Poetry of Reading

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Synopsis:

Following the tremendous success of her first novel, Innocent Traitor, which recounted the riveting tale of the doomed Lady Jane Grey, acclaimed historian and New York Times bestselling author Alison Weir turns her masterly storytelling skills to the early life of young Elizabeth Tudor, who would grow up to become England's most intriguing and powerful queen. Even at age two, Elizabeth is keenly aware that people in the court of her father, King Henry VIII, have stopped referring to her as "Lady Princess" and now call her "the Lady Elizabeth." Before she is three, she learns of the tragic fate that has befallen her mother, the enigmatic and seductive Anne Boleyn, and that she herself has been declared illegitimate, an injustice that will haunt her.

My Review:

“She had already decided that, when she grew up, she was going to do whatever she pleased and not let anyone order her about.” 

This absorbing novel, which takes Elizabeth from early childhood to the day she becomes queen, explores the reasons this ruler chose to remain “The Virgin Queen.” Weir constructs her story around basic historical facts. I feel so much more educated on who Elizabeth was and what made her into the Queen she became.

Weir takes the reader through the obstacles and dangers Elizabeth faced during this time and conveys the anxiety she must have felt in just trying to stay alive. Elizabeth’s great intelligence and level-hardheadedness helped her survive.

Weir’s Elizabeth is strong-willed, perceptive, intelligent, and a natural-born scholar, a mixture of humility and assertive self-confidence. She learned early to mistrust the motives of those around her, to think for herself and rely upon her own wits and instincts. She also learned from mistakes, both her own and those of others. Weir’s Elizabeth is a survivor, in a circumscribed world full of perils and danger, and although she has her fears, she does not give in to them.

Although this novel is mostly historically accurate, the incident of her becoming pregnant with the child of Thomas Seymour was unnecessary. Yes, we know Elizabeth was subject to his amorous overtures and too young to deal with them, however, this incident is not believable. Otherwise, this is an enjoyable novel, in which I learned more about the young life of this great queen.

Synopsis:

Acclaimed author and historian Alison Weir continues her epic Six Tudor Queens series with this third captivating novel, which brings to life Jane Seymour, King Henry VIII’s most cherished bride and mother of his only male heir.


Ever since she was a child, Jane has longed for a cloistered life as a nun. But her large noble family has other plans, and, as an adult, Jane is invited to the King’s court to serve as lady-in-waiting for Queen Katherine of Aragon. The devout Katherine shows kindness to all her ladies, almost like a second mother, which makes rumors of Henry’s lustful pursuit of Anne Boleyn—who is also lady-in-waiting to the queen—all the more shocking. For Jane, the betrayal triggers memories of a painful incident that shaped her beliefs about marriage.


But once Henry disavows Katherine and secures his new queen—altering the religious landscape of England—he turns his eye to another: Jane herself. Urged to return the King’s affection and earn favor for her family, Jane is drawn into a dangerous political game that pits her conscience against her desires. Can Jane be the one to give the King his long-sought-after son or will she meet a fate similar to the women who came before her?


Bringing new insight to this compelling story, Weir marries meticulous research with gripping historical fiction to re-create the dramas and intrigues of the most renown court in English history. At its center is a loving and compassionate woman who captures the heart of a king, and whose life will hang in the balance for it.

My Review:

❝Jane was more than four months pregnant when the child first stirred within her, a little fluttering like a butterfly's wings. She was sitting with Henry in the great park, watching her maids playing catch with a ball.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, as the fluttering came again. "Henry, feel!" She grabbed his hand and placed it on her belly, across which her kirtle was now stretched tight.

"The child?" he asked, in wonder.

"Yes, wait! There!"

"By God, it is! You have quickened!" He was ecstatic.❞ 

I admire all Henry the Eighth's sixth wives, every single one takes a special place in my heart, they were all brave, intelligent and used by men. But, Jane Seymour was the one I was most looking forward to reading more about. There is so little we know about her, she was Queen for such a short time and I have seen no books devoted to her before this book.

In the Haunted Queen, Alison Weir paints a fascinating story of the overshadowed Queen. The book is a mix of historical fact and fictional story, recounting what might have taken place from the time Jane was about 10 years old until her death. We readers get to see how she grew up, her thoughts and dreams, and how the events of her childhood and young adult life established the foundation for the person she became as she matured, and would drive her to be the third wife of King Henry.

We see Jane happy with her parents and siblings, living in countryside luxury on the Seymour estate, Wulfhall, in Wiltshire. Then we follow her at court as one of the ladies' maid to Queen Katherine of Aragon. And this was during the most contentious time in Henry's reign—The King's Great Matter. We learn how Jane felt about on Henry's affair with Anne and his divorce from Katherine. She is disturbed by the treatment of her Queen and disgusted at the behavior of both Henry and Anne, and the destruction of her faith, upset her to the core, yet she becomes Queen Anne's lady-in-waiting, but her sympathy and loyalty remained with Katherine.


One day, she captures the eye of Henry VIII. When Anne's enemies notice Henry paying attention to Jane, they create a political alliance with the Seymour family and conspire to bring Anne down. Jane's ambitious brothers encouraged her, even her mother and father demanded of her to be Henry's mistress, they wanted the rewards that came with being a favored family of the King, what Jane was feeling was not of great importance. After much praying and thought, she concluded she wasn't doing the same as Anne; she saw Katherine as a True Wife of Henry, so Henry wasn't wed to Anne, and Katherine had now died he was free to make advances to her. With Anne accused of treason, Jane was to become Henry's third wife.

Jane Seymour is very loyal, devout, and good. Even if she didn't like Anne, despised her even, she didn't wish her to die. She believes Henry would put Anne in the nunnery, and was much shocked when she learned about Anne's adultery, incest and conspiring to murder the King. We all know Anne wasn't guilty, it was all Thomas Cromwell's and Henry's doing to get rid of her. We will never know how Jane felt. Was she only a pawn in Anne's downfall or she knew exactly what was happening? Reading Weir's point of view on the matter of Anne's treason, regarding Jane, I think she believed Anne was guilty, as many others did, but still felt sympathy and perhaps regret to her involvement in Anne’s death. I don't think she wanted to see her beheaded; it is why she feels haunted by Anne Boleyn’s death in the novel.

What I like about Jane's and Henry's relationship, was that Jane witnessed a humane side to Henry VIII, a very different Henry from the one that Katherine and Anne knew, and as both history and this book tell us, Jane really loved him. I believe Henry genuinely loved her too.

Jane's death was a tragedy for the king, the country, her family and for her child who grew up without his mother. Was Jane's death the beginning of Henry's descent into extreme tyranny, paranoia, and selfishness? And this is simply my opinion from what I had read in this book, that his humanity died with her, that Jane was the only one that could bring the best in Henry, a light in his dark soul. It's well known Henry always told Jane was his only true wife, which could be because she's the only one who gave him a son, but I also think it's because he sincerely loved her.

Synopsis:

''But Anne was asking herself why being queen mattered so much, when the chance for true love was hers for the seizing. And always she came back to the argument that the crown was hers for the seizing too. She had never seen marriage alone as an especially fulfilling estate for women. She had always wanted more in life – and more than she had ever dreamed of would soon, God willing, be in her grasp. There was so much that she could accomplish as queen.''

The most detailed, well-researched, thoughtful and credible version I have ever read; such a different outlook of the oft-told tale of Anne Boleyn. The book opens when Anne is eleven and follow through to her death and it was something special to read a novel that allows you to follow a historical figure through  life and witness as they make life-changing decisions.


My favourite part of the book and an aspect of Anne's life often overlooked or glossed over in other books and media was Anne's upbringing in court of Burgundy and in French court and the powerful women she served, including Margaret of Austria, Henry VIII’s sister in France Queen Mary, Queen Claude and later Marguerite de Navarre. Anne which emerges from this is not the frivolous flirty girl we have come to think of as the historic Anne Boleyn. Rather, this was a serious young woman—highly educated, sophisticated and importantly develops a sense of independence that is unheard-of for young English women in the Tudor age.


When a war between France and England is threatened Anne returns home where she is found a place at the court of Queen Katherine. What I love about this part, Anne didn't find Henry charming or was fascinated by him, she finds his looks to be nothing of a King, and his behavior horrifying. She doesn't love him; she falls in love with the idea of being Queen and the power and prestige that the position brings. 

Anne’s temper changes over the years. She is transformed by the power and later by fear. But her deeply unpleasant behavior is understandable when you think of frustration she must have felt at the King’s inability to make break from Rome and divorce Katherine sooner than he did, after all, it took him seven years, and later in the marriage he starts treating her poorly, sometimes being cruel, having many mistresses, eventually leading him into a secret romance with Jane Seymour.

The final part of the book is gripping and is the most interesting, as it deals with the charges against Anne, her trial, and her death. It's obvious, now and before I had read this book, it was all the doing of Henry to get rid of her so he could pursue Jane Seymour. Even if that meant cruelly accusing her of most villous crimes–crimes she didn't commit. 

Very emotional and sad to read the last few chapters, tore my heart out, to see the downfall of Anne and her fellow accused Smeaton, Norris, Weston, Brereton and her brother George Boleyn.

Summary:

I thought I had made up my mind about Anne Boleyn,  I always admired her, she was a woman ahead of her time, but reading this book I see her now as brave, educated, sophisticated, ambitious but above all used by men. Yes, she still has many flaws, as we all do, but she is far from an evil woman often portrayed in history books.

I highly recommend this book – wonderfully enthralling, enlightening, emotional, very refreshing, convincing, well-written and researched it brings to life the Tudor court and the woman who changed English history.

Synopsis:

A princess of Spain, Catalina is only sixteen years old when she sets foot on the shores of England. The youngest daughter of the powerful monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella, Catalina is a coveted prize for a royal marriage - and Arthur, Prince of Wales, and heir to the English throne, has won her hand. But tragedy strikes and Catalina, now Princess Katherine, is betrothed to the future Henry VIII. She must wait for his coming-of-age, an ordeal that tests her resolve, casts doubt on her trusted confidantes, and turns her into a virtual prisoner.

Katherine's patience is rewarded when she becomes Queen of England. The affection between Katherine and Henry is genuine, but forces beyond her control threaten to rend her marriage, and indeed the nation, apart. Henry has fallen under the spell of Katherine's maid of honor, Anne Boleyn. Now Katherine must be prepared to fight, to the end if God wills it, for her faith, her legitimacy, and her heart.

My Review:

Summary:

Alison Weir always does a terrific job of bringing Tudor fiction to life, but with Katherine of Aragon, she's surpassed herself. Weir brings the characters to life, every moment of this book was a pleasure, from a reading of a young, romantic Henry and seeing him develop into a monster, to all the trials and tribulations Katherine was faced with from her arrival in a foreign land. Highly recommend this richly written book!!