Kate Emerson continues to impress...

By Royal Decree

Secrets of the Tudor Court, #3

by Kate Emerson

By Royal Decree is the third installment in Kate Emerson’s series, The Secrets of the Tudor Court.  This series is unique is that each novel is narrated by an actual but marginal woman within the Tudor Court.  I truly enjoy Emerson’s use of this innovative and fresh point of view and at the same time enjoy her novels as they follow the history accurately.  Surprisingly, Emerson includes the actual events of the woman’s life and weaves that into the larger historical setting.  Every installment has been a new and interesting journey into the lives of those Tudor enthusiasts recognize, but do not know much about.  I find this technique enables Emerson to expand and explain motivations in such a way that the greater historical framework is not broached.  I find Emerson’s writing both innovative and classic and truly a wonderful example of how historical fiction should be done.

By Royal Decree follows the story of Elizabeth “Bess” Brooke, daughter of Lord George Brooke, 9th Baron Cobham of Kent.  The story opens with Henry entertaining a group of eligible women of noble birth, including Bess, in his search for his sixth wife.  In the first chapter we again encounter Nan Basset, Between Two Queens, and Emerson allows the second and third installment of the Secrets of the Tudor Court to overlap ever so slightly, which worked for this reader.  Bess brought to court by her parents to attend the King’s banquet.  Bess, young and beautiful, attracted the King’s interest that made her wary and she felt the need to escape his notice.  In her attempt to leave Bess accidently catches her aunt Dorothy Bray in an intimate embrace with Lord William Parr. Much to her aunt’s displeasure Parr seems taken with Bess but she leaves Court the following day to return to Kent, wisely laying low until Henry snares another bride.

Lord William Parr’s sister Katherine would become Henry’s sixth wife and Queen thereby rocketing the Parr’s up the sociopolitical latter virtually overnight.  Not that Lord William seemed to personally profit from this rise.  He was divorced from his child bride, with whom he had spent only one night and who shortly after left him with a former priest and had many children through that relationship. Divorce, ironically, even in Henry VII’s England might be granted but the spouse could not be remarried until the death of their former spouse.  The relationship and love affair between William Parr and Bess seems genuine both in the novel and in the research I’ve done into the pair after reading Emerson’s account.  In the end, politics and religion shaped the couple’s relationship.  Under Edward VI the pair were allowed to marry, Mary I quickly reversed that decision and Elizabeth I reunited the pair again.  It is from this proclamation that the novel takes its name.  Bess and William were married or not by royal decree.

Again, Emerson delivers a wonderfully crafted and carefully researched novel that truly opens up the world of the peripheral figures within the Tudor Court.  For this reader it is Emerson’s meticulous adherence to historical fact that truly allows her fictional account of Bess Brooke and William Parr to truly come to life. I recommend By Royal Decree and am eagerly awaiting delivery of the next installment in the series, At The Kings Pleasure, which will feature Lady Anne Stanhope, sister of The Duke of Buckingham.

This review qualifies for the following challenges:
Historical Fiction Book Review #12
Tudor Book Blog Reading Challenge #10

A true must read!!!

The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn, by Robin Maxwell

The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn was a fascinating take on the connection between two of history’s most memorable women, two Queens and a mother and daughter.

Anne gave the diary into safekeeping and it was presented to Elizabeth at the beginning of her reign.  Anne describes the events of her life beginning just before her ascendency to the throne, her downfall and ends just prior to her death. It is through reading the words written by the hand of a mother she barely remembers that Elizabeth learns not only about Anne, but comes to understand much about herself. Elizabeth finds she shares her mother’s fierce independence, love of learning and understands the impact of those qualities in a world ruled by men.

Anne, through the diary, uses her own life as a means of mothering and advising Elizabeth from beyond the grave.  Not only does Elizabeth discover how Anne dearly loved her but also provides Elizabeth with sage motherly advice.  Anne uses her own rise and fall to caution her daughter about the dangers for women in a world controlled by men.  After reading the diary Elizabeth, though desperately in love with Lord Robert Dudley, resolves to “have no master”.

Robin Maxwell does an amazing job bringing both of these women to life; especially Anne – the woman and the mother.  I have so often wondered about the impact that Anne’s life and death had on Elizabeth and if she knew the real Anne, rather than the propagandized heretical concubine that much of the world bought into.  I enjoyed Maxwell’s style of jumping from the past to the present, which clearly connected the reader to the impact of Anne’s words on Elizabeth the Queen, and in turn the history of England.

Maxwell empowers and humanizes Anne and provides the reader with a deeper depiction of Anne though a very sympathetic one.  Anyone who loves Anne will love this wonderful characterization of her.  I confess that the portrayal is completely in line with my own opinions as I have always seen that through Elizabeth’s long successful reign Anne was ultimately vindicated.  Therefore, I must admit my bias to Maxwell’s account.

The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn is a thoroughly enjoyable read.  In fact, it is quite difficult to pry yourself away from it!  I recommend it highly for its unique method of connecting two enormous personalities, each a legend in her own right, as mother and daughter.

This review qualifies for the following challenges:
Historical Fiction Book Review #1
Tudor Book Blog Reading Challenge #1