Alison Weir has embarked on six fictionalised histories of the wives of Henry VIII. Last year I read the first on Kathryn of Aragon and could not put it down reading straight through in an afternoon. Last week I did the same with the recently published second in the series, Anne Boleyn.
When I was at convent school Tudor history was taught that year by a nun. No prizes for guessing that it was hardly an unbiased account. Anne was the Scarlet Woman writ large who seduced and enchanted a King into leaving his devout Catholic wife and who also persuaded him to forgo Rome and set himself up as Defender of the Faith. Well, as I was a bolshy teenager and, let us face it I had read Jean Plaidy so I knew what I was talking about, I challenged this view point and boy did it get me intro trouble. This was nothing new so I struck to my guns and ended up in detention as a result of being a 'bold' girl which I was frequently.
After reading the author on Kathryn of Aragon, with whom she was deeply sympathetic, I did wonder how she would approach Anne. Well, she gives both sides of this unfortunate lady - I am still not sure that I would like her very much, she seems to me to be the type of woman who would pinch your boyfriend when your back was turned - but I found myself understanding her, if not actually feeling she is a kindred spirit.
We all know that she went to the French court for several years and learned the arts of intellectual conversation, elegance and grace and spoke fluent French so that when she returned to the English court she must have stood out and, in no time, caught the ever wandering eye of the King.
Now, forgive me if I seem to go off piste a bit here, but when I read this book and saw the situation that Anne was in the thought of Edward and Mrs Simpson popped into my mind. A woman not in love with the Prince of Wales (and Alison makes it clear that Anne certainly was not enamoured of H8) but enjoying the trappings of being the favourite and the rich rewards that come with it and, yet all the time, trying to keep the ardent lover at bay. Both these women got in deep and then found that there was no way out. OK Mrs Simpson was hardly likely to have her head chopped off, but when she tried to leave Edward he threatened to kill himself and he attached himself to her like a leech. She was trapped and spent the rest of her life with a man she clearly despised as, after all, how could she leave somebody who had given up a throne for her?
And then there is Anne. The promise by Henry of divorcing Kathryn and making her his Queen must have been an alluring one and the the thought of reigning by his side the ultimate prize, but it seems to me that as the King's Great Matter stumbled along over several years, and as she became more and more reviled by everyone, she must have wondered if it was worth it. But there was no escape.
I did find some sympathy and warmth in me towards the end as it seemed by all contemporary accounts that she faced her death with courage and dignity. The dramatisation of Wolf Hall last year was not particularly sympathetic but the scene of her execution was quite heart rending and her attempts to keep Henry's love and placate him were very realistic.
I find it very hard to feel any kind of liking or understanding of Henry VIII. Just why was he such an awful person? He did vile things, treated women badly and, worst of all, had a conscience about his behavour so tried to justify it and blame everything on somebody else. I, too, have suffered from this male trait but at least I did not end up on the scaffold...
A terrific read. Alison Weir appeared at the Felixstowe Book Festival last year to talk about Kathryn of Aragon and, quite frankly, many of us ended up with a lump in our throats. Immediately afterwards, as she was signing her book, and I heard somebody say 'Oh will you come back next year?' and she replied 'If I am asked' I said straight away 'OK I am asking you'
And delighted to say that her response was Yes and I will have the pleasure of introducing her again this Festival. It will be a wonderful talk, I know it will and if any of my lovely Random Readers are in the area on Saturday 1 July, then come along.
You will not be disappointed.
