At The Mercy of the Queen by Anne Clinard Barnhill
Release Date: January 3, 2012
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Paperback, 464pages
Review Copy/HFV Book Tours
A sweeping tale of sexual seduction and intrigue at the court of Henry VIII, At the Mercy of the Queen is a rich and dramatic debut historical about Madge Shelton, cousin and lady-in-waiting to Anne Boleyn.
At the innocent age of fifteen, Lady Margaret Shelton arrives at the court of Henry VIII and quickly becomes the confidante of her cousin, Queen Anne Boleyn. But she soon finds herself drawn into the perilous web of Anne’s ambition. Desperate to hold onto the king’s waning affection, Anne schemes to have him take her guileless young cousin as mistress, ensuring her husband’s new paramour will owe her loyalty to the queen. But Margaret has fallen deeply in love with a handsome young courtier. She is faced with a terrible dilemma: give herself to the king and betray the love of her life or refuse to become his mistress and jeopardize the life of the her cousin, Queen Anne.
Review
This is my fourth venture into the world of The Tudors and unlike all the other books I've read, I think this is first in where the author painted the most historically correct version of the appearances and perhaps attitudes of these much famous personalities.
The story is told through the eyes of Madge, cousin to Queen Anne, who has been sent to Henry VIII court. She's young, beautiful and very gullible to the inner workings of the Queen and the things that go on within court politics. Instead of the conniving and scheming Queen history so often portrays of her, Anne is presented as an almost regular woman who is fighting for the reformation and the separation from the Church...basically the woman was just trying to survive in a world were men ruled everything and heads rolled at minor infractions. Having the Kings eye on her was always the best place for Anne's station, although more and more his eye wanders to younger maidens. Anne in a desperate attempt to provide the King a son, hatches a plan to lure Henry into an affair with Madge, however Madge is in love with Charles Brandon and longs to marry him. The thought of giving herself to Henry repulses her and infuriates Charles. But what can they do, they are both at the mercy of the Queen and the King, they have no choices and the outlook as we all know for Anne, does not turn out well. When Henry does take an interest in Madge, she is left with only two choices, bed the King to please the Queen, or suffer the loss of her head for true love.
After reading this novel, Im left with my beautiful minds eye vision of Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Henry VIII forever ruined......And only because Barnhill did an exquisite job capturing who history says Henry was. An old smelly pervert, who as much as I've read about was a very weak minded King...who had trouble in the bedroom all the while saving face by the many mistresses he fooled around with....basically your typical douche-bag with royal power. With the many varying opinions on Anne Boleyn, I found this book to be my second favorite out of the few Ive read. Fast past plotting, superb storytelling and an all around rich historical read, delivers a favorable win to Barnhill's debut novel.
Rating
Recommended to adult readers who enjoy historical novels or Tudor buffs. Contains: Violence and mild-graphic sexuality.
4/5- Historical
Thanks to HFV Tours and St. Martins for review copy
Jonathon Rhys Meyers Photo Credit: The Tudors Showtime (CC)
Jonathon Rhys Meyers Photo Credit: The Tudors Showtime (CC)
"An old smelly pervert, who as much as I've read about was a very weak minded King...who had trouble in the bedroom all the while saving face by the many mistresses he fooled around with....basically your typical douche-bag with royal power."
ReplyDeleteI so love reading your reviews Tina! I prefer to keep Jonathan Rhys Meyers in my mind for Henry VII (or Eric Bana from The Other Boleyn Girl) instead of a fat, smelly man who can't quite get it up. O_o This sounds like an amazing read, and I'm always fascinated by the time of the Tudors, so this is going on my list. Outstanding review!
I'm a sucker for the Tudors, and yours is the second really great review for this one that I've read. It's on my list -- unfortunately, I have no idea WHEN I'll have time to get to it! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteGreat review, loved your description of Henry VIII! I am so happy that you enjoyed Anne's novel and I appreciate you hosting the tour!
ReplyDeleteHi Tina,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for this lovely review--I'm glad you enjoyed the book :)And I love your straightforward commentary--quite refreshing!
Best,
Anne Barnhill
Douche-bag, never heard him described that way but pretty appropriate...lol
ReplyDeletegreat review!!
Sounds like an interesting read. I thought Rhys Meyers was great int the Tudors !
ReplyDeleteSounds good. I love JRM.
ReplyDelete