Dear Author » Henry-VIII

REVIEW: In a Treacherous Court by Michelle Diener

Jennie — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 19:00:12 +0000

Dear Ms. Diener,

Having recently read and enjoyed a historical novel set in the 16th century and dealing with intrigue and assassins, I was intrigued when In a Treacherous Court fell into my hands. Realizing it was a debut sharpened my interest, since I’m always on the lookout for new authors, especially those whose work is something a bit different from straight historical genre romance.

The principal characters of In a Treacherous Court are Dutch artist Susanna Horenbout and English courtier John Parker. The “treacherous court” of the title is that of Henry VIII. John meets Susanna’s boat as it arrives from the Netherlands; she has accepted a position as a personal illuminator to the English king (it was unusual at the time for a female to hold such a position, and Susanna has to continually deal with prejudice against her for her abilities and her sex).

Parker’s first meeting with Susanna is anything but smooth, as Susanna has just had a man die in her arms. On the ship’s departure from the Netherlands, an English merchant by the name of Harvey raced on board at the last minute, pursued by several men. He got away, but was wounded, stabbed in the lung. Over the course of the journey, Susanna nurses him until he eventually dies. Before dying, Harvey entrusts Susanna with a secret for the king’s ears only. On hearing this, Parker tries to get Susanna to reveal the secret t o him; he’s the king’s man, after all. But Susanna is stubborn and willful; she promised Harvey she would only tell the king himself, and so that’s what she’s going to do.

Parker and Susanna set off for London, but are repeatedly attacked, both on the way and once they’ve arrived (even after Susanna manages to give the king Harvey’s message). The number of attacks really is overkill; Parker mentions at one point that they have been accosted five separate times (I think in the course of a little over 24 hours), and I was glad he gave a number so I didn’t have to count them up myself. It was a little ridiculous. Still, it serves to let Parker know that whatever enemies Susanna has inadvertently acquired, they are extremely desperate and determined to silence her. It also makes Parker realize how protective he feels towards this woman he’s known for so brief a time.

There were things I liked about In a Treacherous Court - competent writing, sympathetic characters and a good eye for period details, to name a few. The things I didn’t like were fewer but a bit more problematic. The plot – having to do with machinations of the Duke of Norfolk and the pretensions of Richard de la Pole to the throne of England – was both confusing and a bit boring to me. I just didn’t really care that much what these characters were doing or why they were doing it. While I normally say that good writing and characterization trumps a mediocre plot, in this case the writing and characterization lacked the spark to really carry the story and overcome the ho-hum plot.

I did like that Susanna was a strong heroine; during her many moments of peril, she fights hard for herself rather than just waiting for Parker to save her. Their relationship worked fairly well for me too; each recognizes the attraction pretty quickly and there is not a lot of drama or mental lusting involved in their getting together. The only downside to this is that there is then not much tension in the romantic relationship, and since I didn’t have much of a stake in the suspense plot, I did miss having something really compelling to latch onto. To be fair, the book never lagged or bored me, but on the other hand it never really engaged me entirely.

The depiction of Susanna’s devotion to her craft was well-drawn but could’ve been fleshed out a little more (no pun intended); the same could be said of Parker’s troubled backstory. I wouldn’t even have minded a bit more about court life, and I have to say that the court of Henry VIII doesn’t interest me that much, maybe just because I’ve read so much about it already. Basically, I think the book needed a little bit more of something to round out the suspense plot, which really spent the majority of the book front-and-center.

The author’s note at the end informs the reader that John and Susanna were real people, who really did hold the positions noted in the book and and who eventually married. Knowing that they were real makes me wonder if a more interesting story could’ve been crafted from their courtship and marriage.

Ultimately, In a Treacherous Court felt short and a bit unfinished to me – I think it had to do with it taking place over a short period of time, and so much of that time being taken up with action. Readers who really like suspense and action and/or stories set in the court of Henry VIII, and who appreciate quiet, subtle romances may respond more positively than I did. As it was, my grade is a B-.

Best regards,

Jennie

REVIEW: Devil’s Mistress by Laura Navarre

Jayne — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 17:31:44 +0000

Dear Ms. Navarre,

Your bio says you write darker Renaissance era books and the dark theme plus Tudor setting are what attracted me to “Devil’s Mistress.” Oh, and the Italian heroine is an added bonus. I’m always on the lookout for books with other-than-English heroes and heroines. Nothing against the English mind you, but it does get a bit tiresome when they seem to be the only nationality used in European historicals.

Allegra Grimaldi is one miserable cookie. The Spanish Ambassador has kept her on a tight leash for the past three years and used her as his own pet poisoner. Now, with the King of England demanding a divorce from his first wife in order to marry the Boleyn whore, Maximo Montoya has set her next target – Anne Boleyn herself. Allegra is horrified and determined to keep her promise to her dead mother not to kill anyone despite the fact that she, Allegra, is a trained assassin. Anne might be a heretic but she doesn’t deserve to die for it. Allegra’s own mother died in the flames as a condemned witch and she herself barely escaped the same fate.

But Allegra’s deliberately bungled attempt on Anne is witnessed by Anne’s bastard brother Sir Joscelin Boleyn. He alone among the courtiers thronging around Anne realizes what he barely stopped. He also falls immediately under Allegra’s spell and is determined to discover who this woman is and what her secrets are. But once he knows, will he be able to do what his powerful family demands as his price to join their ascension in the Tudor court or will he choose to love a woman accused of killing her husband and who is now called the “Devil’s Mistress?”

Is there a book set at any of the Tudor monarchs’ courts which doesn’t make them sound like snake-pits filled with back stabbing creatures? Probably not as it seemed the only way to secure your place and make your fortune. The only way up was by planting your feet on those weaker than yourself as you jumped for the King’s attention. It’s all artifice and polite, polished manners while you sharpen your blade which you make vividly clear. And Allegra seems to have perfected her courtier’s “face.” I think you do a great job at showing the strain she’s constantly under to not reveal anything to either Montoya, who’ll use it to punish or cruelly toy with her, or Joscelin whom Allegra can’t trust despite her growing interest in him. She’s playing so many roles and lying to so many people it’s a wonder she can manage to keep it all straight much less not crack under the strain.

The conflict of the story – between those who support the Boleyns and those who support Katherine of Aragon and the Catholic Church – is brought down to a visceral level for and between Allegra and Joscelin. Both have their reasons why they need the question of the King’s divorce to be settled one way or the other and both are given ample reason not to trust each other. You twist their loyalties and obligations into a tighter and tighter coil until I knew that someone would have to break from their past convictions in order for them to find their HEA. I also couldn’t help but think that their final destination is a smart move given Anne Boleyn’s rapid fall from the heights.

But as much as I enjoyed the setting of the book and the tenseness of the conflict, Allegra and Joscelin don’t totally work for me. At this point in my romance reading, the martyr heroine tends to grate on my nerves and I never did see Joscelin as half French and raised in France. Given what Allegra survived when she was interrogated after her husband’s death and that she has a delicate conscience, the fact that she would choose to undergo training in the art of poisoning and death is a bit odd and never sat right with me. Joscelin comes across as too much of a bluff, hearty type instead of someone who’s been at the French court and done some diplomatic service. I guess I expected him to be more sly and calculating like Anne and less impulsive like Mary Boleyn.

The denouement of the story was too melodramatic and OTT for me. The fight scene, layered with the fire on top of Allegra’s determination to tie herself to the railroad tracks had me skimming to the end. The resolution of the Allegra/Montoya relationship earned an “oh, please!” I know that forgiveness is probably the best policy and it does make sense given Allegra’s temperament. I guess I’m just too bloodthirsty and you created such a delighful villain in the invented Montoya who I wanted to see pay for all he put Allegra through. Also, I couldn’t get the “mostly dead” sequence from “The Princess Bride” out of my head in relation to Montoya’s appearance at the end.

Balancing what worked for me with what didn’t, I end up with a C. And obviously the things which bother me might sell the book for many others. Right now, I’m sure you’re disappointed with the grade but there’s enough I like about the book and your writing style to say I’ll be back to try more.

~Jayne

REVIEW: The Sixth Wife by Suzannah Dunn

Jayne — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 09:00:55 +0000

Dear Ms. Dunn,

As I go back to write this letter, I find myself torn about this book. On the one hand, the back blurb does state that it will be about the last years of Katherine Parr, after she was widowed by Henry VIII and married a fourth husband, this time for love. And it is and we do see her quieter life in the countryside far from the intrigues of court. These are momentous times, filled with larger than life people about whom we still wish to read and about whom we still want to know. Yet, we learn little about what Katherine thought of these events. Yes, I know I’m not making much sense here. I want my cake and still want to be able to eat it too.

I like the use of Catherine Willoughby, Duchess of Suffolk as teller of tale. Some things must remain a mystery to readers until later in the book or, due to lack of historical records, might not be able to be guessed at all so she will act as a conduit for us so that these unknowns can remain so. She was a historical personage in her own right so I enjoyed seeing her views on the events relayed here and her memories of the tumultuous times of Henry’s reign. The modern language didn’t bother me for as you said, Cathy just isn’t a ‘prithee’ kind of person. I like her no nonsense, take charge personality though it must have set the men of the time off to no end.

I would have liked to have got more of a feeling for how Kate viewed her world and her place and influence in it. I guess you skip over much of her early life for the reason that not much would be known of it since at the time, she was a minor player in history and not expected to be anything more. Cathy mentions how the world had changed so drastically from their mothers time to then and how much she is attempting to help those changes along, notably in the area of religious reform but at book’s end, I still never got an immediate sense for what Kate thought of all this only what Cathy thought.

Sudeley Castle seems quite magnificent and must have cost a fortune to kit out. After reading some current articles about it, it would appear that it still costs a bundle to maintain. I liked the glimpses and descriptions of great manors of the time and of daily life there. Wow there were a lot of retainers and servants in a household of the time! And yet again, this is supposed to be a book about great historical personages of the time not people dealing with their glazier or giving lessons on how to intensify the taste of strawberries. And yet also, the book is supposed to be about the life of Katherine during her last marriage and then she was not at court and aside from housing Elizabeth not really in the thick of daily life among the power brokers of the age. Sigh

I am slightly amazed that Cathy would be so outspoken having just survived Henry VIII’s reign and with continuing troubles in Edward’s – did she really call him Eddie? And Edward Seymour Ed? It makes him sound like some overworked middle manager with a henpecking wife who goes home to find the dog has piddled on his favorite lounge chair

Where did affair between Thomas and Cathy come from? Is there any data, information to possibly support this? I have read in many books that Katherine died raving at Thomas for supposed affairs but is there any reason you chose to have *this* couple have an affair?

Those were agonizing scenes of Kate dying and it must have been so heartbreaking to women of the time to see friends succumbing to childbed fever and be so helpless to save them. And also frightening to know next time it could be you.

I guess my main problems would be the affair and the fact that at the end of the book, I felt I had learned more about Catherine Willoughby than about the supposed subject of the book, Katherine Parr. If you wanted to show the world Catherine’s thoughts and feelings, then why not call it “The Tudor Duchess” or something like that? Since the book is called “The Sixth Queen,” I guess I expected Katherine to be front and center instead.

~Jayne

This book can be purchased in mass market at Amazon or Powells or ebook format.

REVIEW: The Other Boleyn Girl By Philippa Gregory

Jayne — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 09:00:39 +0000

Dear Ms. Gregory,

Once again we get to see the adroit tight-rope walking that it took to live in the Tudor court. While it’s more history than romance, the story of Anne Boleyn’s sister (the first Boleyn girl in Henry’s bed) is definitely fascinating. It could also be titled “Life in the Snake and Scorpion Pit.” Those courtiers would have sold their souls to advance at court. It makes me goggle at the amount of energy, creativeness and effort a whole group of people expended to keep one man amused.

You take the bare facts that are known about Mary’s life and use them to tell the family’s hard slog to the top of the food chain of Tudor England. And it’s equally sharp drop from favor when Anne couldn’t give the king what he craved most in life, a son to succeed him.

Mary comes across as a sometimes not too bright, sometimes selfish, sometimes devoted sister who was willing to do what her family told her in order to advance their power. I got frustrated with her for allowing herself to be kept from her children but then who knows what she really felt? She could have felt as her mother was portrayed as being, cold and willing to use her offspring as pawns. Or she could have truly agonized at their separations from each other. You mention that Mary was sent away from her family at the age of four. Just amazing to think about. I kept trying to put myself in her slippers and see life from the point of view of what was accepted for their class. It was probably better for her children to have been at Hever than at court. Much healthier anyway. I was also surprised at how recently the Boleyn family had jumped into a position of prominence in the country. Really, rather upstarts.

The book presents some interesting “what ifs” and “perhaps” in telling Mary’s story. What was the relationship between the two sisters? Rivals or coconspirators? And what really went on with their brother George? Was he a sodomite or just bored with the empty courtly flattery towards the Queen’s ladies? Was Anne really the bitch/whore/sorceress of history or a woman desperately trying to maintain her footing in the slippery new world she had helped create when good Queen Katherine was ousted?

I thought William was a great character. Poor guy got stuck with a lot of the Boleyn dirty work but he and Mary did seem to have a loving relationship which truly was a rarity in those days among their class. I also noted that he remarried after Mary’s death and had several children. The endnotes list them as having a long and loving life together but actually, in modern terms, Mary appears to have died fairly young, in her late thirties. I guess long for that age but still…at least she didn’t die by the axe! I do wish that you could have somehow told more of the story about Anne once she was arrested and in the tower but I guess having Mary’s daughter Catherine there was the best she could do with a first person POV book.

I would love to know the ins and outs about Henry’s promise to let Anne retire to a nunnery if she signed the annulment papers, then changing his mind. Was he ever serious about this or was it just a ruse to get his way and he always intended Anne to die? It’s really amazing that she stayed in control of him and their relationship for as long as she did. If only she’d have had a son, she could have shimmied naked down the halls of Hampton Court Palace and he’d not have care. Much.

After finishing the book, I spent some time rereading “The Wives of Henry VIII” by Antonia Frasier and her take is that the trial was staged to produce a guilty verdict and that Anne was doomed from the start. Which makes sense when you consider that Katherine of Aragon had finally died a few short months before and why would Henry want another ex wife hanging around and mucking up the scene. Frasier feels than any thoughts of a nunnery or exile were merely the products of Anne’s hysterical mood swings before the trial.

She goes on to list the final resting places for all the wives and mentions that Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard are buried (or were reburied) close to Tower Green where they were beheaded. The Beefeaters who show visitors around are of the opinion that Anne was most probably innocent of the adultery charges while Katherine was probably guilty.

I do know I’d rather lie down with a pack of hungry hyennas or clasp a pit viper to my chest than rely on any of those people to stand by me in a crisis. B+

~Jayne

This book can be purchased in mass market, trade paperback or ebook format.

REVIEW: The Briar Rose by Dinah Dean

Jayne — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 09:00:32 +0000

Dear Readers,

This was a nice little book. It’s set in 1540 England during the dissolution of the last monastery by Henry VIII. Now, when’s the last time you read a book with that background? The heroine’s father has been the bailey of the monastery of Woodham which is to be surrendered to the King. I got the impression that a bailey was the man responsible for managing the monastery grounds, record keeping and such. Anyway, the hero is with the Court of Augmentations, the group of men who traveled around the country seeing to the take over of these church lands and property and guess who’s house he’s come to inventory? Not an auspicious beginning for our love story.

Kate is in love with a showy courtier who’s come in the company of the King to Woodham (the fictional town and Abbey which is based on the real Waltham Abbey) to go hawking and enjoy rural life away from London for a few days. She’s upset about the closing of the monastery both for religious reasons and because her father is about to lose his job. Master Matthew Hartwell seems to her to just be itching to take over her home after he’s inventoried it. But she hopes that Amyas, her love, will come for her one day despite the fact that she now has no dowry. But she’s beginning to worry that Amyas is more interested in his advancement at court than he is in her. And why won’t Master Hartwell leave her alone? He knows she loves another. Besides he’s too quiet and dull for her. No matter that he does seem to be a kind man who does her numerous small favors with no ulterior motive in sight. But Matthew is nothing if not persistent in the pursuit of his lady love and Kate learns to tell true love from dross.

Dean writes more quiet, slow romances. She takes her time to set the stage and gives lots of background info on the times and places about which she writes. But she does it in a very subtle, non bashing you over the head style. However, she’s not one for lots of sexual tension and the love story in this one is played out very slowly. Maybe too slowly at times. Still, the period detail of Tudor England is fascinating. So many jobs that don’t exist anymore, so many traditions that have fallen by the wayside, so much pomp and ceremony that has vanished with that age. B for it.

~Jayne