Emily Purdy – The Tudor Wife
Love is a powerful weapon, and when it becomes twisted by jealousy, hatred, and suspicions, it can also do evil.
England at the time of Henry VIII’s reign. King Henry is worried, since his wife, Queen Catherine, has not been able to give him a heir, a son; only a girl-child and dead-born sons. When he meets Anne, and Anne makes clear that she will not give herself to him unless he makes her his Queen and wife, he is ready to do everything to have her in his bed. He has to wait long before he succeeds, and when he does, his victory doesn’t seem as glorious as he had expected… Anne’s only hope is to get pregnant and carry a son for the King. Otherwise, her destiny will be the same as the previous Queen’s – or perhaps it would be worse, if jealous Lady Jane Parker can help it… The stage for betrayals of all sorts is set.
The story starts with a prologue, “The Madwoman in the Tower” (Gilbert and Gubar Critical Reference, anyone? – Ed), with a short prediction to what will happen later on. The narrator is Lady Jane Parker, in first person. This is kind of odd, since the narrator seems to know a lot more than a single person could actually know without being there, having supreme knowledge that most of the other characters do not have. Also, Lady Jane Parker is described as “shy and plain”, and her husband and friends seem to ignore her most of the time, as if she wasn’t there. She follows people from close-yet-afar, and she sneaks after her husband and her sister, and strangely, no one seems to notice her at all. It seems Jane is only with high and well-known people because of her father’s status, and even then she’s not high enough to be worth of anyone’s attention. It’s also very painful to read how Jane is treated by her husband, Anne’s brother. Though Jane doesn’t make it easy for herself: whenever she can, she taunts Anne and tries to make her look bad in others’ eyes.
The story however, is beautifully written, following forms of a more poetic narrative than most of the English literature I’ve read. In my opinion, it adds more drama to the story, and makes it captivating to read. However, the story seems to focus more on the people and their relationships than describing surroundings, landscapes and buildings. Most detail is revealed about people’s clothing and jewellery, as if the reader is supposed to know where the locations and buildings are and how they appear. If a place gets described, it’s usually via its atmosphere. I find this a bit disturbing, since I’m not so familiar with English landscape and its places. I’m also not used to reading romances: someone else may not feel the same and may just enjoy reading about the characters‘ relationships between each other and forget about the details of the surroundings. Still, the story is intriguing indeed.
Is there really incest between Anne and George? It would seem like so, for so greatly does George defend his sister, and caress her and hold her in his arms when she’s down, and they kiss each other like lovers do. And all of that Jane has to watch from a close distance. But the siblings are not the only ones “twisted”: surely there’s something wrong with Jane, since she spies not only on her husband and his sister, but the King of England himself as Henry makes love with Anne’s cousin, Madge Shelton. The siblings, as the reader can interpret from the prologue, are condemned to death, but from my opinion, the trial and their execution were made quite lightly: it all seemed to be written in great haste. The truth of the Boleyn siblings’ relationship is never told.
After their deaths, the book focuses more on Jane, and then it shifts so that Jane watches as Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard become the successors of Anne, acting as the new Queens’ lady-in-wait till her own death. The story is divided into three parts, the first and longest focusing on Anne Boleyn, the second focusing on Jane Seymour and Anne of Cleves, and the last focusing on Katherine Howard.
There are fifteen questions in the end of the book, all suggesting the reader to take a more in-depth look at the story, and search for more information about the characters and their roles in the actual historical events. This book is very recommended to those who are interested in history, especially the Tudor era and English monarchs, and of course, to those who want to have a good romance read.
Written by: Laura Rantala
Edited by: Sara Slack
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