Her Highness, the Traitor

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Edward VI of England, Lady Jane Grey

Lady Jane Grey, the nine-day queen – was she a victim of her ruthless, scheming parents, or was she a victim of circumstance, being born much too close to the throne? How do you decide between the wishes of the dead king, or the one now dying?

After the unexpected death of Edward VI, England’s crown was to have gone first to elder sister Mary, and then to Elizabeth. Simple, right? Not. Problem was, not very many folks wanted Catholic Mary on England’s throne, plus Edward changed the order of succession before his death, naming the Lady Jane Grey as his heir.

OK, I think most historical fiction buffs have read enough about the Tudors to know the basics, as well as the myths, but if you don’t I am not going to spoil it for you by going into greater story detail. Higginbotham tells the story via alternating first person point of views of Jane Dudley (mother of Guildford Dudley) and Francis Grey (Jane’s mother). I’m generally not fond of alternating POVs and admit to struggling with this at first until I got a handle on the different voices, but in the end I thought it worked very well.

Higginbotham has done an excellent job of wading through those myths and half-truths, presenting a balanced, well-rounded case for what might really have happened, all lightly seasoned here and there with Higginbotham’s sense of humor (watch out for her April Fools’ Day blog posts). 4.5/5 stars.

Thanks to Sourcebooks and Net Galley for the opportunity to read an early copy.

The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory

Those of you familiar with all things Tudor already know the basics of the long-suffering Katherine of Aragon and the husband who dumped her when she couldn’t produce a male heir. Those who aren’t might consider this review rather spoilerish so consider yourself warned. That said, since the author skims through a big chunk of the latter part of Katherine’s life and “The King’s great matter”, I wouldn’t recommend this for newbies as you’ll be scratching your head at the end wondering what in the heck you missed. Just be warned, this is Tudor history PG style so expect historical accuracy at your own peril…

In this book, Gregory purports that the marriage between Catalina (Katherine) of Spain and Arthur Tudor was a love match and their union was most definitely consummated – a secret they kept from everyone. When Arthur realizes he’ll not survive the sweating sickness, he commands Catalina to marry his younger brother Henry, so that she can still become Queen of England as they’d always dreamed. Catalina is determined to stay *constant* to her beloved’s commands, but there’s a lot of political turmoil ahead of her, especially over the fact of whether the marriage was consummated,

“I shall keep my promise. I shall be constant to my husband and to my destiny. And I shall plan and plot and consider how I shall conquer this misfortune and be what I was born to be. How I shall be the pretender who becomes queen.”

“At Arthur’s request I told the greatest lie a woman has ever told, and I will tell it to the very grave…He asked me to say that we had never been lovers and he commanded me to marry his brother and be queen…I was constant to my promise.”

But you all know the *rest of the story* so I’ll not rehash it one more time, I’m just here to discuss the reading experience. Whether or not Katherine and Arthur consummated the marriage or not is a subject of debate and despite my previous conviction that Katherine spoke the truth about it during “The King’s great matter”, I was willing to keep an open mind (kind of). However, I didn’t buy into the twu wuv fowever between Arthur and Catalina, nor did I buy into Henry VIII’s portrayal as a bit of an ignorant dolt with no business sitting on the throne of England,

“He is bright and clever, perhaps even as quick witted as Arthur. But where Arthur had been trained to think, had been educated as a king from birth, they let this second son slide by on his charm and his ready tongue.”

Bah. Worse yet, towards the end the author appears to run out of steam (and page count) and makes a last minute push to finish in a big hurry as Katherine’s latter years as queen and the whole business of “The King’s great matter” is barely touched upon. Add to that the switches to the first person narrative (Katherine’s) appear much too often and become increasingly annoying and soporific. Seriously, did we need to have her recount actual dialog with others, thus telling us what’s happened instead of using the third person and showing us? As for Katherine’s voice itself, she’s very full of herself and her own self-importance and makes for a rather unsympathetic main character, particularly over her disdain for Henry VIII. Then there’s the portrayal of Henry VII. Why, oh why does he always have to be portrayed lusting after the main female character from his very first sight of her?

The book started off all right, when the switches to Katherine’s narrative were short and well spaced, but by the end I was nodding off at them and praying for the book to end, and I’d only recommended it for PG fans only. If you are looking for a well rounded, historically accurate look at Katherine of Aragon I suggest you look elsewhere. Oh, and before anyone gets in a tizzy as to why this non-PG fan decided to read another, this is for a group read for the European Royalty Group at Goodreads. I expect lively discussions.

FTC disclosure. I obtained this book from my county library.

Pale Rose of England by Sandra Worth

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Henry VII of England, Lady Catherine Gordon, Perkin Warbeck

History tells us that a young man known as Perkin Warbeck claimed to be the son of Edward IV, one of the lost princes in the tower and the rightful King of England. Supported by his *aunt* Margaret of Burgundy, he eventually came to Scotland and obtained support from King James in his efforts to invade England and regain his *lawful* crown. James gave *Richard* the hand of Lady Catherine Gordon, and she accompanied him during his second attempt to invade England, which was just as unsuccessful as the first. Was Perkin really Richard Duke of York and England’s rightful king, or was he a great pretender? We’ll never know.

Worth begins her novel in 1497 at the start of Richard’s campaign in Cornwall, which quickly peters out as he is unable to rally support among the populace. Captured by Henry Tudor’s men, they are brought to court and kept on slim leashes and Richard and Catherine play a very tense game of cat and mouse whilst trying to keep their heads intact. Catherine fares a bit better as she’s taken into Queen Elizabeth’s household, but Richard’s every move is watched and members of the Tudor court take turns spitting on him and tossing rotten vegetables (thus showing us how awful they all are).  Meantime, mean ole’ Henry has taken one look at the beauteous Catherine, goes into immediate lust mode and determines to have her for his very own. Not quite sure what he planned to do about Queen Elizabeth but oh well…Potential readers should be warned that Worth believes Perkin/Richard is the true son of Edward IV, no ifs ands or butts about it. In case you doubt it, we are constantly reminded about his princely bearing and the drooping Plantagenet eye he’s inherited from his ancestors Edward I and Henry III. Since Edward and Henry lived a long time before this, there are a whole lot of generations between them and Richard and I couldn’t find anything on the net of any other Plantagenets having it. Just sayin’.

As for Richard and Catherine, I didn’t pick up on much chemistry between the two. They were married and had one child by the time the book begins, and the back-history of their courtship filled out as the story progresses. We know that they love each other because we are told they did, but I really didn’t pick up on any grand passion between the two. I did pick up on a lot of purity, perfection and absolute sugar-coated sweetness on Catherine’s part, and while Richard might have the regal bearing of a true king, he sure didn’t have a strong nature to go with it. He was a bit wimpish IMHO, but Catherine sure thought he was the cat’s meow,

Clad in a white silk doublet, a furred cape around his shoulders, and a beaver hat on his sunny hair, Richard, Duke of York, cantered in on a pale war-horse, a hand resting on his hip, a smile on his lips. She gasped; he was the handsomest man she had ever seen.

And to offset all that purity and goodness is the baddest most evil mean nasty awful bad guy ever – Henry Tudor.  Honestly, every one in this book is either black or white, there are very few shades of gray to be found here. I think it’s obvious I wasn’t as enamoured of this book as some of the other reviewers and to each his own when choosing a book, but this one was just a bit too fluffy for my tastes. I was very disappointed that we didn’t get a closer look at Elizabeth and what one would expect to be very conflicted emotions – how do you choose between your brother or your son? I was going to give this book an overall three star rating until the latter third covering Catherine’s later years threatened to put me to sleep (she spends lots and lots of time in the country).One final note and that is on two items in the author’s notes:

1. “English novelist Philippa Gregory, who holds a doctorate in history…”. Erm, a simple bit of Google tells me it’s English Lit. The historian myth continues.
2. Her reason for sending Richard to his execution via boat instead of how it really happened, “I plead artistic license in not documenting this last indignity and in depicting him as being taken partway by boat. This unfortunate young man had already endured deplorable degradation, and I felt no need to add more such instances to the reader’s burden.”

I could have handled that burden. Really I could have.

By Royal Decree ~ Kate Emerson

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Henry VIII of England, Lady Jane Grey

***Those not familiar with Tudor history might consider this review a bit spoilerish. Consider yourself warned**

The story begins as Elizabeth (Bess) Brooke is one of a large party of eligible noblewomen invited to dine with Henry VIII so he can peruse them and pick his next bride. Luckily for Bess she’s passed over for Kathryn Parr, who ends up as wife #6.  Bess comes to court and ultimately meets and falls in love with Queen Kathryn’s brother William Parr, but there’s a hitch. William was given a divorce from his first wife for being unfaithful, but he’s not allowed to remarry until she kicks the bucket and their only hope is a “Royal Decree” from the King.

When Henry dies, his son Edward is crowned king and William curries favor with Edward and his guardians (first Edward Seymour, then John Dudley), always hoping to gain that “Royal Decree” allowing him to marry Bess. The Princess Elizabeth is given into Kathryn’s care and Bess also joins her household in the country. Edward, never the healthy one, dies and with no male heir to follow him England is divided over the choices left – should they support Mary and face a return to Catholicism, or the Lady Jane Grey? And if William supports the wrong party, their hopes for a “Royal Decree” allowing them to wed might be dashed forever…

Sounds like all the material one needs for a fat juicy novel no? Unfortunately, Emerson is not quite up to giving Bess and William the treatment their story deserves. Too much time is spent with Bess and William panting pining after each other as Henry’s court flits from one palace to the next, and not enough on the latter part of their lives as they live in terror of loosing one’s head during Mary’s reign. If you read up on Bess here, you’ll see she led quite a life and must have been a formidable woman indeed to earn the trust and respect of Elizabeth Tudor – but unfortunately that is not the Bess you’ll see this book. While she was certainly a more appealing heroine than Nan in Between Two Queens, Emerson wasn’t able to make her terribly engaging either as she spends too much time stamping her feet at her father demanding “twu wuv” and mooning over William.

I’d read Emerson’s first book in this series, The Pleasure Palace, and enjoyed it for what it was, light and fluffy brain candy with lots of details on court life, the food and clothes along with a healthy dash of court intrigue, but that mixture just didn’t gel as well for me in this one. The historical details were fewer and farther between and missing those left me hungry for something more. The tie-in to the title, By Royal Decree, was also a bit overused in the book to the point of feeling like I was being clubbed over the head with it. In the end, this is a light easy read and a good book, just not a great one. William and Bess could make for some fascinating reading and I’d love to see a stronger author take them on as Susan Kay did with Elizabeth I in Legacy.

Secrets of the Tudor Court by D.L. Bogdan

 I’m beginning to see a pattern developing in the latest offerings in historical fiction similar to what I’m accustomed to in romances – you have the solid gritty novels with real historical detail and then there are the wall-paper variety and IMHO this book falls into the latter category. Secrets is the story of Mary Howard, daughter of the powerful Duke of Norfolk, Thomas Howard, and wife to Henry VIII’s illegitimate son Henry Fitzroy. As a young girl Mary is packed off to serve future Queen Anne Boleyn, and we see the story of Henry’s court and his queens through Mary’s point of view. *Yawn*

I think by now all Tudorphiles know the basics of Henry and his six wives and I’m not going to drag it out for one more recap. An interesting concept using an historical character of which little is known to tell the same old story, but unfortunately I found this one is a tad bit underwhelming. Norfolk is as bad as bad can be, from beating on his wife and daughter to scheming to get any and all Howard women married to Henry, to his somewhat questionable method of getting Kitty Howard to produce an heir for Henry. As for Mary, she is so darn sweet and Mary-Sueish (pun not intended) that you’ll feel like fingernails are grating on the chalkboard anytime she opens her mouth – which considering this is first person narrative that would be on every page.

In the end, this book brings absolutely nothing new to the Tudor story, and I’d only recommend it for Tudor junkies who must read every book ever written on the Tudors. Without an author’s note to back up her facts I have no idea whether or not Thomas Howard beat his wife and daughter, but if you have been a victim of domestic violence you might want to pass on this one as the scenes are quite disturbing and in more detail than was truly necessary. Get it from the library if you must and then buy it if you love it.

Lastly, a note to the publisher. If you ever do a second printing, please fix this will you?

“He holds the reigns with one slim-fingered hand…”

I could be mistaken but I believe Kings reign and a horse is lead with a rein. 2/5 stars and not recommended. FTC: if you really must know I got it from the library.

The King’s Daughter by Sandra Worth

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historical fiction, Richard III, tudors, wall banger

 The King’s Daughter recounts the life of Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV, sister to Edward V and wife to Henry VII and mother to Henry VIII. This is all pretty much well known history and enough reviewers and the product page recap the main story line I don’t want to rehash it again. Worth’s version of Elizabeth’s life, told in the first person POV, just ended up for this reader to be a sodding, boring mess – I ended up skimming through the last 200 pages.

The goodies were really really good and the baddies were really really bad. Elizabeth herself was so pure and perfect I was waiting for her to cut her finger so I could see if she would bleed sugar, while her mother Elizabeth Woodville was practicing witchcraft when she wasn’t busy running into sanctuary. Her son Arthur is pure as the driven snow, while young Harry (the future Henry VIII) is a borderline child sociopath. As for Henry’s mother Margaret Beaufort – well the only person I can think of to portray her in the movie is Cruella de Vil. Honestly, Henry VII is the only character who got a fair shake in this one.

As for historical accuracy and the author’s research from her notes, I am not a historian so I’m not one to judge. However, the bit about proving to Henry VII that she was a virgin has no historical basis that I’ve heard of, nor does the author mention in her notes where she picked up that bit of supposition from. Worse yet, is the unrequited love (and never-ending even after death) Elizabeth holds for her uncle Richard.

To top it all off, way too much melodrama and “woe” is me from both Elizabeth’s (mother and daughter) and over the top prose. Here we have Elizabeth’s reaction after Ann (that would be Queen Ann Richard’s wife) as she tells niece Elizabeth her uncle will need her,

“I felt as if a shutter had been thrown open, pouring in brilliant light. The sleepless nights, the pounding of my heart each time King Richard drew near; my shyness in his presence….”

Elizabeth’s mother giving her advice on keeping her husband in line,

“You’d know what to do — you’d get into bed and lick that king of yours until he stops listening to his mother and turns to you”. Eeeewwww.

Get the point? It is unfortunate, as so little is really known about Elizabeth of York’s life and a well written fleshed out novel on her is sorely lacking – however, this is not it. While its certainly not the worst historical ever written, IMO it’s far from the best as well. If you’re dead set on reading this, get it from the library first and then buy it if you love it.

The Virgin’s Daughters: In the Court of Elizabeth I ~ Jeane Westin

In the minority here….

I have to admit going into this one being confused about what the story was actually about, so many reviews go into such great plot detail that I found my head spinning – I’m keeping it short and sweet. This is actually two stories of two different women who served Elizabeth Tudor at two different periods in her life. The first, Katherine Grey falls in love with Edward Seymor and wishes to marry him but Elizabeth refuses to give permission for the two to wed – and their defiance leads to drastic circumstances. The second *daughter* is Mary Rogers (distantly related to Katherine) who joins Elizabeth’s household in her later years and finds herself in love with the rakish Sir John Harrington, but Elizabeth has other plans…..

And that’s pretty much it. While I enjoyed a look at a couple of lesser known ladies instead of the focus being on the monarch, I have to say that this book fell a tad bit flat for this reader. I didn’t find much chemistry between either pair of lovers, Elizabeth was pretty un-intimidating in the first half of the book (thankfully that improved in the latter half), but worst of all was the portrayal of Robert Dudley. Instead of being the “Machiavellian master courtier” as he’s been described he reminded me more of those irritating *barflys* I used to come across in my younger days – just a man who would flirt with anything in skirts. I never felt real connection with any of the characters, nor did I feel I was immersed into the period itself – I was always on the outside looking in. A good book, just not a great one.

Kathryn in the Court of Six Queens ~ Anne Merton Abbey

A fabulous tale of one woman who served all six queens of Henry VIII

Wow, historical romance doesn’t get much better than this. This is the story of the fictional Kathryn Chase descended from Edward IV via the wrong side of the blanket and also related to the Howards, who from a very young girl starts serving Catherine of Aragon, and eventually serving as lady in waiting to all of Henry’s queens, thus giving us a wondrous glimpse into the lives of those famous and ill fated queens. Unhappy in her first marriage, Kathryn is attracted to the mysterious, flamboyant and oh so hunky John de Gael of Windsgeat, a duchy with a mysterious heritage and independent of the English Crown. John’s family not only adheres to the ancient religions of the forest, there is also a deep dark secret of his family that he keeps from everyone, even his beloved Kathryn.

Throughout, Kathryn is as stubborn and passionate as only a Howard and Plantagenet can be, and we get a fascinating glimpse at the Tudor court and the lives of Henry’s queens, and the perpetual ups and downs of surviving court with one’s head intact. One thing that sets this book heads and tails above most of the rest of this genre is the up and down relationship between Kathryn and John. Things separated them; they fell in and out of love, married others and loved others until they were reunited in their later years to try to make a working relationship amidst the continuing intrigue and treachery of Henry’s court.

All in all, a pretty perfect read. One of my favorite parts was the telling of the reign of Anne of Cleves, there were some seriously laugh out loud moments in those chapters, along with the final 100 or so pages as Catherine Howard fell from grace and Henry married Catherine Parr that were just unputdownable. According to the author’s notes at the end of this book there were to be more Windsgeat novels forthcoming, but as far as I can see there isn’t anything else published by this author under the name Anne Merton Abbey. I for one, would like to see more of this story as Edward assumes the throne, followed by Mary and Elizabeth.

Young Bess by Margaret Irwin

Young Bess is the first in a trilogy Margaret Irwin wrote on the life of Elizabeth Tudor and begins towards the end of Henry VIII’s life during his marriage to Catherine Parr. Upon Henry’s death Bess goes to live with the widowed Catherine who soon marries the new King’s uncle Tom Seymour – but was Catherine really Tom’s first choice for a bride or would he have preferred to marry the young princess to further his own ambitions? Bess is barely on the cusp of womanhood and Tom’s *flirtations* begin to appear most inappropriate and Catherine must step to nip it in the bud and separate the two.

The book continues through the reign of her brother Edward as Bess and Tom face the consequences for their reckless actions. The trilogy continues in Elizabeth, The Captive Princess and Elizabeth and the Prince of Spain. While I did enjoy this novel a great deal and Irwin’s writing is top-notch, this book didn’t bring any new knowledge to *the table* either. I believe this was written for the YA market and would do very nicely for today’s younger readers new to the period as well as for those who do enjoy a YA book on occasion. Readers looking for a heavier going read should look elsewhere, and I highly recommend Susan Kay’s Legacy (which is being reissued by Sourcebooks in 2010). 4/5 stars.

*****
My copy courtesy of Sourcebooks.

In the Shadow of the Crown by Susan Bowden

Don’t let that cover fool you, this is not a romance. Not only that, but the book jacket is misleading – only the first half of the book is set during Richard III’s reign – so I’m here to set the record straight.

 Although heir to her father’s estate, Joisse Radcliff is slightly crippled and deemed unmarriageable by her aunt who plans to pack her off to a nunnery and keep the manor for herself. Joisse flees in the night, but is attacked by vandals and rescued by groom Tom Thomson and taken to Middleham Castle and Richard, Duke of Gloucester. No fool, Richard sees what her aunt is up to and takes her as his ward until she reaches her majority and can claim her estate. As lady to Richard’s Duchess Anne, Joisse comes to London with the household upon Edward IV’s death and Richard’s eventual assumption to the throne itself – but her path always crosses with that of Tom and two find themselves fighting their attraction to one another as the daughter of a knight could never marry a base born servant.

Their story eventually culminates in the aftermath of the battle at Bosworth Field. Will Tom be able to save himself and return to Joisse? Even so, can she give up everything, including her beloved Radcliff to marry a mere groom? OK, so by this time I’ve hit page 200 and was expecting another what-happened-to-the-princes-in-the-Tower mystery to finish this out when the author did a 180 on me and fast forwarded to 1535. Now the story switches to Joisse’s grandson Philip as Henry VIII is King and he and Cromwell are breaking up the monasteries and plundering their wealth in the north. A gentle soul, Philip was raised to serve the church and with that no longer possible is at a crossroads in his life – and he finds himself in the thick of the North’s rebellion against Henry – the so called Pilgrimage of Grace. When his grandmother reveals his true identity as the rightful heir to Radcliff, Philip must travel to plead his case before Henry himself. There’s also a love interest and more to the story but frankly this review has gone on long enough….

While certainly not the greatest piece of historical fiction out there, it was a refreshing change from much of the current drivel releases of Tudor fiction. I didn’t spot anything glaringly out of place in the historical details (heh, she even didn’t succumb to everyone’s favorite error of making Buckingham’s wife older than he was), and it was interesting reading up on the Pilgrimage – so few novels set in this period deal with it. Despite the cheesy cover, this is most definitely not a romance and any sex is few and far between the pages and pages of historical details. As Philip was set for a life in the church, the latter half of the book has more of a religious overtone than some readers might care for. My only serious quibble was Philip’s character – granted he wasn’t even eighteen but still he was a whiny spineless ninny and I constantly wanted to slap him and shake some sense into him. Perhaps he’ll do better in the next book because there are two more and boy do I love those covers,

  That second one is quite a lulu isn’t it?