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A review by sarahcoller
The Lady in the Tower by Jean Plaidy
4.0
This is the second Jean Plaidy I've read and I do enjoy her most of all the Tudor fiction novelists I've read. Her books are fairly clean and pretty straightforward, as far as the history of things goes. There were a few places where I found myself a bit bored---mainly during the years where they were just waiting on tides to change---so not really her fault, but that of history.
I knew the basic story line of Anne's life; but this story brought it to life in a way that I think is very plausible, but one that I didn't necessarily like too much. Plaidy's Anne starts out as a woman of high character, driven to live by her principles, and unafraid of standing on morality. I really liked and admired her character at the beginning---my mind had been changed about her.
But, as soon as she chose to compromise her virtue and allow herself to be betrothed to the King, she became increasingly selfish and spoiled. She spent a lot of time whining about how people despised her for being his supposed concubine and how she hadn't sought that in the beginning, yet she was held to blame. In my opinion, she became completely accountable the moment she decided to begin romantic relations with a married man. I found it interesting that, during the time they were trying to have Henry's first marriage annulled, he seemed to become more patient and compassionate while she became more selfish and paranoid.
The story was really helpful in understanding the politics surrounding Henry VIII's influence on the institution of Protestantism in England. Two of my sons are currently studying this era so it's a topic I'm more interested in than usual this season.
I do wonder how much of Anne's character was based on historical record. She was a woman of virginal and chaste morals in the beginning; and her daughter, Elizabeth I, was thought, by some, to also be a virginal and chaste woman. I wonder how much of that was in response to what she'd been told about the character of her mother. I was also intrigued by the idea that Anne could have influenced Court fashions of the day with her designs to hide her (perhaps made up) mole and sixth nail.
All in all, it was a great read and I'm happy that I have so many more by this author on my TBR for the future.
I knew the basic story line of Anne's life; but this story brought it to life in a way that I think is very plausible, but one that I didn't necessarily like too much. Plaidy's Anne starts out as a woman of high character, driven to live by her principles, and unafraid of standing on morality. I really liked and admired her character at the beginning---my mind had been changed about her.
But, as soon as she chose to compromise her virtue and allow herself to be betrothed to the King, she became increasingly selfish and spoiled. She spent a lot of time whining about how people despised her for being his supposed concubine and how she hadn't sought that in the beginning, yet she was held to blame. In my opinion, she became completely accountable the moment she decided to begin romantic relations with a married man. I found it interesting that, during the time they were trying to have Henry's first marriage annulled, he seemed to become more patient and compassionate while she became more selfish and paranoid.
The story was really helpful in understanding the politics surrounding Henry VIII's influence on the institution of Protestantism in England. Two of my sons are currently studying this era so it's a topic I'm more interested in than usual this season.
I do wonder how much of Anne's character was based on historical record. She was a woman of virginal and chaste morals in the beginning; and her daughter, Elizabeth I, was thought, by some, to also be a virginal and chaste woman. I wonder how much of that was in response to what she'd been told about the character of her mother. I was also intrigued by the idea that Anne could have influenced Court fashions of the day with her designs to hide her (perhaps made up) mole and sixth nail.
All in all, it was a great read and I'm happy that I have so many more by this author on my TBR for the future.