A wonderful, dense, but absorbingly amazing experience of a novel. Told from the perspective of an almost always unnamed wife of King Lear, this is a book that needs to be felt, experienced, read and enjoyed to get the most out of it. It's not an easy read, and it's not a fast read, but it's worth it.

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

I still recall a poem entitled "Lear's Wife" by W.S. Merwin; so when I saw the book's cover, I was immediately drawn to it. It did not disappoint: I found it to be an immersive, poignant and impressive sequel to the Shakespeare's masterpiece, entirely written from the "hidden queen"'s point of view.
Learwife starts where King Lear ends: the old King and its three daughters are dead. Learwife, who has been shut in a nunnery since Cordelia was a baby, must now reconnect with her past and face her grief. As Learwife is trapped in the convent, as winter and sickness fall onto it, the reader is trapped in Learwife's head, a claustrophobic place where jagged memories jostle with present grief and loss.
I can see this novel being studied by groups of English Literature students, alongside the great works of Shakespeare. And in mu humble opinion, it should.

Following on from Shakespeare's King Lear, this novel imagines the story of his wife, who didn't actually appear in the play.

There is a dreamlike and nightmarish quality to the writing, which is a stream of consciousness of the queen who is gradually losing her mind, never having been told why she has been imprisoned with the nuns and kept away from everyone she knows for fifteen years.

“I am the queen of two crowns, banished fifteen years, the famed and gilded woman, bad-luck baleful girl, mother of three small animals, now gone. I am fifty-five years old. I am Lear’s wife. I am here. History has not taken my body, not yet.”

My thanks to Canongate for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Learwife’ by J.R. Thorp. My apologies for the late feedback as I rather struggled to get into this novel.

This work of literary fiction was inspired by William Shakespeare’s ‘King Lear’ and as the title indicates focuses upon Lear’s wife, who is absent from the play and not even named.

‘Learwife’ opens where ‘King Lear’ ends - with Lear’s wife (Berte) receiving news of the death of Lear and her three daughters. She has been confined to an abbey for the past fifteen years. While she is now free to leave the community, an outbreak of plague then quarantines the nuns. Her stream-of-consciousness narrative moves between her present and past including her time with Lear as well as her first husband, Michael, who was also a king.

Thorp’s prose is very lyrical and while I could appreciate the poetic aspects, I often found it overly flowery. This and the novel’s rambling narrative resulted in my finding it difficult to engage with the plot (such as it was) and the characters. Indeed, I have tried a few times to read ‘Learwife’ and each time abandoned it quite early on. This time I was determined to finish it and did.

My larger issue with the novel is its setting. King Lear was a mythical king of the ancient Britons usually dated to the 8th Century BCE. Thorp has transported Lear, his daughters, his court, and wife to what appears to be medieval England likely circa 12th-13th century CE. Yet Thorp continues to depict Lear as a pagan king.

Historically this makes no sense. From the time of the Norman invasion we know the lineage of English kings and none were pagan. Apparently this temporal shift was a deliberate choice by Thorp as she wanted to place Lear’s wife in a Christian setting in order to explore the dynamics between polytheism and monotheism, here in the form of Christianity, in a royal marriage.

Sorry but for me this disqualifies ‘Learwife’ as historical fiction as it bears no relation to actual history. It’s more akin to historical fantasy or alternative history by shifting a mythical king into a known historical timeline.

I was also disappointed that Thorp didn’t include an Author’s Note to at least explain her choices. I am grateful to have been directed to a podcast where J. R. Thorp was interviewed and addressed the question of the novel’s setting.

Really Queen Berte bore more resemblance to Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, who in the 12th Century was imprisoned for sixteen years by her husband, Henry II. She too was a queen of two crowns.

Clearly there’s a lot of praise for ‘Learwife’ and many readers loved it. However, I found it a struggle even if some of the writing was lovely.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

I just couldn’t get into this book even though I liked the premise. I found it slow paced with deadly and complex descriptions. Any plot was lost in the depth of the utter misery of grief in an isolated convent with zero light or uplift at the end.
With thanks to Netgalley for the arc.

I don't feel like I can give this a proper review for content but for some slow paced, detailed historical fiction it's an enjoyable read.

Thanks to NetGalley, Canongate and Thorp for an eArc in exchange for an honest review.

Had been looking forward to reading this book. Sadly it wasn’t for me. It just lacked a good plot to get you excited and wanting more. It was very slow paced and never picked up

Learwife, by J. R. Thorpe
Published: NOW.
Rating: 5/5
This book is beautiful. It tells the devastatingly tragic story of King Lear’s wife, a woman who was written out of history. Thorpe’s style is lyrical, poetic and transformative. She takes you on a journey of emotional turmoil, and uses rich language to draw you in. It is quite unlike any novel I’ve ever read, because her use of agency is wholly unique. I loved reading about her daughters’ broken lives, and how she tries to make sense of her own exile and fate. It is a powerful read, and a must for anyone who enjoys historical fiction that features incredibly strong, emotional leads. Breath-taking.

This book is amazing. Apologies I was unable to review it upon release as I had Covid. I bought it upon release and have recommended it to many.

IF you love a phillipa Greggory style read you'll love this.

Slow paced, which isn't a bad thing, with incredible detail. the queen is outcast to an abbey and the story intertwines her past life with her current life. It is a spin off a Shakespeare line and although the language is not the same it can be lyrical and beautiful to read.

A great novel bringing Lear's wife to the centre of the stage. I always appreciate books like this one that put the female voices at the centre of stories where they have for too long been pushed to the side. Fantastic and poetic writing throughout!

I was instantly drawn to this book because of the fact I read King Lear in school and didn’t hate it…not a great opening to this review, but bear with me it does get better! I was instantly thrown back into the themes of going against nature, madness and blindness. It was a turbulent ride. Lear’s Queen is the chief narrator, we have to bear in mind is she reliable or not with these themes in the mix. Her narration is more like a rambling stream of consciousness and it’s fascinating to get this behind the scenes look at what could have happened between Lear and his three daughters. Thorp brings to life a character Shakespeare left back stage, a real treat to any reader.

The premise of this book is great - the forgotten wife of King Lear discovers that him and their daughters have died and we are brought along with her as she grieves in the Abbey she was banished to by Lear over fifteen years before.
The story is told wholly through her first person narrative, with telling interludes of her thoughts as well as the conversations she has with the rest of the women in the nunnery. She is strong willed and often cutting, but hides behind her noble demeanour. She is treated exceptionally well because of her status, despite the fact she isn't always the most productive member of the compound, and it becomes clear throughout her narrative (a mix of current events and her memories with Lear and daughters Goneril, Regan and Cordelia) that she always expected to be summoned back to the King, and the knowledge that this won't happen now takes a huge toll on her.
She is determined to leave to travel to their graves in Dover, but before she can leave sickness hits the Abbey and she ends up being involved in helping to decide on a new Abbess - which means she has women falling over themselves to be her chosen one, cleverly and clearly echoing Lear's own story - and ultimate downfall.
The story is essentially the fight against the darker parts of being female - how one has to try and conform to societal expectation, play the defined role of wife and mother, and how easily a female can be discarded by those who apparently love her when they percieve a 'flaw' (interestingly Lear's wife was not told why she was banished and this plays a part in the story too with us trying to parse it out).
The story is dark, and often heavily laden with imagery which can be a little difficult to stay on board with, but ultimately the story left me thinking about her for many days after.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC of this title in return for an honest review.

I was absolutely taken by the blurb for this King Lear retelling, and I was not disappointed. The prose is beautiful and lush, and it really evokes the claustrophobic setting of the abbey and the voice of the queen. I loved the explorations of absence and grief, though sometimes I did wonder whether it was becoming a bit repetitive. For this reason, it's a 4* rather than 5*

I read about a quarter of this title but found it very slow, all of the description felt too long and superfluous and the characters were flat. Nothing compelled me to keep reading so I have not finished this book. I was disappointed as I felt the concept was strong and had great potential.

Often when I review books I rate them highly and tell people how fast I read them, as if that’s a measure of how much I enjoyed reading. But it took me well over a month to read Learwife and yet it’s the most exquisitely- written novel I have read in years. This is largely because I had to keep reading and rereading entire paragraphs, passages and chapters before I could progress just to revel in the beauty of Thorp’s prose. The blurb alone bears repeating aloud a few times just to *feel* the drama!

This is one of those books in which nothing and far too much happens all at once. It feels slow and measured and powerful and intensely private. I didn’t even realise until almost the end that the main character hadn’t actually had a name throughout.

I am an English literature teacher, familiar with King Lear, but hearing it from the perspective of his exiled and forgotten wife was fascinating to me. She is not always the sympathetic character I expected to encounter, but instead is quite beautifully three-dimensional. As I write this review I am painfully aware of how inadequate it is to describe how phenomenally talented this author is. I just urge people to try it for themselves!

What an exciting and original idea for a novel! King Lear's wife tells her story and shows us this well-known story from a new perspective. Lear's wife - her name is a secret for most of the book - was sent away to a convent many years before the book begins. But as her story opens, she hears - he is dead.

What does this mean for her? Can she now get answers to the questions that have burned inside her for so long? Why was she sent away? What happened to her old friend, Kent? And her three daughters?

And slowly the answers - and new questions - are revealed as she struggles to find her new place in the nunnery. She becomes, instead of the king's exiled wife, a new power within the sealed-off community,but will she use this power wisely? To create or destroy? And what about her relationships with this other 'family', the nuns she lives with?

Along the way we get glimpses of why her daughters acted the way they did in Shakespeare's play, an added layer of both complexity and clarity which is very satisfying.

The story unrolls slowly. But that'smostly a blessing, as it gives us time to savour the language. Because it's beautifully written, a rich meal to appreciate, not a tasty but short-lived snack.

She's a complex character, not easy to love, but all the more interesting for her flaws. And her journey to greater understanding, of her fate and of herself, is fascinating. So, too, is her gradual acceptance - or admission - of the truth. All of which is made harder by her own descent into madness, mirroring Lear's own.

Admittedly it did lag in the middle, and some of her decisions were hard to understand. But this rich, thought-provoking book will stay with you for a long time after the last sentence.

I really struggled to finish this I’m not sure if I’m just not intelligent enough or the writing was pretentious. The story itself was so interesting I just felt the execution hmmm

King Lear and his three daughters are dead. Word of their demise is brought to Lear's wife who has been banished to a Convent, and longs to leave. The story is built around the life of the Convent as well as retelling the tragedy of Lear. A well written reimagination of Shakespeare's play, adding a new layer to the story. A great read.
This review is based on an ARC of the book supplied by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.