Review: The Favored Queen by Carolly Erickson
The Favored Queen: A Novel of Henry VIII's Third Wife
by Carolly Erickson
Jane Seymour may not be the greatest beauty of Henry VIII's glittering court, but she and her long-time sweetheart Will hope to wed. But as setback after another pushes their wedding date away, Jane begins to despair of becoming his wife. Her loyalty shifts to her mistress, Catherine of Aragon, whom she serves with great devotion. As the king's attention shifts from his wife to the temptress Anne Boleyn, Jane's family rises in power as her brother Ned seeks a solution to nullifying the marriage between Catherine and Henry. By the time Catherine is deposed and Anne Boleyn has been set upon the throne, Jane is resigned to her role as spinster. But when she least expects it, Jane at last finds love where she never intended.
This is my first time reading a Carolly Erickson book. Although several of her biographies came heavily recommended to me, it is this novel that I start with, and it has so turned me off this author that I don't know if I'll ever pick up another one of her books. When an author uses real historical figures and places in their books, I expect the story to follow historical events to some degree. Now, I'm no expert on the life of Henry VIII and his queens but this novel consistently ignores the most basic facts of Tudor England.
Some of these breaches are more egregious than others. One of the most guffaw-inducing are multiple references to the “Maiden's Bower”, a sort of secret harem kept hidden in Henry VIII's castles to service the king's every sexual whims. WHAT. I've never seen a mention of such a thing in any history of the king's court, because Henry VIII never needed it. In addition to his infamous collection of wives, Henry VIII also had several mistresses over the years. For the most part they were daughters of his nobles, and there was always an element of romance to the affair. He didn't have a posse of prostitutes waiting in the wings - if he had, there'd be a lot more royal bastards running around.
Another inconsistency is that Jane Seymour's brother Thomas completely vanishes from the story, a disappointing decision given how pivotal he is to later English history. Her brother Edward is given a fair amount of attention, and both his first wife and himself figuring prominently in Jane's life, but Thomas doesn't even rank a bedside appearance at his father's deathbed. Curiously, Edward's second wife Anne Stanhope never appears either, despite there being evidence that she and Jane Seymour were close.
At one point, a sweating sickness sweeps through London, killing many. Anne Boleyn is one of those struck by the disease. This is fact. In an attempt to heighten the drama, Erickson has Boleyn fall ill while in seclusion with Catherine of Aragon and nearly tossed out the window to her death by a guard to prevent the spread of the disease. The aging queen intervenes, sparing Anne's life and personally caring for her in her illness. It's total romantic twaddle to show Catherine at her best and Anne at her worst, and feels forced in the worst possible way.
Many of the characters' personalities seemed inconsistent with what we know of them. Anne Boleyn was known to be haughty and unpleasant, true; but here she's little more than a spoiled brat, stomping her way from one tantrum to the next. Catherine is so saintly it's nearly sickening. Jane Seymour, our witness to events, has a thrilling sexual affair with a working class man that lasts for months, yet somehow passes as a virgin to the coterie of midwives to inspect her body. Despite the title of the book, there's never any evidence that Jane is a favored queen when she takes the throne; Henry VIII doesn't treat her any better than his previous wives.
Most disappointing to me, the author didn't include an afterward where she explained her deviations from the historical record. As long as the author explains their changes, I'm usually able to live with fictionalized accounts of history. (This is why I remain a Philippa Gregory fan even though I know her novels take great liberties indeed.) All Erickson does is throw a sentence or two at the end describing her book as a “historical entertainment” and a “reimagining of the past”. Perhaps this especially rankles because Erickson has written non-fiction works and describes herself as a historian. Surely she didn't need to sensationalize her stories to make them exciting; there's enough drama in the surviving records without inventing new things out of nowhere.
I give the book two stars because Erickson is an interesting writer, and her narrative flows smoothly enough. But if the reader is unfamiliar with the Tudor period, he or she will end up with some very strange and inaccurate ideas about Henry VIII's wives and the English court at that time.
2 out of 5 stars
To read more about The Favored Queen, buy it or add it to your wishlist click here.
Peeking into the archives...today in:
2014: Grimm Vol. 1 by Jim Kouf and David Greenwalt
2013: The Cavalier Mr. Thompson by Rich Tommaso
2012: Vacation: Spring Break in Ashland
2011: Off to Ashland for a few days!
2010: Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith
2009: Vacation in Yosemite
by Carolly Erickson
Jane Seymour may not be the greatest beauty of Henry VIII's glittering court, but she and her long-time sweetheart Will hope to wed. But as setback after another pushes their wedding date away, Jane begins to despair of becoming his wife. Her loyalty shifts to her mistress, Catherine of Aragon, whom she serves with great devotion. As the king's attention shifts from his wife to the temptress Anne Boleyn, Jane's family rises in power as her brother Ned seeks a solution to nullifying the marriage between Catherine and Henry. By the time Catherine is deposed and Anne Boleyn has been set upon the throne, Jane is resigned to her role as spinster. But when she least expects it, Jane at last finds love where she never intended.
This is my first time reading a Carolly Erickson book. Although several of her biographies came heavily recommended to me, it is this novel that I start with, and it has so turned me off this author that I don't know if I'll ever pick up another one of her books. When an author uses real historical figures and places in their books, I expect the story to follow historical events to some degree. Now, I'm no expert on the life of Henry VIII and his queens but this novel consistently ignores the most basic facts of Tudor England.
Some of these breaches are more egregious than others. One of the most guffaw-inducing are multiple references to the “Maiden's Bower”, a sort of secret harem kept hidden in Henry VIII's castles to service the king's every sexual whims. WHAT. I've never seen a mention of such a thing in any history of the king's court, because Henry VIII never needed it. In addition to his infamous collection of wives, Henry VIII also had several mistresses over the years. For the most part they were daughters of his nobles, and there was always an element of romance to the affair. He didn't have a posse of prostitutes waiting in the wings - if he had, there'd be a lot more royal bastards running around.
Another inconsistency is that Jane Seymour's brother Thomas completely vanishes from the story, a disappointing decision given how pivotal he is to later English history. Her brother Edward is given a fair amount of attention, and both his first wife and himself figuring prominently in Jane's life, but Thomas doesn't even rank a bedside appearance at his father's deathbed. Curiously, Edward's second wife Anne Stanhope never appears either, despite there being evidence that she and Jane Seymour were close.
At one point, a sweating sickness sweeps through London, killing many. Anne Boleyn is one of those struck by the disease. This is fact. In an attempt to heighten the drama, Erickson has Boleyn fall ill while in seclusion with Catherine of Aragon and nearly tossed out the window to her death by a guard to prevent the spread of the disease. The aging queen intervenes, sparing Anne's life and personally caring for her in her illness. It's total romantic twaddle to show Catherine at her best and Anne at her worst, and feels forced in the worst possible way.
Many of the characters' personalities seemed inconsistent with what we know of them. Anne Boleyn was known to be haughty and unpleasant, true; but here she's little more than a spoiled brat, stomping her way from one tantrum to the next. Catherine is so saintly it's nearly sickening. Jane Seymour, our witness to events, has a thrilling sexual affair with a working class man that lasts for months, yet somehow passes as a virgin to the coterie of midwives to inspect her body. Despite the title of the book, there's never any evidence that Jane is a favored queen when she takes the throne; Henry VIII doesn't treat her any better than his previous wives.
Most disappointing to me, the author didn't include an afterward where she explained her deviations from the historical record. As long as the author explains their changes, I'm usually able to live with fictionalized accounts of history. (This is why I remain a Philippa Gregory fan even though I know her novels take great liberties indeed.) All Erickson does is throw a sentence or two at the end describing her book as a “historical entertainment” and a “reimagining of the past”. Perhaps this especially rankles because Erickson has written non-fiction works and describes herself as a historian. Surely she didn't need to sensationalize her stories to make them exciting; there's enough drama in the surviving records without inventing new things out of nowhere.
I give the book two stars because Erickson is an interesting writer, and her narrative flows smoothly enough. But if the reader is unfamiliar with the Tudor period, he or she will end up with some very strange and inaccurate ideas about Henry VIII's wives and the English court at that time.
2 out of 5 stars
To read more about The Favored Queen, buy it or add it to your wishlist click here.
Peeking into the archives...today in:
2014: Grimm Vol. 1 by Jim Kouf and David Greenwalt
2013: The Cavalier Mr. Thompson by Rich Tommaso
2012: Vacation: Spring Break in Ashland
2011: Off to Ashland for a few days!
2010: Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith
2009: Vacation in Yosemite