Another disappointment from Suzannah Dunn...

The Queen's Sorrow

by Suzannah Dunn

Yet another deceiving title from Dunn as The Queen’s Sorrow and cover illustration as well as the synopsis on the back cover elude to this being the story of Mary Tudor, on her ascension to the throne.  The story is told through the eyes of a Spanish sundial maker, Rafael, and actually is his story.  Though Queen Mary is a central figure that the reader encounters briefly throughout the novel it is not her sorrow that we encounter but really that of Rafael.  Perhaps the novel would be redeemed if Rafael wasn’t a pathetic, naïve man who has known great pain, but in turn, and perhaps because of it, causes great pain to many others.

I, like many other reviewers, waited for the story to turn to Mary and it never did which was so disappointing.  I had hoped for some insight into Mary, a women I long to understand, but Dunn fell far short of exploring the Queen’s sorrow. 

Ultimately I must say that after my last encounter with Dunn’s work in The Sixth Wife, and my research on Dunn herself who claims not to be a writer of historical fiction, I have concluded that she merely uses a historical setting in which to construct her novels of pure fiction and would go so far as to say that the misleading titles and allusions to historical figures are merely a ruse to grab readers of historical fiction for her own gain.  Therefore, I cannot imagine reading anything by Suzannah Dunn again and would recommend that anyone who enjoys true historical fiction not waste his or her time either.

This review qualifies for the following challenges:
Historical Fiction Book Review #17
Tudor Book Blog Reading Challenge #15

The title is deceiving...

The Sixth Wife

by Suzannah Dunn

When selecting this book please beware… Both the title and the cover illustration are deceiving as both clearly suggest that the focus is Henry VIII’s sixth wife and Queen, Katherine Parr.  However, this novel’s central character and narrator is Catherine Willoughby Brandon, Duchess of Suffolk, one of Queen Katherine’s ladies in waiting as well as her close friend.  Here Dunn presents the perspective of Catherine Brandon on the tumultuous conclusion to the reign of Henry VIII and Queen Katherine’s subsequent hasty marriage to Thomas Seymour following the death of King Henry.  Dunn dubs Lady Catherine “Cathy” who is suspicious of the motives behind the marriage to Seymour and suspects that Seymour desires the marriage as it puts him close to the young Princess Elizabeth with whom Queen Katherine lives.  Cathy tries to protect both Queen Katherine and Princess Elizabeth by living with them at Sudeley Castle, but in the end finds herself entangled in a physical relationship with Seymour that forever severs her friendship with Queen Katherine who is devastated at the betrayal of her husband with one of her closest friends.

I was disappointed in The Sixth Wife for several reasons but primarily because Dunn opted to pit these two influential women against one another.   I have always found Queen Katherine to be the ultimate survivor, a true reformer while remaining nurturing and warm.  The suggestion that an improper relationship existed with Princess Elizabeth is one thing, given her age mixed with Seymour’s lethal charm, but to think that Catherine Brandon would betray her in such a way was very difficult to swallow.  The young bride of the aging Duke of Suffolk has always fascinated me and from what I have encountered she too was an intelligent woman and a devout reformer.  I would rather read more about these women claiming their power and influence rather than succumbing to the charms of a soulless climber.  And while I commend Dunn’s use of Catherine Willoughby as her narrator, I can’t help but think that Dunn wasted an opportunity to give her reader more than a historical love triangle; something just one step above a romance novel.

Again I was disappointed with Dunn’s use of modern nicknames, though not as distracting as they were in the Queen of Subtleties, they are nevertheless so unnecessary and really seem to dumb the whole thing down.  I was surprised to read that Dunn herself has said “I don’t write historical fiction,” and so perhaps I should strike her works from my reading list.  However, I must say that to me Dunn’s statement seems more like an excuse for writing bad historical fiction because clearly she frames her novel within a historical context and choses her narrator to be an actual figure at the Tudor court.  What Dunn does not give her reader is a novel that provokes further research or opens the reader’s eyes to a fresh perspective. 

Unfortunately, I cannot recommend The Sixth Wife without these reservations and while I enjoyed Dunn’s use of Catherine Brandon as narrator the story that she creates is empty.

This review qualifies for the following challenges:

Historical Fiction Book Review #16

Tudor Book Blog Reading Challenge #14

The book is "The Queen of Subtleties"; sadly this review isn't....

The Queen of Subtleties: A Novel of Anne Boleyn

by Suzannah Dunn

I was truly eager to read another novel from Suzannah Dunn and pulled The Queen of Subtleties: A Novel of Anne Boleyn immediately out of my latest shipment of books.  Thus far in all my years of devouring all Tudor era historical fiction I had not come across a novel that I could not find anything redeeming about.  That was until The Queen of Subtleties crossed my path.  I hate to say that, as I truly admire and have complete respect for all authors for the accomplishment alone. My comments are made with the upmost respect and as I mentioned I have enjoyed Dunn’s work in the past.

Anne Boleyn, as depicted in The Queen of Subtleties, is much more Sex and The City than anything else.  I found the modern language difficult and the use of unfamiliar nicknames VERY annoying.  Some examples:  Charlie (Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, Tom (Thomas Cromwell), Franky (Sir Francis Weston, Fitz (Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond), Billy (William Brereton) and Harry (Sir Henry Norris).  Really?  I had a hard time figuring out whom Dunn was referring to and that certainly detracted from the flow of the read.  Really, one might enjoy it, if they had little to no knowledge of the period, but that annoyed me as well, it was a waste of time for me and truly I would have tossed it aside had I not felt bound to review the book for my blog.  The language is also thoroughly modern and annoyingly so – again, I found myself completely distracted by it.

I feel compelled to say that I did enjoy bits and pieces of it.  Especially, the last chapter, in which Anne offers some advice to her daughter, Elizabeth, whom she wants to tell to keep her head down to keep her head, but acknowledges that with Tudor and Boleyn blood that task will prove impossible.  Acknowledging this, Anne tells Elizabeth to simply be her mother’s daughter and hold her head high despite the risk.  I wish Dunn could have brought more of mother/daughter connection of the last chapter to the entire novel…  Nevertheless, one chapter cannot make up for the nicknames and the language, which distracted this reader from really understanding what this novel's point was - perhaps it didn't have one. 

I will confess I am always annoyed by attempts to “dumb down” history to make it more accessible.  Honestly, if you can’t distinguish Mary Tudor, Queen of France, Duchess of Suffolk, from Mary Tudor, Queen of England, daughter of Catherine of Aragon and Henry VIII, then perhaps you should just find something else to read.  Rather than bringing history to life Dunn confuses those with knowledge and misinforms anyone without it.  As I have said in the past, good historical fiction should foster investigation into history, to my mind, not dumb it down for the masses. Really this shouldn’t be classified as historical fiction but rather complete fiction.  I hate to say this but do not waste your time with this one.

This review qualifies for the following challenges:
Historical Fiction Book Review #9
Tudor Book Blog Reading Challenge #7