The Lady in the Tower: The Wives of Henry VIII 
asked by vicky123 on November 16, 2006 6:08 PM
One of history’s most complex and alluring women comes to life in this classic novel by the
legendary Jean Plaidy.
Young Anne Boleyn was not beautiful but she was irresistible, capturing the hearts of kings and commoners alike. Daughter of an ambitious country lord, Anne was sent to France to learn sophistication, and then to court to marry well and raise the family’s fortunes. She soon surpassed even their greatest expectations. Although his queen was loving and loyal, King Henry VIII swore he would put her aside and make Anne his wife. And so he did, though the divorce would tear apart the English church and inflict religious turmoil and bloodshed on his people for generations to come.
Loathed by the English people, who called her “the King’s Great Whore,” Anne Boleyn was soon caught in the trap of her own ambition. Political rivals surrounded her at court and, when she failed to produce a much-desired male heir, they closed in, preying on the king’s well-known insecurity and volatile temper. Wrongfully accused of adultery and incest, Anne found herself imprisoned in the Tower of London, where she was at the mercy of her husband and of her enemies.
legendary Jean Plaidy.
Young Anne Boleyn was not beautiful but she was irresistible, capturing the hearts of kings and commoners alike. Daughter of an ambitious country lord, Anne was sent to France to learn sophistication, and then to court to marry well and raise the family’s fortunes. She soon surpassed even their greatest expectations. Although his queen was loving and loyal, King Henry VIII swore he would put her aside and make Anne his wife. And so he did, though the divorce would tear apart the English church and inflict religious turmoil and bloodshed on his people for generations to come.
Loathed by the English people, who called her “the King’s Great Whore,” Anne Boleyn was soon caught in the trap of her own ambition. Political rivals surrounded her at court and, when she failed to produce a much-desired male heir, they closed in, preying on the king’s well-known insecurity and volatile temper. Wrongfully accused of adultery and incest, Anne found herself imprisoned in the Tower of London, where she was at the mercy of her husband and of her enemies.
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Jean Plaidy's The Lady in the Tower tells the story of the rise and fall of Henry VIII's second wife Anne Boleyn, and charts her life from her beginnings at the French court until her execution for treason.
Anne, who many consider to be Henry VIII's most fascinating queen, has been the subject of countless retellings. What I like about Plaidy's novel is that it is written in first person as a kind of memoir while Anne is imprisoned in the Tower of London, and tells her story from her own point of view. This creates a sympathetic portrait and helps in humanizing a historical figure who was greatly hated and villified in her own day.
A very great and interesting read. I am so happy that many of Plaidy's other novels are being re-released for a new generation of readers to enjoy.
Anne, who many consider to be Henry VIII's most fascinating queen, has been the subject of countless retellings. What I like about Plaidy's novel is that it is written in first person as a kind of memoir while Anne is imprisoned in the Tower of London, and tells her story from her own point of view. This creates a sympathetic portrait and helps in humanizing a historical figure who was greatly hated and villified in her own day.
A very great and interesting read. I am so happy that many of Plaidy's other novels are being re-released for a new generation of readers to enjoy.
reviewed by pits on November 24, 2006 3:52 AM
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This book is written in the guise of a journal Anne Boleyn completes while awaiting her execution.
To anyone who's read a Jean Plaidy novel in which Henry VIII figures, it should come as no surprise that she continued her crude portrayal of the legendary king in this book. Henry is portrayed as a fat, beady-eyed, petulant, lustful, vulgar and spoiled child. (Some of this must have basis in history, since other writers have used the lustful and fat approach.) He is given no depth, no redeeming qualities; he is clearly The Villain Of The Piece. It's a disappointment, but not a major one if you've already read other works about the mighty monarch. Your memory will be able to fill in a more well-rounded Henry. (See especially Margaret George's "The Autobiography of Henry VIII, with Notes by His Fool, Will Somers.")
But Plaidy's treatment of Anne Boleyn is what surprised and shocked me. Henry's second wife has generally been accepted throughout history as an adulterous woman who may or may not have been "a witch" but who certainly behaved more wickedly than a Queen would be expected to...a woman who was more desirous of the approving glances of men than of pleasing her husband or attending to affairs of state. A woman who stopped at nothing to get her own way and assumed she could sweet-talk her way out of punishment. But Plaidy paints her as a total innocent, a sweet girl who is completely unaware of the King's regard. Apparently for the years when Henry is pursuing Anne, she is simply mooning about Hever Castle in the company of her stepmother, keeping house, or else being a maid of honor to then-Queen Katharine of Aragon - oblivious to the "mad pursuit" of her by Henry. Even after they are married, Plaidy's Anne is a happy, cheerful woman who wants only to bear Henry a son. The notorious scandal which preceded Anne's beheading (a scandal which affirmed that Anne slept with several gentlemen of the court, including her own brother) is glossed over, garnering only a quick mention at the end - with of course Anne's bewilderment at the news that she's to be beheaded for this.
I can't tell if Plaidy genuinely believes that Anne was innocent of any scandal, or if she's being gently, subtly mocking of the reader (and therefore of Henry VIII). The pages of the "journal" mention Anne's astonishment at such a scandal but Anne, writing, never actually denies that the adultery happened. She merely muses, as a detached observer, at the strangeness of the scandal. However, none of Plaidy's books to date have shown much subtlety, so I assume Anne is meant to be portrayed as a total innocent whose end was manufactured for Henry's marital benefit.
If you don't already know the history behind Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, this book may not make much sense to you. Since Henry is a minor character, we are given none of the historical happenings beyond a few major things (the meeting at the Field of Cloth of Gold, for example) told through Anne's eyes. If you want to know more about Anne, I recommend Ms. George's book mentioned above.
To anyone who's read a Jean Plaidy novel in which Henry VIII figures, it should come as no surprise that she continued her crude portrayal of the legendary king in this book. Henry is portrayed as a fat, beady-eyed, petulant, lustful, vulgar and spoiled child. (Some of this must have basis in history, since other writers have used the lustful and fat approach.) He is given no depth, no redeeming qualities; he is clearly The Villain Of The Piece. It's a disappointment, but not a major one if you've already read other works about the mighty monarch. Your memory will be able to fill in a more well-rounded Henry. (See especially Margaret George's "The Autobiography of Henry VIII, with Notes by His Fool, Will Somers.")
But Plaidy's treatment of Anne Boleyn is what surprised and shocked me. Henry's second wife has generally been accepted throughout history as an adulterous woman who may or may not have been "a witch" but who certainly behaved more wickedly than a Queen would be expected to...a woman who was more desirous of the approving glances of men than of pleasing her husband or attending to affairs of state. A woman who stopped at nothing to get her own way and assumed she could sweet-talk her way out of punishment. But Plaidy paints her as a total innocent, a sweet girl who is completely unaware of the King's regard. Apparently for the years when Henry is pursuing Anne, she is simply mooning about Hever Castle in the company of her stepmother, keeping house, or else being a maid of honor to then-Queen Katharine of Aragon - oblivious to the "mad pursuit" of her by Henry. Even after they are married, Plaidy's Anne is a happy, cheerful woman who wants only to bear Henry a son. The notorious scandal which preceded Anne's beheading (a scandal which affirmed that Anne slept with several gentlemen of the court, including her own brother) is glossed over, garnering only a quick mention at the end - with of course Anne's bewilderment at the news that she's to be beheaded for this.
I can't tell if Plaidy genuinely believes that Anne was innocent of any scandal, or if she's being gently, subtly mocking of the reader (and therefore of Henry VIII). The pages of the "journal" mention Anne's astonishment at such a scandal but Anne, writing, never actually denies that the adultery happened. She merely muses, as a detached observer, at the strangeness of the scandal. However, none of Plaidy's books to date have shown much subtlety, so I assume Anne is meant to be portrayed as a total innocent whose end was manufactured for Henry's marital benefit.
If you don't already know the history behind Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, this book may not make much sense to you. Since Henry is a minor character, we are given none of the historical happenings beyond a few major things (the meeting at the Field of Cloth of Gold, for example) told through Anne's eyes. If you want to know more about Anne, I recommend Ms. George's book mentioned above.
reviewed by madfool on November 26, 2006 1:25 PM
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Before I say anything, one of the reviews reads "do not read the Other Boleyn Girl, it portrays Anne as loose with no morals". And how are we to know that this "sympathetic" book is any more accurate? The Other Boleyn Girl portrays Anne as a woman possessed by a dangerously passionate drive and desire for power.
Reading this book, it hit me that Jean Plaidy should have written a research book or something such as that on Anne, not a novel. The narration is dry and does absolutely no justice to the excitement in Anne's life. The politics are portrayed dully; a picture is painted, but a very homely one.
The plot was good, and I think Jean Plaidy had everything in her head, just not correctly written on the paper.
Reading this book, it hit me that Jean Plaidy should have written a research book or something such as that on Anne, not a novel. The narration is dry and does absolutely no justice to the excitement in Anne's life. The politics are portrayed dully; a picture is painted, but a very homely one.
The plot was good, and I think Jean Plaidy had everything in her head, just not correctly written on the paper.
reviewed by willie on November 26, 2006 4:46 PM