Tudor Book Blog

Author Philippa Gregory talks about turning historical facts into best sellers in this new article. She also discusses The Other Boleyn Girl, her first successful novel, and her latest, The Red Queen.

Here’s the link to the full article.

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Now for Two Reviews:

Bookworm’s Dinner (hehe love the name) has done a review for Young Bess: The Girl Who Would be Queen by Margaret Irwin. The reviewer explains that “Much of the book is devoted to the Seymour brothers…The book didn’t really turn around for me until almost half way through. The fact that I enjoy reading about Queen Elizabeth and look forward to the entire trilogy saved me from abandoning this one early.”

Here’s the link to the full review.

I must admit that I had started reading this one and about 1/3 of the way through got bored and stopped. Perhaps I will pick it back up in the future since this reviewer seems to have felt the same way but ended up enjoying it anyway!

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On the Tudor Trail, a new favorite blog of mine, has posted a short review for The Early Loves of Anne Boleyn by Josephine Wilkinson. According to Natalie, ”

I would not recommend this as a staring point for researching Anne Boleyn as it focuses on her relationship with the above men and is therefore not an in depth account of her life. On the other hand, if you’re familiar with Anne’s life but are looking for some details about her relationships prior to marrying Henry VIII then you will enjoy this book.”

Here’s the link to her full review.

I have been really curious about this book, so I will be sure to pick it up. I didn’t want to read another book about The Divorce, so I think this might be a good one as it seems to focus on Anne’s early life rather than her later life.

I wanted to point out a wonderful new site I have found called Tudor Talk. It is a podcast show where the host, Virginia, talks about Tudor movies, books, and everything else Tudor related. Be sure to listen here.

Virginia has kindly invited me to join in the discussions on an upcoming episode later this month. We will be discussing part of David Starkey’s Six Wives, focusing on part of the section on Anne Boleyn. More on this later!

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Two giveaways I wanted to mention: Scandalous Women is giving away a copy of Philippa Gregory’s The Red Queen, the second installment of her Cousins’ War Series. See details here. And secondly, The Lady Gwyn’s Kingdom is giving away a copy of The White Queen, the first installment of this series. More here.

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I found a new review for His Last Letter, the book we will be giving away this month here at the Tudor Book Blog. According to the review, “The novel is not only a recounting of two great lives, but also a look at love in middle age, when couples see each other as they once were and not as the greying, aching, wrinkled beings they have become.”

Here’s the link to the full review.

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Another review I wanted to point out was one on a small, but very interesting book The Sisters of Henry VIII. I have personally read this one and enjoyed it. The reviewer did too, stating “erry paints full, rich round characters with Margaret and Mary, showing the reader every aspect of their life. Overall, The Sisters of Henry VIII helps to give a complete picture of Tudor England.”

Here’s the link to the full review.

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Alison Weir has done an interview on NPR discussing some of her past works. She has a short Q&A as well as reveals her upcoming works: A bio on Mary Boleyn and a novel on The Princes in the Tower. Here’s the link.

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I found a review for an older book, The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn, by Robin Maxwell. I read it a while back and thought it was ok (not nearly as good as Mademoiselle Boleyn). The best part of the novel to me were the interludes which flash forward in time to Elizabeth, now Queen, receiving and reading her mother’s diary. Eve, the reviewer “liked that the author tried to humanize Anne and Elizabeth, but in doing so they lost their bite. While I believe both were capable of love, they were primarily political animals. The watered-down version of both women portrayed in this book does not do either of them justice.”

Here’s the link to her full review.

This blog also offers a lot of other reviews on Tudor books (both fiction and non-fiction) and is definitely worth a look!

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Here is another article on G.W. Bernard’s Anne Boleyn: Fatal Attractions. I have decided to up it on my “must read” list because each review/article I read makes me want to read it more! I doubt he will convince me Anne was guilty, but it is sure to be an interesting read! According to this article, “of the conclusions [the author] draws from this latest evidence, Bernard says, “It’s a hypothesis – not a proof. In a court of law you might not condemn her for the crime, but I don’t think you’d acquit her either.”"

Here’s the link.

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Speaking of Anne Boleyn, I have linked to an interesting article about the Swordsman of Calais at the Tudor Times Blog. Click here to see more.

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Finally, Historical Novel Review has posted a review fro Philippa Gregory’s The Other Queen. The novel focuses on the captive Mary Queen of Scots and her captor Bess Hardwick (a friend of Elizabeth I’s). According to the review, “Anyone interested in the imprisonment of Mary Queen of Scots, but doesn’t mind the liberties taken with Bess’s character will enjoy this book. However as a fan of Bess of Hardwick and her triumph over personal trials, it wasn’t very compelling.”

Here’s the link to the full review.

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I have some pretty interesting things to share with you guys this week, now that the giveaway is over!

First off, I have decided to do some type of giveaway every month, whether it is a book or an item from the store. I am adding a spot on the right hand sidebar which will tell each month’s giveaway and the upcoming month’s giveaway. Next month’s giveaway will be His Last Letter. The author, Jeane Westin, will be doing a special author post her in August to coincide with the book giveaway!

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I discovered a wonderful site this past week  called Tudor Talk. It is run by Virginia, coincidentally the winner of our giveaway this month! Rather than simply posting on her blog, she dos podcasts. I spent all day Mon. listening to them. She does book reviews, interviews, as well as reviews movies. She also started reviewing “The Tudors,” beginning with episode one. It is very interesting and fun to listen to, so check it out here!

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The Everything Tudor Wiki is really taking off! I am very excited about it. The members and I are having a wonderful time discussing everything to do with the Tudors. Be sure to check it out here!

Also, in the Tudor Book Club we are moving on to Chapters 4, 5, and 6 in The Lady Elizabeth next week, so make sure to join in as we discuss them!

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Here are two reviews I have been meaning to post for two weeks! The first is a review is special. It is by author Philippa Gregory and is on G.W. Bernard’s Anne Boleyn: Fatal Attractions. In this new look at Anne, Bernard offers up the possiblity that Anne did commit adultery, as she was condemned for. According to Gregory in the review, “Bernard’s Anne Boleyn is a fool for love. There are many, many other versions of this woman, and as Bernard has powerfully demonstrated, there is evidence to suit them all, but nothing to prove any. She remains for us — as she was for the Tudors — a whore for some, a saint for others, a virago, a victim, a complex woman.”

Here’s the link to the full review.

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The second is of Jean Plaidy’s To Hold a Crown. This story focuses on Henry VII, as well as looks into Richard III and the Princes in the Tower. According to the reviewer, “while I enjoyed the novel, I found it deeply disturbing–though this is no fault of the writer.  These were disturbing times (to the modern reader, at least) and I was suitably disturbed.  I was disturbed by the women who were nothing but pawns and creatures to be mated…”

Here’s the link to the review.

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I have a ton of e-mail to go through, so keep an eye out for more posts this week!

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Here’s a review for The Autobiography of Henry VIII. This is a long and interesting novel written from the point of view of Henry. I really enjoyed this novel as did the reviewer who said, “The novel is strong and well-written.  Henry VIII’s narrative is fascinating and rich with him explaining everything that occurred in his life.  You almost believe that the real Henry VIII wrote this journal.  The novel presents every incident in his life in great detail from what food he ate at a banquet with Anne Boleyn to his sexual romps with Catherine Howard.  The novel presents a pious, courageous, and stubborn Catherine of Aragon, a kind and surprisingly smart Anne of Cleves, a deliciously selfish wanton with surprising insight in Catherine Howard, and a loyal, loving, and maternal figure in Catherine Parr.  Where it struggles is in the portrayal of Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour.  It makes Anne Boleyn a total sinner who Henry believes a true witch with no good qualities and Jane Seymour a perfect saint.  Yes, the novel is seen from Henry VIII’s point of view where he probably believed Anne was a sinner and Jane was a saint, but it can get frustrating to read Anne as this evil person ignoring any good qualities she had.”

Here’s the link to the full review.

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The Burton Review has done a nice review for David Loades’ Six Wives of Henry VIII. Marie gives great summaries on each of the wives as Loades approcahed them. She concludes that “Although I do enjoy Alison Weir’s writing, the main difference I found in this text by David Loades is that he uses less ’supposedlys’ and sticks to facts and not conjecture. Those readers wanting a more detailed account of all the events relating to the wives and the times would not get much of a good taste in Loades summary…I enjoyed the sporadic moments on when I felt I learned something new, but I would not recommend this for the very seasoned Tudor reader because of the lack of insight. Alternatively, this would be a fantastic non-fiction read for those who would like to learn a few facts about Henry VIII’s wives without having to suffer through a five hundred page account such as the books by Starkey, Weir, and Fraser.”

Loades’ version is the only one I have not read in this list, and I think I might pass on it for now. But if you know little about the Six Wives, this sounds like it could be a good book for you!

Here’s the link to the full review.

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Speaking of the Six Wives, here’s a review for David Starkey’s version. I have personally read this one. I would not recommend reading it straight through, but it is an excellent source for research. He leaves absolutely no detail out. The reviewer brought up a good point in the review that seems a bit biased in dealing with the wives. For example, he ”writes sympathetically about Katherine Howard. She is usually regarded as a rather stupid tecenager, but Starkey’s book shows that she really wasn’t stupid. She also had a mind of her own and spoke up for some people whose lives were in danger” while he “appeared to dislike Jane Seymour.”

The reviewer seems to agree with me that Starkey’s writing style can be a bit tedious as he leaves nothing out and does jump to some far fetched conclusions at times. However, in my opinion, for a reference book it is excellent.

Here’s the link.

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I have mentioned the Morland Dynasty series a few times on the blog, and have recently found a review for the latest book Dark Rose. According to Amy at Passages to the Past, “I gotta say that book two was rather disappointing. Set during the reign of Henry VIII, The Dark Rose takes us on a journey through the lives of the Morlands, in particular Paul (the matriarch Eleanor’s great-grandson) and his niece Nanette during this tumultuous time in England’s history. And you would think that being set in Tudor times that the book would be exciting, riveting but I found it just plain boring and sometimes a bit unbelievable. It wasn’t a bad read necessarily, just not a great one.”

I have read mixed reviews on this book. I have not read this series myself, but the reviewer seemed to really love the first book and is going to read the thrid (which comes out later this year). Hopefully she will like it better!

Here’s the link to the full review.

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 Finally, I have two interviews with author Cinsearae S., who recently released Boleyn: Tudor Vampire. In the first interview, she says that she was inspired by history and Shotime’s The Tudors. She explains that after “watching the series a couple of times, my muse smacked me in the head and said, ‘Why not let Anne Boleyn get a little revenge?’” The interview also offers a nice excerpt from the book. Here’s the link.

The second interview includes a nice synopsis of the story as well as some detail about other characters such as George Boleyn and Mark Smeaton. It also talks about some future works of the author. Here’s the link to it.

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Marie Sandeford/Joy Childs (who writes under both names) is the author of three Tudor related books I wanted to highlight this week.

Second Sister: A Royal Tudor Romance is a lovely story following Lady Catherine Grey, sister of the ill-fated Jane Grey. Catherine led a tumultuous life and ended up gaining much resentment and anger from Elizabeth I for marrying without her consent. I have begun reading this recently and am thoroughly enthralled.

Here’s the amazon uk link.

Joy also sent me a copy of a review from the Derby Evening Telegram in May 1999 which states the “book is a compelling mixture of history and romantic writing, plus a touch of the thriller….”

Also, Tanzanite’s Shelf and Stuff has a review of this novel with a nice synopsis. Here’s the link.

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Dorothy: The Romantic Story of Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall

This is a story of Dorothy Haddon who is said to have eloped with James Manners from Haddon Hall. There is a nice overview of the story at a Haddon Hall website here. Joy explained that parts of her novel were used in a play performed at Haddon Hall.

Here’s the amazon link.

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Tales of Tudor Women is a small book which Joy informed me that some of its content is based on essays she has written on various Tudor women, as well as some extra information. It was published on the 400th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth I’s death. She is presently working on its companion volume.

Here’s the amazon link.

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I have a bit more to post on each of these, but I will do so as I review them! I am currently reading The Second Sister and really enjoying it. That review should be up soon.

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Well, I’m back in town and finally have internet access! I was at the beach with my family so sorry no new posts! I have a ton of really great stuff to post this week including a Book of the Week on a new author, Marie Sandeford/Joy Childs.

Also, I have finished Secrets of the Tudor Court and will add my review for it, as well as The Pleasure Palace here this week. Keep an eye out for them.

Finally, the Everything Tudor Store is launching Monday, July 5th! Yay! Finally! I have lots of great stuff for the Tudor Lover, so be sure to check it out. I will post more detail and links then!

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Now to tide you over until I can get through some of my e-mail, here are two nice reviews:

The first is on The King’s Daughter by Sandra Worth. This novel focuses on Elizabeth of York, mother of Henry VIII. Here’s a snippet of what the review says:

“Methodically researched and extremely well written, The King’s Daughter: A Novel Of The First Tudor Queen will pull on your heartstrings. Sandra Worth has a magical way of combing fiction and history so the reader is drawn into the heart of the book.”

Sounds interesting to me! I have always wanted to read more about Elizabeth of York. I really enjoy reading about her mother, so I will try to pick this one up and learn a bit more about the daughter.

Here’s the link to the review.

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Another review I wanted to point out is a nice one from The Washington Times on Fatal Attractions by G.W. Bernard. One thing that stuck out to me about this review is the mention of Anne’s origins and childhood in the book. So far the focus on most reviews has been that Bernard is offering the theory that Anne was, at least partly, guilty of the crimes that sent her to the block. Here’s an excerpt from the review focusing on a different part:

“In an early chapter titled “Who was Anne Boleyn?” Mr. Bernard writes, “Anne Boleyn is often presented as a ’self-made’ woman rising from lowly origins to the top before her dramatic fall. But that is nonsense. Anne was not ‘a poor knight’s daughter’ as one Nicholas Delanoy allegedly said to a skinner of St. Omer Calais. Such talk was and is highly misleading. Anne was born into the English social and political elite. Her father was Thomas Boleyn, who as Anne was growing up was an increasingly prominent courtier-administrator at the court and in the government of Henry VIII.”

Here’s the link to the full review. It’s well worth the read!

There are a lot of new and upcoming Tudor book releases I wanted to inform you about!

The Tudors For Dummies by David Loades. This entertaining book will be released in Jan. 2011, so we still have a little while to wait. This “guide covers the period from 1485 to 1603, exploring the life and times of everyday people (from famine and the flu epidemic, to education, witchcraft and William Shakespeare) as well as the intrigues and scandals at court.” Amazon has a list of the table of contents. Check the link below.

Here’s the amazon link.

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A Murder of Crows by P.F. Chisholm was recently released (June 1) this year. This is the fifth Sir Robert Carey mystery. According to the prod. information, Robert’s “powerful father, Henry, Lord Hunsdon, son of the other Boleyn girl, Mary and her paramour young Henry VIII, wants him to solve the mystery of a badly decomposed corpse from the Thames that has washed up on Her Majesty’s Privy Steps.”

Here’s the amazon link.

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The Secret Confessions of Anne Shakespeare by Arliss Ryan. This book was also just released June 1st. According to the prod. description, “Taking up a new identity at Will’s side, Anne supports his career as a struggling actor by sewing costumes and transcribing manuscripts in the rough-and-tumble world of London’s theatres. As Will finds his true calling in writing, Anne’s own literary skills begin to flower, leading to a secret collaboration that makes Will the foremost playwright in Elizabethan England.”

Here’s the amazon link.

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Secrets of the Tudor Court: By Royal Decree by Kate Emerson. This one is due out Dec. 14th. I am excited about it. I really enjoyed Emerson’s first novel in this series, and am starting the second soon. There isn’t much out about this yet, except that “Emerson returns to the Tudor Court in By Royal Decree, where lady-in-waiting Bess must resist the handsome Will Parr, who is bethrothed to another.”

Here’s the amazon link.

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The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory is the second installment of her Cousins’ War Series. This one focuses on Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII. The prod. descriptions states that in this “novel of conspiracy, passion, and coldhearted ambition, number one bestselling author Philippa Gregory has brought to life the story of a proud and determined woman who believes that she alone is destined, by her piety and lineage, to shape the course of history.” This one will be released Aug. 3rd.

Here’s the amazon link.

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His Last Letter by Jeane Westin is going to be released Aug. 3. It “tells the story of this great love… and especially of the last three years Elizabeth and Dudley spent together, the most dangerous of her rule, when their passion was tempered by a bittersweet recognition of all that they shared-and all that would remain unfulfilled.”

Here’s the amazon link.

Mary Tudor: Princess, Bastard, Queen by Anna Whitelock is being released Sept. 7th. Author Anna Whitelock, “an acclaimed young British historian, chronicles this unique woman’s life from her beginnings as a heralded princess to her rivalry with her sister to her ascent as ruler. In brilliant detail, Whitelock reveals that Mary Tudor was not the weak-willed failure as so often rendered by traditional narratives but a complex figure of immense courage, determination, and humanity.”

Here’s the amazon link.

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I found a new review for Secrets of the Tudor Court by D.L. Bogdan. The reviewer really enjoyed this novel, just as I am. Se concluded that “Ms. Bogdon is a talented author and this being her debut novel is amazing. I really look forward to her other books that will surely follow.”

Here’s the link to the full review.

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According to this new review for The Lady in the Tower by Allison Weir, the reviewer states that before reading it “I believed Anne wholly guilty of the charges leveled against her but the author gives us a different take on the whole sordid affair. Ms. Weir isn’t saying that Anne’s completely innocent but she does present a very compelling case for the Queen being framed.”

Here’s the link.

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I was surprised when I read this review for The Sixth Wife. I believe the reviewer had the same reaction when reading the novel itself. According to them, “This novel will make fans of the Tudor period angry on so many levels.  Initially readers will believe they are going to read a novel about one of the most fascinating wives of Henry VIII seen through the eyes of her best friend, the Duchess of Suffolk.  Readers believe they will witness an outsider’s view to the marriage between Thomas Seymour and Catherine Parr with the Princess Elizabeth situation thrown in, but instead they get a pointless and shallow love affair between Thomas Seymour and the Duchess of Suffolk.  Catherine Brandon spends the novel bemoaning her lack of a childhood because she was a child bride and mother, pretending to feel guilt about her dalliance with Thomas Seymour, and casting judgement on everyone particularly the Princess Elizabeth.  It is eye-rolling to see Catherine Brandon judging the Princess Elizabeth when this woman is having a dangerous affair with the husband of her best friend.”

Interesting! I actually really want to read this now to see how the author spins this one! Here’s the link the the full review.

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Here is the link to a new review for House of Treason by Robert Hutchinson. According to the reviewer, “Hutchinson describes all of the intrigues and excitement that are a part of this family’s history.” I like that this book focuses not only on Henry Howard, but also some of the less known Howards like Philip Howard, Duke of Arundel who was canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1970.

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I found a “new” book the other day titled The King’s Reformation. Now when I say “new” I mean new to me. It was published in 2005. However, it caught my attention because it is by G.W. Bernard, the author of the new and a bit controversial book titled Anne Boleyn: Fatal Attractions.

According to the product description, “Bernard…demonstrates that Henry’s reformation of the English church involved more complex motives and methods than his desire for a new wife and an heir…[offering] a magisterially exhaustive account of Henry’s religious reforms, his opponents, and his supporters, as well as the ways that Henry’s policies led to the political and religious reformations of Thomas Cranmer and Oliver Cromwell. This is a first-rate account of a controversial king and his role in the development of the English church.”

Here’s the amazon link for more info.

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As one who is almost done with their Masters Program in Library and Information Science, I found this short article quite appealing. A librarian from the Tulsa Library has written a short bit on some of her favorite Tudor Books. The lists includes those by Alison Weir and Philippa Gregory.

Here’s the link to check out her recommendations.

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I found a new article on the new novel No Will But His, following the tragic tale of Katheryn Howard. When discussing her new novel, author Sarah Hoyt explained that “I got the idea while having an email argument with my editor about whether Kathryn Howard was just a dumb slut or not.” In this new article I found discussing the novel, the author goes into some detail about her ideas on Katheryn and the work that went into the novel.

Here’s the link.

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Here’s the link to a nice review for Alison Weir’s Innocent Traitor. This novel is told from the point of view of Jane Grey as well as those around her. For the most part the reviewer seemed to like the book, though she could tell Weir had a background in non-fiction, making some parts a bit “stiff.”

Here’s the link for the full review.

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Well, Anne Boleyn: Fatal Attractions has finally been released (May 25th) and is getting some interesting reviews. Here is one from Herald Scotland which concludes that, even after reading Bernard’s new theory, “Boleyn was thrown to the wolves. At the very least, her tendency to shine a seductive eye on Henrician courtiers was blown out of all proportion in the interests of political advantage (be it Henry’s or his attendees). What I’ll never do again, thanks to Bernard’s book, is treat that suspicion as an article of historical faith. Bernard is getting bolder as he gets older. He opines, tongue in cheek, that the serious historian “might envy the historical novelist” who can just invent things about the Tudor age.”

Here’s the link to the full review.

If you want to read more about Anne Boleyn’s fall, the Confessions of a Ci-Devant Blog has done a lot of nice posts on the events as they happened day by day. Here’s the link to the first one.

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The Gerbera Daisy Blog and the Amused By Books Blog have joined forces to make it through Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. Each Wednesday they get together and discuss their thoughts on what they have read so far.

Here’s the link to the first post which explains it in more detail. To read later posts, check the side menu.

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The Poyson Garden by Karen Harper has been reviewed at Historical Tapestry. This novel focuses on the young Elizabeth Tudor (before she becomes Queen) who receives a letter from her aunt Mary Boleyn (thought to be dead) to help solve the mystery of who is out to kill all the Boleyns, including Elizabeth herself. According to the review, “the whole book is plot driven so we don’t really get to know the characters all that well, they are too busy running around detecting - I suppose we may know more in future books - and we don’t have a real sense of the period for the same reason.” It seems like an interesting idea, but the reviewer didn’t care much for the novel.

Here’s the link to the review.

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Katherine the Queen by Linda Porter

This new biography on Katherine Parr has raised a lot of attention. Most historians focus on Henry’s first two marriages, not so much on his last. However, according to the review linked below “Porter’s lively and detailed account gives us a revealing and reinvigorated image of Katherine…a beautiful, intelligent and graceful woman whose abiding legacy was the creation of Elizabeth I, England’s most glorious monarch.”

Here’s the link.

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The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory.

I keep hearing a lot about this one. I read The Other Boleyn Girl and was pleasantly surprised, so I think I will try this one out soon. I found a nice review about it where the reviewer seemed to really like this novel. She explains that “Gregory has a way with characters.  It’s like you get to see into their souls and travel inside their heads with them.  Anne of Cleaves was by far my favorite character in this story, but all three women were beautifully illustrated.”

Here’s the link to the full review.

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I have begun reading Secrets of the Tudor Court by D.L. Bogdan. So far it is interesting, taken from the point of view of Mary Howard. I will be finishing it up soon and posting my review. For those interested in it, you might want to check out the giveaway Passages to the Past is having!

Here’s the link for more info.

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Readers in the Mist has posted a review for Eric Ives’ latest work Lady Jane Grey: A Tudor Mystery. Unfortunately, the reviewer was a bit disappointed…

Here’s the link to the review.

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Renaissance Daze has a nice post on Elizabeth Wydville, comparing the novels The White Queen by Philippa Gregory and Royal Blood: Richard III and the Mystery of the Princes by Bertram Fields. According to the reviewer, The White Queen “manages to deliver a lot of historical fact wrapped up as pure entertainment with liberal doses of romance and mysticism thrown in for good measure” while in Royal Blood, “Richard III certainly appears to be a much better man than was ever portrayed by Shakespeare, Henry VII and the Duke of Buckingham emerge as suspects and Elizabeth’s actions are analyzed for clues.”

Here’s the link to the post.

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First off, I would like to thank Leanda for the wonderful opportunity to review this book! She sent me a beautiful hardcover copy and I have really enjoyed reading it! I also wanted to thank her for her patience. I have been so busy the last few months finishing up my masters program as well as traveling to England. My reading, reviewing, and blogging time has suffered. I am sorry! But I am done now, so I am free to pursue my true passion, Tudor books! Now for my review:

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The Sisters Who Would be Queen: Mary, Katherine, and Lady Jane Grey by Leanda de Lisle–Book Review

As someone who has a bachelors in history, I have spent a lot of time reviewing non-fiction history books for classes. Despite having to read these non-fiction books for class, I do a lot of non-fiction reading for pleasure. I have made it through Weir’s, Fraser’s and even Starkey’s Six Wives of Henry VIII, as well as numerous other Tudor, French Revolution, and Romanov non-fiction. I usually prefer this non-fiction to fiction. Yes, I’m a nerd. However, The Sisters Who Would be Queen is a book for the nerds like me, but also a book for the majority of those who like fiction. It is written in an easy-to-read style, like most fiction, as well as full of facts for those non-fiction lovers. The subject matter is presented in a way to draw the reader into the world of the characters, much like a novel does.

Lady Jane Grey

There are many things I enjoyed about The Sisters Who Would be Queen. Many Tudor related books tend to start off great, focusing on the topic, then somehow ending up discussing Henry VIII and his wives or Elizabeth and her Golden Age. These are fascinating subjects, but should not be the central topic of every Tudor book. This book briefly discusses Henry VIII’s wives and Elizabeth, however I really liked that de Lisle didn’t dwell on them, rather used them as a familiar timeline to lay the foundations for her real subject matter, the Grey sisters.

The book is divided into four main parts: 1) Educating Jane, 2) Queen and Martyr, 3) Heirs to Elizabeth, and 4) Lost Love. Obviously the first two parts really focus on Jane Grey, her early life and eventual rise to the throne and subsequent swift fall. Throughout the first few chapters, de Lisle discusses Jane, Katherine, and Mary’s births and educations. Already I am intrigued. Yes, Jane Grey is a central figure, however de Lisle makes an effort to bring her sisters, Katherine and Mary, to the front. According to de Lisle, educating women had become quite fashionable while the three sisters were growing up. She goes into a lot of detail about their education, which I found extremely interesting! I won’t dwell on the section about Jane’s reign in this review, as most people are familiar with the story, however I did want to mention de Lisle’s view on Jane’s innocence in the plot to make her queen. According to de Lisle, “The Victorians produced innumerable prints depicting Jane modestly shrinking from the crown…But as Jane was signing herself ‘Jane the Quene’ on a daily basis, she wasn’t shrinking from the crown in any meaningful sense.” She also concludes that Jane really shines as a prisoner and as a victim of the axeman, rather than a queen. This is where she comes “into her own,” as a leader of the Protestant Reformation.

Lady Katherine Grey

Section Three, to me, is where the book really becomes interesting. True, de Lisle did a great job debunking many of the myths surrounding Jane, however I always enjoy learning about those figures who stood in the shadows, like Jane’s sisters. Part Three focuses on Katherine Grey, the middle sister. As the timeline continues, Mary is married to Phillip of Spain, has her “phantom pregnancies,” and eventually dies with Elizabeth succeeding her. Katherine, under Henry VIII’s will, is presumed heir, though Elizabeth snubs her and dissuades her council from considering it. She falls in love Edward “Ned” Seymour, Earl of Hertford and they marry without permission, despite the wrath that ensues from Elizabeth. Katherine and Hertford are imprisoned in the Tower for their marriage and eventually have two sons there. Katherine dies in 1568 of consumption at the age of 27, still “under arrest,” with her marriage annulled and her sons declared illegitimate. Leanda de Lisle gives an amazing recounting of this fascinating woman’s life. She defied her queen to marry the man she loved and spent the rest of her life in prison for it. de Lisle seems to think that Elizabeth feared Katherine as a potential rival. Her legitimacy was never in doubt (like Elizabeth’s) and she was able to produce two sons. Katherine had many, including Hale, promoting her as the rightful heir.

With Katherine’s death, the succession passed to Mary Grey, as does the last part of the book. However, de Lisle explains that because of Mary’s physical appearance she was never seriously considered as a contender for the throne. She was possibly a midget or had some sort of spinal deformity. However, like her sister Katherine, did marry and without the Queen’s permission. She, too, was placed under house arrest until the death of her husband. She never produced any children, which seemed to keep the Queen’s wrath at a low roar. Mary eventually returned to court and served Elizabeth as a maid of honor (a sign of Elizabeth not accepting Mary’s marriage). According to de Lisle, Mary kept her sister Jane’s memory close, owning a copy of Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. Strong and determined, like her sisters, Mary signed herself as “Mary Grey…Widow.” Though Elizabeth refused to accept her marriage, Mary kept it alive. To confirm de Lisle’s explanation of Elizabeth’s poor treatment of the Grey sisters, she proposes the example that upon Mary Grey’s death in 1578, the next “heir” to the throne, Margaret Clifford, Countess of Derby was arrested for hiring a magician to place spells on the queen. She was never freed from arrest.

Lady Mary Grey

Throughout the book, I really like how de Lisle interjects bits of history not centered on the sisters to keep the timeline on track. She discusses the sisters’ relevancy to these events, like the coronation of Edward VI and the reigns of Mary I and Elizabeth I, but also gives details not related to them, such as how Edward’s coronation was the first to have significant changes made to reveal the break with old Church rule as well as the fates of the children of Katherine Grey in the aftermath of Elizabeth’s death.

In her Epilogue, de Lisle discusses many of the myths surrounding Jane Grey, as well as literature and media related to the three sisters. Obviously Jane has the most, being romanticized in book and portrait. However, Mary has one book written about her, The Tablette Book of Lady Mary Keyes by Flora McDonald. It is a fictional memoir. The Stuarts, like Elizabeth, resented the Grey sisters’ line in the succession, so attempted to keep them out of the light. Despite this, the sisters’ stories are remembered. I think de Lisle sums it up best with her last words on the sisters: “The historical stories of the Grey sisters, stripped of literary debris, remain, meanwhile, as tragic and poignant as any fiction could make them….”

I give this book five out of five roses.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, much as I do novels. I found de Lisle’s writing style easy and fun to read. She included many facts, but with her writing style one did not feel bogged down by them. I also found her debunking of many of the myths surrounding Jane Grey fascinating, as well as hearing the stories of her sisters Katherine and Mary. They are in Jane’s shadow, but I feel that de Lisle did a fantastic job of bringing them to the forefront. That, to me, is the best part of the book.

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Thank you again Leanda! I really loved your book and cannot wait to read your next one!

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According to an e-mail I received from Leanda, she is currently working on “a dynastic history of the Tudors, told as one fluent story” due to be released in 2013. I can’t wait! I will post as more becomes available about it!

Sorry it has been a couple of days. I have just finished finals and spent some time at home with my family! But I am back now and have some good stuff to share with you!

First off, I am finishing up my review for The Sisters Who Would Be Queen. I finished this book last month (after having to put it on hold a few times due to school) but I have finally written the review and am just tweeking it! It will be posted Tues. by the latest. I am also almost finished reading my next book to review, The Boleyn Wife, so keep an eye out!

Secondly, I am almost done with the new site store. Yes, it has taken forever but I think it is looking really nice! I just kept adding products and had to make new pages for them, etc. so it has taken a while. It will be up and running very soon!

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Ok, I was searching online and found two new releases for this summer:

1) The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory. This is the second installment in her Cousins’ War series and focuses on Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII. According to Amazon, “tells the story of the child-bride of Edmund Tudor, who, although widowed in her early teens, uses her determination of character and wily plotting to infiltrate the house of York under the guise of loyal friend and servant, undermine the support for Richard III and ultimately ensure that her only son, Henry Tudor, triumphs as King of England. Through collaboration with the dowager Queen Elizabeth Woodville, Margaret agrees a betrothal between Henry and Elizabeth’s daughter, thereby uniting the families and resolving the Cousins War once and for all by founding of the Tudor dynasty.”

It will be released in Aug. in the UK. Here’s the amazon uk link for more info.

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Another new release is by Suzannah Dunn and titled The Confessions of Katherine Howard. The story obviously follows Katherine Howard, but also incorporates her childhood friend and confidant Cat Tilney. According to Amazon, “or a blissful year and a half, it seems that Katherine can have everything she wants. But then allegations are made about her girlhood love affairs. Desperately frightened, Katherine recounts a version of events which implicates Francis but which Cat knows to be a lie. With Francis in the Tower, Cat alone knows the whole truth of Queen Katherine Howard - but if she tells, Katherine will die.”

It will be released the 27th of May 2010 (this month!) in the UK. Here’s the amazon UK link.

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Now for some reviews:

1) M.M. Bennet’s blog has reviewed David Starkey’s Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII.

I don’t see many reviews for this book, so this was a treat. According to the review, “there is no fragment of information too small, too foreign, too illegible, too out of sync to escape his notice. Whether it was an obscure letter from Catherine of Aragon to her father…or the illegible (and thus never bothered with) transcript of Thomas Culpepper’s ‘confession’ about his relationship with Catherine Howard (Henry’s wife number five) which sent her to the executioner’s block. Whatever and wherever it is, Starkey ferrets it out and makes sense of it.” The reviewer also points out that “Possibly the greatest strength of Starkey’s work though is that he remains steadfastly focused on these six women–despite the lodestar of Henry’s dominating presence–revealing so much about them that was previously unknown and unfathomed, but also disproving many of the prominent myths.”

It’s well worth a read! Here’s the link.

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2) I haven’t really seen one of these before, but here is a review for the audio book of Wolf Hall. The reviewer discusses the “reader” as well as some about the book itself. Here’s the link.

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3) And finally, here’s another review for The Heretic’s Wife by Brenda Rickman Vantrease.

According to the reviewer, “I was sucked right into the story and never once did it lose its grip on me. Its a good thing the hubby is out of town as I devoted all my time to reading over the last day or so. While I’ve read many books with story lines based around the Tudor era this is first one I’ve read focusing on the Lutheran reformation.”

Here’s the link. There are a lot of good replies to the posts if you scroll down!

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I still have a ton more e-mails to go through (yes, I still haven’t caught up from my week in England!), so keep posted!

I stumbled across a great site that did a series of reviews on Tudor-related literature. It is titled “Keeping up with the Tudors” and includes reviews on:

1) Rich Apparel: Clothing and the Law in Henry VIII’s England by Maria Hayward

According to the review, the author’s “goal is to lay before the reader as wide and detailed a picture of the role apparel played in Tudor times as the primary sources will allow, and she succeeds admirably.”

2) Roanoke by Margaret Lawrence

According to the review, “Margaret Lawrence has written a rare thing: a plot-driven mystery novel that can be re-read and savored as a piece of historical fiction. No library of Tudor fiction should be without it.”

3) Revelation by  C. J. Sansom

According to the review, “Revelation has all the hallmarks of classic hitorical mystery fiction: the hero is completely steadfast, his assistants get all the good jokes, [and] the female characters are largely ciphers (note how often this applies even in series where a woman is the main character…”

4) The Queen’s Sorrow by Suzannah Dunn

According to the review, “This being a historical novel aimed at a popular audience, there’s of course a love story, but the highlight of the book is Dunn’s subtle rendering of the serpentine paths emotions take through the people feeling them.”

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I really recommend looking at this site. Each review includes excerpts from the books and good commentary. I really like that it focuses on books that haven’t gotten a lot of “press.”

Here’s the link to the reviews.

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The Ten Pages of More Blog is doing a nice live book/read-along of Hillary Mantel’s Wolf Hall. It starts here; Just scroll down to the bottom of the page to #1. Each post covers a few more pages and gives nice overviews and quotes of what is going on in the story. I have been really wanting to do this over at the Live Book Blog, but alas, time has kept me from doing it! Perhaps when things settle down more this summer I can resume!

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Shakespeare’s play Henry VIII is being performed at the Globe starting May 15th. Here’s an article discussing it with info. on how to get tickets!

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There is drama in the world of historical scholarship (besides the normal drama from the history itself). Dr. David Starkey, made famous by his historical works on Henry VIII, hist six wives, and Elizabeth, has recently come out to say that female historians write “‘historical Mills and Boon…’” are “‘usually quite pretty’ and keen to show off their good looks on their book covers…” and have names that “‘usually begin and end with A.’” The article (linked below) discusses who some of these women writers might be, as well as their responses to Starkey’s strange comments.

Here’s the link.

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The Mary Tudor: Renaissance Queen Blog has raised an interesting question: Are we demoting Mary by referring to her simply as “Mary Tudor”?

The post discusses some of the recent scholarly work done on the subject such as Professor Peter Marshall’s (of the University of Warwick) article for The Times Literary Supplement. He concludes that “Mary is the only English monarch routinely known by her family name rather than her regnal number. It’s as if she wasn’t really a proper queen at all, her rule an interruption to the proper numerical progress of monarchical history.” It is a really fascinating post and article (both linked below). It is quite enlightening on a topic I hadn’t really thought about before!

Here’s the link to the blog post.

Here’s the link to the article.

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The last Shardlake Mystery, Heartstone, by C.J. Sansom, is due to be released on Sept. 3, 2010 in the UK. It is set in Tudor England and follows the detective Matthew Shardlake. For a short synopsis of it, follow this link.

Here’s the amazon.co.uk link for more info.

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Passages to the Past has a guest post by author Stephanie Cowell discussing the writing process for historical fiction. throughout the article she discusses different issues that arise when writing historical fictions, such as “On the chat groups for historical fiction writers, the subject which arises again and again (always drawing the cyberspace equivalent of blood) of how much the historical novelist is allowed to invent.” She concludes that “we take a person who once really lived and blend fact and fiction and love and skill and hope it will speak to some readers.”

To read more, follow this link.

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I ran across a new article about author Brenda Vantrease, author of The Heretic’s Wife, today. This novel chronicles Kate Gough’s ups and downs during the Reformation. According to the article, “Vantrease is a master of the intricacies of good historical fiction. Her narratives are deftly woven — the history accurate yet finely detailed, the storytelling layered with depth and emotion (and with healthy doses of romance and sex thrown in). As she has before, Vantrease presents a range of characters, and in The Heretic’s Wife, she takes on their multiple points of view.” I really enjoyed this article and am really interested to add this book to my Tudor Book Challenge list this year!

Here’s the link to the full article.

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Author David Loades is doing a free post grad workshop at the University of Liverpool entitled, ‘The English Reformation: Religion and the World.” It will be in June. If you would like to attend you must make a reservation (by contacting the Univ. of Liverpool’s history department) ahead of time.

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Claire at the Anne Boleyn Files has written up a very detailed review for Katherine The Queen, Linda Porter’s latest book. According to Claire, “I was dying for this book to be released because I loved Porter’s book on Mary I (”Mary Tudor: The First Queen”), which, I would go as far as to say, is THE Mary I biography and a complete guide to the Queen. Porter’s book on Katherine Parr is just the same, a must-read for those who want to know more about Henry’s sixth and final wife, and a complete guide to Katherine’s life, from a background on her family to the discovery of Katherine Parr’s tomb at Sudeley Castle in the late 18th century. It covers everything, nothing is missed, and I heartily recommend it.”

Here’s the link.

First off, two new books have been recently released in the UK/USA:

Death and the Virgin by Chris Skidmore-This book investigates the death (and possible murder) of Amy Dudley, wife of Robert Dudley who died after a fall down the stairs. According to the product description, “Had it not been for the mysterious and untimely death of his wife, Amy Robsart, Elizabeth might have one day been able to marry Dudley, since Amy was believed to be dying of breast cancer. Instead, the suspicious circumstances surrounding Amy Robsart’s death would cast a long shadow over Elizabeth’s life, preventing any hope of a union with Dudley and ultimately shaping the course of Tudor history. Using newly discovered evidence from the archives, Christopher Skidmore is able to put an end to centuries of speculation as to the true causes of her death. This is the story of a remarkable and frenetic period in Elizabeth’s life: a tale of love, death and tragedy, exploring the dramatic early life of England’s Virgin Queen.”

This was recently released in the UK and the USA on Feb. 25th 2010.

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Katherine the Queen: The Remarkable Life of Katherine Parr was released in the UK and USA in March of this year. According to the product description, “despite the vivid interest of her life, this is the first full-scale, accessible biography of this fascinating woman who was, in reality, one of the most influential and active queen consorts in English history.”

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Now for some upcoming releases:

Tudor Queens of England by David Loades will be released on May 3, 2010. According to the product description, “From Elizabeth of York - wife of Henry VII, the first Tudor monarch - through to Elizabeth I, her grand-daughter and the last in the line, this book explores some of the most colorful and dramatic women in British history. Queen consorts were central to the Royal Court but their role has rarely been examined or contrasted with the better known ruling queens.” Loades attempts to answer the questions of “How did they behave (in and out of the bedchamber)? How powerful were they as patrons of learning and the arts? What religious views did they espouse and why? How successful and influential were they?”

The amazon link (here) offers the “Look Inside” feature. Check out the Table of Contents, I like how he has divided up his book!

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The Tudors: A Brief Insight by John Guy is being released on May 4, 2010. I hadn’t heard of this one yet, but according to the product description, “John Guy provides the most authoritative overview of this age in British history, offering a compelling account of the political, religious, and economic changes that occurred under Henry VIII and Elizabeth I.  In addition, Guy comprehensively reassesses the reigns of Henry VII, Edward VI, and Philip and Mary.”

Here’s the amazon link.

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And finally, perhaps the most anticipated summer release this year, Anne Boleyn: Fatal Attraction is being released on May 25, 2010. According to its product description, “Bernard reconsiders Boleyn’s girlhood, her experience at the French court, the nature of her relationship with Henry, and the authenticity of her evangelical sympathies. He depicts Anne Boleyn as a captivating, intelligent, and highly sexual woman whose attractions Henry resisted for years until marriage could ensure legitimacy for their offspring. He shows that it was Henry, not Anne, who developed the ideas that led to the break with Rome. And, most radically, he argues that the allegations of adultery that led to Anne’s execution in the Tower could be close to the truth.” There is already a lot of debate raging around it, so we shall see how it turns out once it is released!

Here’s the amazon link.

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This book was published in 2005 and written by Derek Wilson. Wilson has also written A Brief History of Henry VIII and In the Lion’s Court: Power, Ambition, and Sudden Death in the Reign of Henry VIII.

I have found a review for it which states, “on the whole [the book] is engaging and accessible, and certainly illuminating toward a family otherwise lesser known and little studied. There are genealogical charts showing descendants as well as alliances, photographic plates with images of the Dudleys and places of interest, a good collection of notes, bibliographic references, and a reasonable index. This book straddles the fence between being a popular history and an academic history, edging more toward the popular.”

Here’s the link to a review.

The amazon link (here) features the “Look Inside” Feature. I love this feature because you can see the table of contents, to see how the book is structured, as well as the index. Now, to some people this might not seem too important, but the index can tell you a lot about a book when you cannot see the rest of it (as here). You can see what the author talks about and how much (for example, the author has a lot of information on the relationship of Robert Dudley and Elizabeth as there is a specific heading in the index for this and numerous pages following it).