All About Anne: The Theatre and The Book

Reading through my e-mail I have found a lot on Anne Boleyn. It isn't surprising considering May 19th is the anniversary of her execution. I thought some of the things I found would be interesting to many of you, especially those who are "Team Boleyn," like myself :)

The new and well-reviewed play Anne Boleyn has moved to Bath for the next few days! If you are in the area, go! To entice you more (besides the fact that it's about Anne...) here are a few tidbits:

The trailer for the play:

An interesting article discussing the many faces of Anne Boleyn, including that portrayed in the above play. And, a review for the play. If you go, let me know! I'd love to know opinions on it!

Secondly, there has been a lot on Hilary Mantel's Bringing Up the Bodies, the squeal to the award winning Wolf Hall. Here's a link to a review for the book from The New York Times,  as well as one from The New Yorker. It is quite long and very detailed with several excerpts. It also attempts to delve into the character of Thomas Cromwell. I also really loved the mocked up portrait of Hillary as Anne!

Finally, here's the link to a podcast discussing the novel. I thoroughly enjoyed it as the speakers discussed the book's chances of winning the Man Booker Prize, as well as read excerpts, such as the execution of Anne Boleyn.

And the Winner of April's Giveaway Is...

I would like to thank author Robert Parry for his amazing novel The Virgin and the Crab, and a huge congratulations for its 3rd birthday!

Now, what you have all been waiting for! The winner of April's giveaway is...

Eliza

Congratulations! Please contact me at everythingtudor "at" yahoo.com (minus spaces and with @) to claim your prize. Please claim within two weeks! 

To the rest of you, thank you so much for entering! Please remember that there is a giveaway every month, so be sure to check back for May's giveaway soon!

Author Guest Post and Giveaway: The Virgin and the Crab by Robert Parry

Today author Robert Parry is joining us with a guest post to celebrate the third birthday of his fantastic novel The Virgin and the Crab!

He has also generously donated a copy of this novel to be given away to one lucky winner! There are several ways to enter:

To initially enter and get your name in the pot once, simply leave a comment here. If you would like to get your name in a second time, simply "like" Robert Parry's Facebook Page. For a third shot, "like" Everything Tudor's Facebook Page.

Let me know in your comment here which page (or both) you have liked. If you previously liked them, let me know, as it counts too!

*Note: Your comment here might not appear immediately. I have to approve all comments, so please be patient! Thank you!

You must enter by May 1st. The winner will be randomly drawn and announced on May 2nd.

Now, please welcome author Robert Parry!

Thank you Elizabeth for joining with me in celebrating the 3rd Birthday of my novel ‘Virgin and the Crab.’ Your review from a couple of years back was among the first it ever received, and I’m so pleased that we can re-visit it again here today.


Since publication of the first edition in April of 2009, the book itself has continued to be enjoyed by more and more people, sales are steady, and I have continued writing, having published a further novel last year (The Arrow Chest) and another in the pipeline.

For those who have not heard of this story before, the title ‘Virgin and the Crab’ refers to the two principle characters therein – the Virgin (Virgo) for Elizabeth Tudor and the Crab (Cancer) for John Dee – one of the most remarkable men of the Tudor age, a mathematician, alchemist, astrologer and spy. The action takes place in the middle years of the 16th century during a period in which the throne of England saw no less than two kings and three queens all in the space of twelve years. This was the aftermath of the Reformation, of course, and was also one of the most dangerous and unpredictable times to be alive.

The novel questions whether during all this upheaval there might have been a secret society of dedicated men and women who worked behind the scenes, committed to guiding and protecting Elizabeth and steering a path for her through to safety. The society would have been based on a close network of Cambridge scholars, at the hub of which we find people such as Dee and also William Cecil who of course went on to become Elizabeth’s Chief Minister. Along the way we meet with the tragic demise of young King Edward, the ruthless plot to install Lady Jane Grey as Queen, the subsequent resistance and succession of Mary, the rebellion by Thomas Wyatt, aiming to halt her proposed marriage to a foreign prince, and then the back-lash of a brutal counter-Reformation in which such terrible cruelties were inflicted upon the English people – all set against the amazing story of Elizabeth herself and the series of dangers and obstacles she had to negotiate on her path towards the throne.

Well, all this sounds like I have given away a huge amount of spoilers here, but in fact the story itself is about so much more than the political machinations of the times. It is also Dee’s story, which is every bit as remarkable and about which I am not going to say very much at all. The subtitle, meanwhile, ‘Sketches, Fables and Mysteries …’ should serve to suggest that there is plenty more going on beneath the surface. I hope you will enter the contest to win a copy here on Everything Tudor.

My webpage can be found on: http://robertparry.wordpress.comAnd perhaps I will get to meet you sometime on my Facebook page, as well: https://www.facebook.com/RobertParry.author

I reviewed this novel back in 2010. Be sure to read my review here! 

Tudor Book Blog Reading Challenge Update #3

Firstly, I'd like to welcome our new members joining in March!

Queen Stephanie Ann
Sarah
Cindy Brehmer
Memory
Michelle L. Hamilton
Jenn Deguzman
Jen M. Hart
Lady Heather Crouse
Sandi Steinberg

New Reviews posted in March:

Jen has reviewed both The Lady in the Tower by Alison Weir and The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory at The Tudor Book Blog Reading Challenge Page.

Bridget from The Tudor Cafe reviewed The Arrow Chest by Robert Parry at her site.

Jenn Deguzman reviewed The Queen's Captive by Barbara Kyle at her site, A Bookworm's Love.

 Jasmine has reviewed both Tudor Rose...by Margaret Campbell Barnes, Lady Jane Grey and the House of Suffolk by Alison Plowden, The Boleyns: The Rise and Fall of a Tudor Family by David Loades, Dark Fire by C.J. Samson, The Sisters of Henry VIII by Maria Perry, and Dear Henry: Confessions of the Queens byJudith Anthrop on Facebook.

If I missed any March reviews, I apologize! Please let me know and I will gladly update the update!

I meant to post this new item to the giveaway last time, but forgot! I'm sorry! So today you get TWO new items added!

Remember that the first item you get is a copy of The Tudor Secret by C.W. Gortner. The second item is Henry VIII and Six Wives Magnet Set (from the lovely Anne Boleyn Files). And thirdly, (yes, it's another book!) a copy of Dissolution, a murder-mystery set in Tudor Times by C.J. Sanson.

I will be adding a new item every month this year until the Challenge is complete! Don't forget, there are several ways to win:

1) The winner of the prize pack will be randomly drawn from those who complete their challenge goal and receive all 12 items I will list throughout the challenge!

2) The competitor who reads the most books will receive a $25.00 gift card to amazon.com, as well as two other prizes (which will be listed throughout the competition).

3) I am also working on a special gift for everyone who has participated in the Challenge. More on that soon! :)

Don't forget, you can still sign up! Either enter on the Tudor Book Blog Reading Challenge Page, or on Facebook!

A Few New Releases: An Unfaithful Queen, A Kingmaker's Daughter, a Mistress and a Time Traveler

Here are a few upcoming releases I wanted to mention:

The Unfaithful Queen: A Novel of Henry VIII's Fifth Wife by Carolly Erickson

This novel follows the Katheryn Howard, the ill-fated fifth wife of King Henry VIII. According to Library Journal,
"Having given us the New York Times best-selling The Last Wife of Henry VIII (along with lots of other historical fiction and nonfiction titles), Erickson steps back to Henry’s penultimate bride, the vivacious Catherine Howard, who didn't bother to inform Henry that she’d had three lovers before him. And thus, with his disillusionment and her failure to produce a son, even as the succession was threatened by Prince Edward’s serious illness, Catherine met the fate of her cousin Anne Boleyn. Yummy for Anglophiles."

I'm curious to see how sympathetic (and accurate) this novel with be towards Katheryn. It will be available Sept. 18th in the USA.


The Kingmaker's Daughter by Philippa Gregory

Philippa Gregory continues her Cousins' War series with The Kingmaker's Daughter. Accorging to amazon,

"The Kingmaker’s Daughter is the gripping and ultimately tragic story of the daughters of the man known as the “Kingmaker,” the most powerful magnate in England through the Cousins’ Wars. In the absence of a son and heir, he uses the two girls as pawns in his political games, but they grow up to be influential players in their own right. In this novel, her first sister story since The Other Boleyn Girl, Gregory explores the lives of two fascinating young women.
At the court of Edward IV and his beautiful queen, Elizabeth Woodville, Anne grows from a delightful child brought up in intimacy and friendship with the family of Richard, Duke of Gloucester, to become ever more fearful and desperate when her father makes war on his former friends. Her will is tested when she is left widowed and fatherless, with her mother in sanctuary and her sister married to the enemy. Fortune’s wheel turns again when Richard rescues Anne from her sister’s house, with danger still following Anne, even as she eventually ascends to the throne as queen. Having lost those closest to her, she must protect herself and her precious only child, Prince Edward, from a court full of royal rivals."
This novel will be available on August 14th for those in the USA, and the 16th for those in the UK.

Bessie Blount: Mistress to Henry VIII by Elizabeth Norton

I am interested to read this one. I want to see what Norton has dug up, as there isn't a lot of historical evidence on Elizabeth "Bessie" Blount.

According to amazon, "Beautiful, young, exuberant, the amazing life of Elizabeth Blount, Henry VIII's mistress and mother to his first son who came tantalizingly close to succeeding him as King Henry IX. The earliest known, and longest lasting mistress of Henry VIII, Bessie Blount was the king's first love. More beautiful than Anne Boleyn or any of Henry's other wives or concubines, Bessie's beauty and other charms ensured that she turned heads, winning a place at court as one of Catherine of Aragon's ladies. Within months she was partnering the king in dancing and she rose to be the woman with the most influence over Henry, much to Catherine of Aragon's despair. The affair lasted five years (longer than most of Henry's marriages) and in 1519 she bore Henry VIII a son, Henry Fitzroy. As a mark of his importance Cardinal Wolsey was appointed his guardian and godfather. Supplanted soon after by Mary Boleyn, Bessie's importance rests on the vital proof it gave Henry VIII that he could father a healthy son and through Henry Fitzroy, Bessie remained a prominent figure at court. In the country at large, for proving that the king was capable of fathering a son Bessie prompted the saying 'Bless'ee, Bessie Blount' and her position of mother of such an important child made her an object of interest to many of her contemporaries. Sidelined by historians until now, Bessie and the son she had by the king are one of the great 'what ifs' of English history. If Jane Seymour had not produced a male heir and Bessie's son had not died young aged 17, in all likelihood Henry Fitzroy could have followed his father as King Henry IX and Bessie propelled to the status of mother of the king."

This biography was released in November 2011. You can read more about it on amazon.

The Time Traveler's Guide to Elizabethan England by Ian Mortimer.

According to amazon, "We think of Queen Elizabeth I as 'Gloriana': the most powerful English woman in history. We think of her reign (1558-1603) as a golden age of maritime heroes, like Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Richard Grenville and Sir Francis Drake, and of great writers, such as Edmund Spenser, Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson and William Shakespeare. But what was it actually like to live in Elizabethan England? If you could travel to the past and walk the streets of London in the 1590s, where would you stay? What would you eat? What would you wear? Would you really have a sense of it being a glorious age? And if so, how would that glory sit alongside the vagrants, diseases, violence, sexism and famine of the time?

In this book Ian Mortimer answers the key questions that a prospective traveller to late sixteenth-century England would ask. Applying the groundbreaking approach he pioneered in his bestselling Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England, the Elizabethan world unfolds around the reader."

The Independent has written a nice review for it here.