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Naked: A Novel of Lady Godiva

Review

Naked: A Novel of Lady Godiva

If, as for this reviewer, Godiva was a byword for chocolate, not a medieval heroine, you’re missing out on classic mytho-history. An 11th-century English noblewoman, Lady Godiva supposedly rode naked through the streets of Coventry to persuade her husband, Lord Leofric of Mercia, to repeal a heavy tax. She inspired 1,000 years of stories, including a famous poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, which, in turn, is quoted in each chapter of Eliza Redgold’s NAKED. Under this pseudonym, scholar Dr. Elizabeth Reid Boyd lets Godiva ride again, but ultimately falls short of the high standard she sets for herself.

As the pampered only daughter and heiress of Coventry and the “Middle Lands,” young Godiva is on the threshold of marriage when NAKED opens. Her life is laid bare, however, when her parents are assassinated by the Danes plaguing Saxon England --- annoyingly called “Engla-lond” throughout --- leaving their only child woefully unprepared to rule. Her childhood best friend, Edmund, stirs feelings in Godiva, but in sweeps bold Lord Leofric, a great warrior, to ostensibly help Coventry resist the Danes. As Godiva attempts to keep her people free of the Danish threat, she must also search for treachery within her household --- and her own heart.

"What saves NAKED from being a flash in the pan...is Godiva’s titular ride. Regardless of how she gets there, Godiva does ride naked through the streets of Coventry, and that’s the moment for which readers wait the entire novel."

Redgold admirably strives to vivify a woefully underserved period in English history --- the time of the Saxons, before Harold II and William the Conqueror’s Norman Invasion. She aptly depicts the tense political atmosphere, with England split between the Saxons and Danish invaders, but reduces its complexities and nuances to a monolith: the Danes are bad and the Saxons are good. Therefore, all Danes are murderers, rapists and traitors, while the Saxon code of honor shines brightly like a newly polished helm. Surely even Godiva, youthful as she is, would see shades of gray in the world she inhabits. As it stands, her black-and-white view of the world reduces what should be an intriguing heroine to little more than a petulant child.

One wishes that Redgold decided to make NAKED a real work of historical fiction, focusing on the varied political spectrum rather than the rather dull romance between Leofric and Godiva. Somehow, they are meant to be...but the development of their relationship is weak, relying on clichés to get these two to their happily-ever-after, and their emotional angst is irritating rather than compelling.

What saves NAKED from being a flash in the pan, however, is Godiva’s titular ride. Regardless of how she gets there, Godiva does ride naked through the streets of Coventry, and that’s the moment for which readers wait the entire novel. Is it worth it by the time she mounts her horse, with only her hair covering her modesty? Not entirely, but, as Godiva learns, you can’t always get everything you wish for.

Reviewed by Carly Silver on July 17, 2015

Naked: A Novel of Lady Godiva
by Eliza Redgold

  • Publication Date: July 14, 2015
  • Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction
  • Paperback: 320 pages
  • Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
  • ISBN-10: 1250066158
  • ISBN-13: 9781250066152