'My Lady of Cleves' - Book Review

I’ve read ‘My Lady of Cleves’ last year and I enjoyed this book a lot. Maybe it’s because the book shows a lot more of who Anne of Cleves was instead of the widely known ‘Flanders Mare’ and the ugly, stinky, badly dressed German woman that Henry VIII disliked.

Anne of Cleves was dependent on her brother William and their mother. She would help her brother William during state affairs and she had a very caring nature by helping the less fortunate. Even their mother thought it would be better for the youngest daughter, Amelia, to go to England since she couldn’t spare Anne. Despite Anne having pockmarks, Hans painted a beautiful miniature of Anne (the artist in him seeing a person’s soul).  There are references of her not speaking good English and that she is simple minded, which is a common theme in other historical fiction novels that I’ve read.

In this book, you also see a different side of Henry VIII. In the beginning, he wasn’t too keen on getting married a fourth time, especially with a foreigner. He’s pretty content to just be a widower. He’s a doting, concerned dad when it comes to Prince Edward. Then there’s the romantic side of Henry VIII when he looks at Anne’s miniature. He also missed his younger sister, Mary Tudor, which would lead him wanting a sister-like figure. Throughout the book, Charles Brandon tells Anne of Cleves that there is a different side of Henry VIII that is rarely seen.

The theme that remains between Henry VIII and Anne of Cleves was that meeting in Rochester. If only she was told beforehand that Henry VIII loved to dress in costumes, maybe that meeting wouldn’t have been so disastrous.  In Margaret Campbell Barnes’s retelling of that disastrous meeting, Anne of Cleves was in disarray thanks to the works of the Duchess of Norfolk (Katherine Howard’s grandmother) and Lady Rochfort (George Boleyn’s wife). I guess it makes the scene set that the Howard clan wanted to get rid of the woman that Cromwell wanted in order to get another Howard girl on the throne.

Anne of Cleves tried to go through every little detail in her head after that disastrous meeting in Rochester. It must have been a surprise when Archbishop Cranmer visited her at Hampton to convince her to keep the king’s interest. You couldn’t really blame the poor woman. She was unable to come up with clever responses because either of lack of English words or the English words is lost at the tip of her tongue. She truly tried her hardest in a whole new country. Then the humiliating scene with King Henry VIII coming to Hampton with Katherine Howard in tow, just makes things worse for Anne.

There were some good points in the marriage. When Anne of Cleves finally meets little prince Edward, she was able to calm his temper so that he was able to tell what was wrong and be able to play with his father and siblings. Anne has that gentle, motherly nature, which she shows Henry VIII and maybe in that brief moment, they acted like a married couple. Still, Henry VIII still wanted Katherine Howard and eventually the divorce proceedings will happen.

Despite the humiliating fact that Henry VIII wanted to divorce her and even had a statement during a meeting with his council, Anne of Cleves found it would be better for her to be the much beloved sister of Henry VIII. Anything is better than having your head cut off. Technically, Anne of Cleves isn’t totally free because she is unable to go home or to remarry. Still, she would be given properties, allowance and have the children (Mary, Elizabeth and Edward) to visit her.

During her time as sister to the King, she is beloved by many people. On one side, there are the people in the Protestant party would still believe her to be their rightful queen. On the other, there are Henry VIII’s friends who are now more appreciated of Anne. It was an interesting sight to see Henry VIII come to her house at Richmond and finally see what an extraordinary person that Anne was. He might have wondered why he never saw this before when they were married. Henry VIII would eventually open up to Anne as if she was really his natural sister.

 It’s also funny how she would get back at him for being such a bad person to humiliate her. For example, when she was ill and stayed in her bed, there were rumors spreading that she had born the king a son. She thought that it would be fun to just stay in bed to make Henry VIII guessing.

Towards the end, Anne has a better understanding of Henry VIII and would know how to handle him. During Queen Katherine Howard’s downfall, there was a possibility of Anne becoming queen once again. It was tempting and they had a better relationship now but watching little Katherine Howard making her way to the Tower, Anne knew that it wasn’t worth becoming queen again. I believe that she was right to think that way. Even so, she didn’t much care for Katherine Parr to be queen either, mainly because she can do the household things like Anne can do but also, Katherine Parr will have Henry VIII’s children.

In Margaret Campbell Barnes’s story, Hans Holbien would love Anne and vice versa but of course that can go nowhere. There are times in Anne’s story that she wished she could have been a wanton woman before marrying Henry VIII. Also, her dreams of having children would never be fulfilled. Now that she had her own estates, allowances as sister of the king, the children of the orphanages, she is a well off lady and the children of the orphanages are her babies. The transformation in Anne of Cleves is remarkable.

She would watch friends come and go. She would love her life out in the country and that is probably the best place for Anne of Cleves. At the very end of her story, she would help the great King Henry VIII come to terms with his pending death. I love the ending where she thought that he was making up for having called her a Flanders Mare.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book for the second time. Anne of Cleves would have been someone I would get along with and open up to, knowing that she would keep any secret that I tell her. If Anne of Cleves was truly the way that Margaret Campbell Barnes made her in this story, then I would agree with Cromwell when he said that it was England’s lost to lose such a wonderful woman.

'At The King's Pleasure' - Book Review

‘At the King’s Pleasure’ is the fourth book in Kate Emerson’s Secrets of the Tudor Court series. I’ve read the previously three books and I’ve enjoyed reading each one. Kate Emerson focuses on the different women who are at the Tudor court so you are introduced into their personal stories as well as their life in the Tudor court. I’m also so absorbed in the book, which makes Kate Emerson a wonderful story teller for historical fiction. Also included in back of the novel are the real people’s mini biographies.

The main character in Kate Emerson’s latest novel is Lady Anne Stafford. If you are not quite sure who she was, Anne Stafford was the woman that Henry VIII kind of had his eye on as a possible mistress but once her brother learned about a possible affair, she was sent to the nunnery right away. Other than that little tidbit, I didn’t know too much about Lady Anne Stafford. Her story takes place during the early part of King Henry VIII’s reign when he was married to Queen Katherine of Aragon to a few years after the Field of Cloth of Gold.

Even though this is Lady Anne Stafford’s story, Will Compton, George Hastings and the Duke of Buckingham are frequently in the novel.

·         Will Compton was one of Henry VIII’s closest friends and was elevated as Groom of the Stool as Henry VIII came on the throne. It was quite possible that there was something going on between Will and Anne as the novel suggests. Still, even if he wanted to marry her, he was below her station (Anne was the daughter of a duke and he was a commoner not yet knighted).

·         George Hastings was Anne’s second husband. It would seem that they had a mutual attraction to one another as well. Jealousy and mistrust would later plague his relationship with Anne Stafford but through time, they would find love. It would seem that they had a good marriage overall.

·         Edward, Duke of Buckingham was Anne’s brother. He’s the hot headed brother who thinks he’s a good candidate to rule if Henry VIII doesn’t have any male issues. He is also the highest ranking duke in Henry VIII’s court and dislikes Henry VIII’s friends (ex. Charles Brandon and Will Compton). The Duke of Buckingham waits and schemes in the book and since I don’t like him, I’m hoping for a bad ending for him.

It’s basically a love triangle between Anne, George and Will. Will seems to be hopelessly in love with Anne but the two do enjoy the flirting that they exhibit at court. George, on the other hand, dislikes the whole display especially when he knows Will Compton’s nature.

Things heat up for Anne Stafford during the time of Queen Katherine’s second pregnancy. King Henry VIII thinks it is wise to leave pleasures aside with the queen. In doing so, he decides to have a mistress and he sets his eyes on Anne Stafford. Will Compton comes to Lady Anne’s room and she is appalled by the idea. Remember, Will Compton loved her and equally appalled at the idea of her being a royal mistress. Even though it looked like Lady Anne would be able to take care of how to handle the situation, her brother and their sister Elizabeth Fitzwalter supposedly ‘catches’ her with another man. Okay, maybe it was partly her fault since she was very flirtatious (but that’s the way things were at court) and Will Compton happened to be in her room. Lady Anne would get a rude awakening when her own husband does not come to her defense.  At dawn, she would be spirited away to a convent about 60 miles away.

During the time that Anne Stafford would stay at Littlemore priory, life is much more restricted, must follow the rules of the priory and the prioress was a very strict woman. During Anne’s stay, she befriends one of the nuns and learns a little secret of the prioress (Katherine Wells), which she will use later on in the story. After a month or so at Littlemore, George Hastings comes to bring back his wife to Ashby de la Zouch castle under conditions. This would be the place where Lady Anne will remain for the next five years before her being allowed to go back to court. During this time, they grow back into their mutual attraction to one another and Anne hopes that George will trust her again. Not like he had any reason to doubt in the beginning.

Even though Anne would eventually return to court, the love triangle continues: Will Compton being everywhere and in the same situation as Anne while George watches their actions like a hawk. Eventually, George will have to forgive Anne but he is still very wary about Will Compton. You would too with all the reasons he says about Will Compton. The life at court continues to go on especially now that Thomas Worsley gains more power and enemies. The Duke of Buckingham would listen to a prophet from Hinton and believing that Henry VIII would have no heirs from his body and that the Duke of Buckingham would be king. Well, we all know how wrong that prophet was! Still, the situation that the Duke of Buckingham would be in is categorized as high treason.

In the later chapters, you are given the scenes of the Field of Cloth of Gold between King Francis I of France and King Henry VIII of England. It must have been a spectacular affair with the tournaments and the many people on both sides and all the grandeur. Kate Emerson describes the Field of Cloth of Gold that made me feel like I was actually there with Anne Stafford. Still, Anne can hardly be excited during the festivities because of Lady Compton (Will’s wife) stirring trouble between Anne, George and Will.

Anne would learn the value of family once she learned that her brother is in serious trouble. She even tried to get Will Compton to help since he is close to King Henry VIII but he can’t help her.

Anne Stafford’s story is full of love, trust, betrayal and family value while living at the Tudor court. She must have been a beautiful wonderful woman, who was actually lucky to have a good marriage (despite George not trusting her for sometime). Kate Emerson gave me a different look at Anne Stafford because I’ve read other historical fiction novels that depict Anne Stafford as an adulterous wife. I’ve enjoyed reading ‘At the King’s Pleasure’ and I hope that this is enough to get you to read it too.