Mistress Nell Gwyn is the title of the New York edition of an historical novel by the British writer Marjorie Bowen. The book was also published in London with the title Nell Gwyn: A Decoration.[1] The book was first published in 1926.
The story depicts the life of Nell Gwyn and her rise from an orange seller to the mistress of Charles II of England during the seventeenth century. Bowen states in the preface that very little is known about Nell Gwyn and that what history and tradition do "tell us of Nell Gwyn has been told as a decorative romance, where no liberty has been taken with what we know or believe to be truth." Great affairs have been left out and details of the reign of Charles II are provided only as a background for the figure of the heroine.[1]