review (part 1): The Lady in the Tower by Jean Plaidy

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This is the book that started my obsession with Jean Plaidy–the first of her novels I read and my absolute favorite characterization of Anne Boleyn. Eight years have passed, and reading it again I stand by my initial delight in finding an admirable protagonist in Anne–after having been introduced to her by Philippa Gregory, with her not-so-flattering portrayal of Anne as a great intriguer with temperamental dominance.

In The Lady in the Tower, Anne is imprisoned in the Tower of London, recounting her life in its entirety in an effort to distract herself from her present state. She details her early life at Hever, the years spent in the court of France, and her relations with James Butler, Henry Percy and Thomas Wyatt. All of this makes up the first half of the story and leads up to the Henry VIII’s entrance into Anne’s life.

Losing her mother at a young age, Anne was precocious and wise beyond her years–well-prepared to join the King’s sister, who had become the Queen of France. Born into an ambitious family, court life suited her–though she loathed the position her sister had taken as François’ mistress (and later Henry VIII’s). She was aware of the gossip and ribaldry focused on Mary’s promiscuity and she was shamed and horrified at the indignity of it, and very determined not to follow in her footsteps. This, and a natural inclination to chastity, set her resolve that would one day hold off the King of England for seven years before their marriage.

She gained a love of learning and was greatly influenced by the French King’s sister, Marguerite d’Angoulême. During Anne’s stay in the France, Martin Luther published his Ninety-Five Theses and the budding Protestant Reformation interested the young philosophically minded courtiers, Anne included. This influence would shape Anne’s future, as it set the foundation to the upcoming changes in Henry VIII’s religious policies, instituting the break from Rome and beginning the Church of England.

Before joining the English court, her father, who was rising high in the King’s favor (thanks to his elder daughter), came home to ready for a visit from King Henry. Anne, pondering her dismal future as the wife of James Bulter, an Irish peer, is not impressed by the King and decides to play a trick on him when he happens upon her in the garden unannounced. She pretends to believe he is a gentleman of the court and proceeds to ridicule the court, comparing it to that of France. Thus both angered and fascinated, the King makes himself known and Anne deftly extricates herself by feigning her purpose to have been amusement, and not pretension.

Plaidy stages Anne to meet James Bulter at court, where he is much taken with her, but she is indifferent to him–mostly because she has no desire to live in Ireland. When it is announced that there is to be no betrothal, she is relieved and believes there must have been a change in policy which negated the alliance. Her chance meeting with Henry Percy, the heir to the Earl of Northumberland, was different in that she was drawn to him and both were enamored of the other. Their forced split and her subsequent dismissal from court was a low point in Anne’s young life and caused the coldness she felt toward men, especially the powerful Cardinal Wosley and the King (once she learned he was the cause).

As the first half of the book ends, Thomas Wyatt, a neighbor of Hever and childhood playmate of George and the Boleyn sisters, makes his feelings known to Anne. Though already married, he wished Anne to dally, but is much mistaken in his presumption that she will fall for his handsomeness, wit and flowery writing. Anne Boleyn will be no man’s mistress–and thus the chase begins for King Henry VIII…

Review, Part 2 coming soon…

Murder Most Royal by Jean Plaidy

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“One powerful king. Two tragic queens.

In the court of Henry VIII, it was dangerous for a woman to catch the king’s eye. Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard were cousins. Both were beautiful women, though very different in temperament. They each learned that Henry’s passion was all-consuming–and fickle.

Sophisticated Anne Boleyn, raised in the decadent court of France, was in love with another man when King Henry claimed her as his own. Being his mistress gave her a position of power; being his queen put her life in jeopardy. Her younger cousin, Catherine Howard, was only fifteen when she was swept into the circle of King Henry. Her innocence attracted him, but a past mistake was destined to haunt her.

Painted in the rich colors of Tudor England, Murder Most Royal is a page-turning journey into the lives of two of the wives of the tempestuous Henry VIII.” – 2006 Three Rivers Press edition

review: Rochester, the Mad Earl by Kathleen Kellow

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Rochester, the Mad Earl

by Kathleen Kellow

The adventures and exploits of John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, are resurrected in this 1957 novel by Jean Plaidy, under one of her lesser-known pseudonyms—Kathleen Kellow.

Rochester’s father, Henry Wilmot, was responsible for cutting the Roundhead-pursued Charles II’s curls, helping him escape the country incognito during Cromwell’s rule. The 1st Earl of Rochester was steadfast by his side, while his wife ran a Puritan household in order to hang on to some family assets. Though he died before Charles was restored to the throne, the King did not forget the man who shared his impoverished exile.

Rochester, true to the Royalist cause, came of age just as the King returned to England, and thus was rewarded with the King’s friendship. Being handsome, of clever wit and sparkling intelligence, Rochester quickly became a favorite in the court circles and set out to marry an heiress. His courtship and attempted abduction of Elizabeth Malet is an unexpected humorous love story. ‘Bessie’ is herself a smart and level-headed young woman, who truly stole Rochester’s heart even while it seemed to others he courted her vast fortune.

Though he seemingly had it all—youth, talent, a title, money and the King’s ear—Rochester’s inner demons were continually at the forefront of his mind. Shakespeare held the standard for him, and he wished to be immortalized in verse—but he couldn’t keep cynicism and barbs toward others from his writing. He is best known for scurrilous poems about fellow courtiers and the King (who amusingly accepted the true enough quips).

Perhaps most scandalous were the outrageous pranks he pulled: setting himself up as a quack doctor, disguised and diagnosing ills of the court, being a landlord of an inn with Buckingham, dressing as beggars and commoners (even with the King in tow). His driving ambition to become a great in the theater world had him searching for an actress to support. He found both Sarah Cooke and Elizabeth Barry, though neither paved his way to fame, and he was never considered a serious asset to the playwrights, other than a wealthy patron.

Rochester’s insistence on logical thinking, sparked by studying the writings of Thomas Hobbes, formed his mind against religion—and this is something he battled throughout his life. He was always questioning the meaning of life and the existence of an afterlife. He welcomed all experiences to further his understanding of the world—one can see why he succumbed to wine and debauchery, for he felt that if a person is only to have the present life, he must live it to the fullest.

Having read many, many novels by the author, I assumed her writing style would be similar with this book from her early career, but it read more clearly and without so many of the obscure ‘Plaidy words’ you find in her subsequent works. Her attention to detail and infallible historical accuracy is prevalent as ever, and I really enjoyed this reimagining of the life of such an intriguing Restoration character. Rochester has always interested me in other novels of the era, and I believe Plaidy went above and beyond in recreating an honest and admirable protagonist.

1950 edition of The Goldsmith’s Wife with Plaidy self bio

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Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc.
Book Club Edition
Sears Readers Club

Front Cover:
The Goldsmith’s Wife
Jean Plaidy
“The story of lovely Jane Shore, who married a worthy merchant and ran away with a handsome King”

Synopsis:

Wayward, passionate, good-hearted, and loved by many men, Jane Shore ran away from Lombard Street, where she was the wife of a respectable goldsmith, to rule the court as mistress to handsome King Edward IV.

Many famous personalities of the period figure in Jane’s story. Jean Plaidy offers a new interpretation of Richard, brother of the King and later Richard III, which completely contradicts the conception of Richard as the blackhearted villain created by Shakespeare to please Queen Elizabeth. The brutal and sensual Marquis of Dorset; Lord Hastings, who thwarted passion for Jane became an obsession which eventually was his undoing; and Mary Blague, ostensibly lace-woman to the King but in secret, brothel-keeper and procuress–these just a few of the fascinating characters recreated in this robust novel. Here, too, are the two little princes, victims of history’s most mysterious and callous murder.

Among these moved Jane–a dainty, goldenhaired figure, the loveliest and merriest lady of the court. Humble mercer’s daughter, goldsmith’s wife, king’s favorite, Jane Shore had a story of amazing contrasts, from the days when she graced the royal banquets to the time when she did penance through the streets of London as a common harlot. Set against the colorful and dangerous background of fifteenth-century London, this is an entertaining and vigorous historical novel.

Back cover:

Jean Plaidy writes about herself:

“I consider myself extremely lucky to have been born in London, and to have spent my childhood there; and to have had on my doorstep this most fascinating of cities with so many relics of 2,000 years of history still to be found in its streets. One of my greatest pleasures was, and still is, exploring London.

Circumstances arose which brought mu school life to an abrupt termination, and I went hastily to a business college where I studies shorthand, type-writing and languages. And so I had to set about the business of earning a living.

For the next two or three years I filled many posts. I have handled unique opals and pearls of great price in Hatton Garden, and was once engaged as an interpreter to French and German patrons of a city cafe, where, luckily for me, no Germans ever came, and the French who did were very gallant.

I found that married life gave me the necessary freedom–even during the war when I did a part-time job in a Ministry–to follow an ambition which had been with me since my childhood; and so I started to write in earnest.”

Indiscretions of the Queen by Jean Plaidy

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Indiscretions of the Queen

Book Description (G. P. Putnum’s Sons, 1988 HC reprint)

Forced to marry Caroline of Brunswick in order to appease an angry Parliament and pay his enormous debts, the Prince of Wales soon regrets his decision. For Caroline is everything the future Queen of England should not be: tactless, coquettish, and outrageous. Dressing in flamboyant clothing, shocking people with her vulgar speech, Caroline seems less a princess than a serving wench.

But if these traits do not endear her to her husband, they do endear her to the people of England, who delight it her antics, appreciate her love of children, and rally to her side in her never-ending battles with the Prince of Wales, who had grown increasingly unpopular with age.

Realizing that divorce would only make him more unpopular, the price determines to gather irrefutable evidence that Caroline is unfit to be queen. Once her indiscretions become public knowledge, he reasons, the people will no longer support the wife he despises. His quest to rid himself of Caroline forever culminates in one of the most famous cases in history, in which a Queen of England stood trial–charged with adultery.

Chapters
A Wedding in Brunswick, Caroline cannot go to the Ball, Caroline in Love, The Miracle, Departure for England, The Meeting, The Unwilling Bridegroom, The Wedding Night, A Child is Born, The Royal Separation, Princess Royal’s Romance, Caroline’s Little Family, The Reunion, Willikin, The Anonymous and the Obscene, The Douglas Affair, Royal Scandals, No Place for Mrs. Fitzherbert, Persecutions, The Spy at Villa d’Este, Tragedy in England, On Trial, Return to Brunswick

Author Note
N/A

Inclusions
Family Tree

Cover Art

The Queen From Provence by Jean Plaidy

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The Queen From Provence

by Jean Plaidy

From the 1981 American Putnam Edition:

“The Count of Provence had four daughters. Although they were beautiful and cultured, they were without dowries and it seemed unlikely that they could make the marriages their father wanted for them. The eldest, Marguerite, helped by good luck and the Count’s wily minister, married the King of France; and her sister Eleanor was determined to make as grand a match.

Eleanor, the most beautiful of the four, knew exactly what she wanted and aimed to get it. Only a miracle could bring her to the notice of the King of England. Eleanor contrived to bring about that miracle.

England was in an uneasy state. Henry, the King, meant well, but he was weak, and the barons remembered the reign of Henry’s wantonly cruel and recklessly foolish father, King John. Magna Carta was the symbol of their triumph over him, and Henry was never allowed to forget it.

When he married the girl from Provence, Henry immediately became her slave. His great joy was to shower gifts on her, and the heavy taxation he levied in order to please his wife and her relations inevitably led to revolt. The man at the head of this was Simon de Montfort, the adventurer who had romantically and secretly married the King’s sister.

Throughout these troubling times Henry was sustained by the love and loyalty of his family, at the head of which was his Queen. His son Edward—the delight of his parents—grew out of a boyhood marred by acts of thoughtless but revolting cruelty to become a great leader. The erstwhile victorious Simon de Montfort instituted the first real parliament; and at the center of the scene was Henry, haunted by the specter of his father, a weak king but a loving husband and father, only happy with his family.

Dominating that family—and the country itself—was Eleanor, the dowryless girl from Provence, who was almost murdered by the Londoners, but who stood firmly beside the King throughout his trials and made him a happy man, while, through her, he came near to losing his kingdom.”

Covers:

Rochester the Mad Earl by Kathleen Kellow

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Rochester the Mad Earl

by Kathleen Kellow

From the 1957 Robert Hale edition:

“This is the story of John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester–Restoration poet, wit and rake. As a boy he was eager to take his place among the immortals. Two passions prevented him: women and wine. He was the lover of many women, but there were two who had his lifelong devotion.

He sought an heiress in marriage and when she refused, he abducted her under her grandfather’s eyes. He realized the genius of a serving girl and made her a great actress. He set up as a quack doctor, roamed London in disguise, and mocked the King to his face. Nothing was too daring or too fantastic for “The Mad Earl”; and madly he squandered his life and his gifts, until, with life scarcely begun, he found that it was over.

This is the story of the most brilliant, the most gay, and the most tragic of men.”

The Time of the Hunter’s Moon

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The Time of the Hunter’s Moon

by Victoria Holt

From the 1983 Doubleday Book Club Edition:

Legend beckons a romantic schoolgirl to await her future husband in a forest at the time of the hunter’s moon. When a handsome stranger appears, Cordelia Grant wonders if she is dreaming. But time will prove this fateful encounter to be all too real and far beyond the reaches of a young girl’s imagination.

Haunted by the memory of her mystery man, Cordelia begins a new life as schoolmistress at a girls’ academy. In Devon she finds herself pursued by Jason Verringer, a dashing land baron with a scandalous reputation. Cordelia knows she should despise the man who, it is rumored, murdered his wife and mistress. But to her dismay, he begins to invade her thoughts–and to compete with the carefully preserved memory of the fair, handsome stranger from her girlhood days.

In this page-turning tale of love and intrigue, her heroine discovers that people are not always who they appear to be. Good and evil wear many faces. Among them lurk two men. One is a murderer; the other is a lover. Cordelia’s destiny depends on finding both. From the ordeal will emerge a woman who has listened to her heart and has found her true love.

Covers:

Victoria Victorious

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Book Description:

“In this unforgettable novel of Queen Victoria, Jean Plaidy re-creates a remarkable life filled with romance, triumph, and tragedy.

At birth, Princess Victoria was fourth in line for the throne of England, the often-overlooked daughter of a prince who died shortly after her birth. She and her mother lived in genteel poverty for most of her childhood, exiled from court because of her mother’s dislike of her uncles, George IV and William IV. A strong, willful child, Victoria was determined not to be stifled by her powerful uncles or her unpopular, controlling mother. Then one morning, at the age of eighteen, Princess Victoria awoke to the news of her uncle William’s death. The almost-forgotten princess was now Queen of England. Even better, she was finally free of her mother’s iron hand and her uncles’ manipulations. Her first act as queen was to demand that she be given a room—and a bed—of her own.

Victoria’s marriage to her German cousin, Prince Albert, was a blissfully happy one that produced nine children. Albert was her constant companion and one of her most trusted advisors. Victoria’s grief after Prince Albert’s untimely death was so shattering that for the rest of her life—nearly forty years—she dressed only in black. She survived several assassination attempts, and during her reign England’s empire expanded around the globe until it touched every continent in the world.

Derided as a mere “girl queen” at her coronation, by the end of her sixty-four-year reign, Victoria embodied the glory of the British Empire. In this novel, written as a “memoir” by Victoria herself, she emerges as truthful, sentimental, and essentially human—both a lovable woman and a great queen.”

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