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My Lady of Cleves by Margaret Campbell Barnes

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amyb
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My Lady of Cleves by Margaret Campbell Barnes

Post by amyb » Wed September 10th, 2008, 1:30 pm

My Lady of Cleves covers the life of Anne of Cleves from right before her marriage to Henry VIII until his death in 1547. The story opens with an agitated King Henry VIII, talking with his ministers about his need for a new wife after the death of his third wife, Jane Seymour in childbed. Among the candidates are the Duchess of Milan and the Cleves Princesses. The Duchess of Milan has already replied with “Only if I had two heads”! Smart girl!

Hans Holbein is sent to Cleves to paint both Anne and her sister, Amelia. Once there he becomes quite smitten with Anne and they begin a friendship. He paints a flattering picture of her because that is the way he sees her. Unfortunately, Henry does not see the same way and is almost instantly put off by Anne’s looks and hard mannerisms. Henry likes the petite type (go figure!).

We follow Anne through her short marriage to Henry, her annulment, “retirement” to Richmond Palace, Henry’s next marriage to Katherine Howard and her eventual downfall. Anne even plays a part in the infamous scene where Katherine is desperate to talk to Henry and goes screaming for him through the halls of the Palace.

Anne seems to resign herself to her fate; after all she still has her head! She genuinely enjoys the life of a Princess of England; she can come and go as she pleases and has no husband or man to answer to. In seeing the freedom that Anne as a “woman” had, that had to have been a big impact on Elizabeth I, who always said she would never have a master.

My Lady of Cleves was an interesting look into a woman that survived marriage to Henry VIII. Anne is very likeable and I think she would have made a wonderful Queen, had she been given the chance. I wish the story was longer and covered the time during Mary’s rule as Queen - I would have liked to have heard Anne’s thoughts on “Bloody Mary”.

Margaret Campbell Barnes is also the author of Brief, Gaudy Hour, a novel on Anne Boleyn.

Note: Anne of Cleves died at Hever Castle on July 16, 1557. She lived 10 years past Henry. Her tomb is in a “hard to find place” in Westminster Abbey.

Overall: 4/5

Song: "Sweet Dreams" by Tori Amos

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MLE (Emily Cotton)
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Post by MLE (Emily Cotton) » Wed September 10th, 2008, 4:35 pm

Great review, amyb. I enjoyed this book too, the first I have read by MCB, but it will not be the last! I never would have found it except for this site.

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amyb
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Post by amyb » Wed September 10th, 2008, 5:09 pm

Thank you for the compliment! I am still new to this reviewing thing, so I appreciate the encouragement!

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princess garnet
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Post by princess garnet » Wed September 10th, 2008, 9:17 pm

I'm reading this book at the moment. I like how Hans Holbein gets plenty of stage time. Not to give anything away, he only appears in the 1st chapter of The Boleyn Inheritance.
Observation so far: pace not as quick as TBI but you can get a fuller picture of Anne's view at her life in England
Last edited by princess garnet on Wed September 10th, 2008, 9:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by Misfit » Wed September 10th, 2008, 10:11 pm

[quote=""amyb""]Thank you for the compliment! I am still new to this reviewing thing, so I appreciate the encouragement![/quote]

Good review, but I agree about when you're first starting out writing these things. It's not as easy as it seems!

I read this a couple of years ago and if I recall pretty close together with PG's The Boleyn Inheritance. It was fun comparing the two. She's got one about Richard II I read recently that was quite good as well. I'll look up the title if anyone's interested.

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amyb
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Post by amyb » Thu September 11th, 2008, 12:38 pm

It sure is tough and the poeple here don't help my self-esteem because all of you ROCK at reviews, especially you Misfit! But I learn a lot from all of you, so I am grateful for the wonderful resources I have here.

BTW - I would be interested in reading something on Richard II. Thanks!
Last edited by amyb on Thu September 11th, 2008, 12:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by Tanzanite » Thu September 11th, 2008, 12:46 pm

Her book on Richard II is Within the Hollow Crown and I thought it was pretty good.

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Misfit
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Post by Misfit » Thu September 11th, 2008, 1:37 pm

That's it and it was very good. Don't freak out about the price on Amazon I found a copy cheap at Abe Books. Check with Jane -- we swapped books after I read it and when she got my copy she realized she already had one. :p :p If she's got two she might be willing to swap.

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Telynor
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Post by Telynor » Thu September 11th, 2008, 7:07 pm

This is one of my favourite Tudor novels, and one of the few that I've reread over time. Do keep writing reviews, practice really does help, and you're off to a great start.

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Post by Misfit » Thu September 11th, 2008, 10:11 pm

Telynor's right, practice practice but even then some are harder than others. I just cringe when I look at my very oldest two sentece loved this book reviews. Have to go back and reread the books so I can redo the review. :)

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