they do make for a compelling read. I found myself not wanting to put the book down.

This book was given to me as an Advance Reading Copy by Netgalley.

This was a really entertaining and fun read! I loved Francis Bacon's voice, which is essentially his unfiltered thoughts - it was very engaging. The whole set of characters was fun - the 'evil' Carrs, the somewhat clueless king etc. I would say that this is not particularly accurate in its historical detail, but for me that didn't matter as this is trying to be an entertaining read, and not a serious or educational one. I will definitely be checking out more Neil Blackmore!

4.5 stars

The Dangerous Kingdom of Love is a humorous and heartbreaking journey through the mind of Francis Bacon as he navigates life as a gay man in 17th century England.

Neil Blackmore does an absolutely incredible job of creating the central character of Bacon and his voice is one of the strongest I have seen from a narrator in quite some time. The tensions of court and country really help to propel the story and give Blackmore as Bacon a myriad of opportunities to comment on the banality and hypocrisy of human existence. While we as readers know that Bacon's surrender to the temptation of love could prove to be his undoing, watching it happen is just so satisfying.

Honestly, the only thing that made me knock off the half star was some slow pacing around the middle of the book. All in all, it is an engrossing exploration of how a dangerous love can transform even the most intelligent men into fools.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hutchinson for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

Although this is very easy to read, for me it was not a particularly enjoyable or enlightening experience.

I had often thought that the reign of King James VI&I was a fertile area for historical novel, most especially one which explored the ramifications of the King's sexuality, and not just the political aspects of the period.

I found the depiction of James hard to take and to believe. A man who survived the machinations of his time as King of Scots to reach the throne of England and survive there, could not possibly have been as weak in intelligence as shown here. On the other hand his Queen, Anne is strongly and sympathetically portrayed.

As for Francis Bacon, there are two observations to be made. Firstly he had a wife who does not appear in this novel., a rather odd omission. Secondly his need for sex with other men seems to rule him to an extent which does not ring true.

Overall, I was disappointed and unconvinced.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital review copy.

3.5 stars.