the lady elizabeth by alison weir

xiaotien · Post by **xiaotien** » Sun January 4th, 2009, 5:40 pm

very good points, susan.

there is always speculation with birth
and sex and what not in these royals.
i guess your one contention is that weir went
against what she truly believed happened
with elizabeth I.

but i guess i'm not so hard on historical fiction.
what weir did was also speculation, and not that
much of a stretch. i give her some license in fiction.

as for who was there at boleyn's beheading, i'm
fairly certain gregory did not put mary in that end
scene. which was why i was so shocked when she
was there for the film. to add to the dra-ma. of course,
they also had mary begging for anne's life in the movie,
which i don't believe happened in the book either?

Divia · Post by **Divia** » Sun January 4th, 2009, 5:42 pm

[quote=""Susan""]I very much agree! I have read many nonfiction books of both Alison Weir and Carrolly Erickson and feel that they are writing historical fiction not because they love the genre, but because they are trying to make money. I guess there is nothing wrong with that, but they, of all people, should be accurate.[/quote]

My professor a few years back said that they make more money on fiction novels than nonfiction. And he knew some pretty powerful historians that were writing fiction novels. I think he said Catherine Clinton was looking into it. I can only assume because fiction has a wide appeal while nonfiction has a small select audience. But I could be wrong.

xiaotien · Post by **xiaotien** » Sun January 4th, 2009, 5:53 pm

divia, i always assumed fiction sold more, too.

but it is the bane of any writer trying to
sell fiction, apparently. non-fiction is what editors
prefer because it makes more steady money.

i don't understand how, but i've read it more
than once online from editor blogs...

refer to this excellent post from the lovely moonrat
(she's an editor for a small publishing house) :

http://editorialass.blogspot.com/2007/1 ... ction.html

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Sun January 4th, 2009, 7:55 pm

I just pulled out The Lady Elizabeth and read the author's note. I am stunned what Weir wrote about believing in the Virgin Queen (and even giving lectures and interviews about this belief) and then overlooking her historical convictions and writing in her novel that Elizabeth was pregnant because "it could have happened". Because Weir is an historian, I think this is worse than any historical liberties an author such as Philippa Gregory has taken. I don't think I will be reading this book.

I so agree, to me adding something like this is just like adding fodder for the tabloids - if you're representing something as historical fiction then don't make up nonsense like this. I assume Weir represents the book as historical fiction and not as a novel made up of fictional characters like PG does in her earlier novels?

Madeleine · Post by **Madeleine** » Mon January 5th, 2009, 2:55 pm

[quote=""Susan""]Anne Boleyn had two siblings Mary and George. There is still some doubt as to the birth order, but Mary is believed to be older. Mary Boleyn was a mistress of Henry VIII and there is speculation that her children Catherine and Henry Carey were the children of Henry VIII. The film did differ from the book in a number of ways. I can't recall if the novel had Mary at Anne's execution. I thought it had Mary's daughter Catherine at the execution and in fact she did witness her aunt's execution. Anyone remember? I'll pull out the novel later.[/quote]

I've read elsewhere that no one is really sure who was the eldest Boleyn sister, and also of the possibility that Henry VIII did father Mary's children. I haven't seen the film of TOBG, but I've just dug out my copy of the book and Mary was at Anne's execution, at the back of the crowd, and her daughter Catherine was one of the ladies who attended Anne at the end.

xiaotien · Post by **xiaotien** » Mon January 5th, 2009, 3:07 pm

thanks madeleine!

my hub is from essex, too.
we just got back from our christmas visit. =)

okay, so that was faithful to the book.
i'm not sure why i feel i've read in a nonfiction
book that mary was NOT there to witness her
execution...

Madeleine · Post by **Madeleine** » Mon January 5th, 2009, 5:19 pm

[quote=""xiaotien""]thanks madeleine!

my hub is from essex, too.
we just got back from our christmas visit. =)

okay, so that was faithful to the book.
i'm not sure why i feel i've read in a nonfiction
book that mary was NOT there to witness her
execution...[/quote]

Ooh what part did you visit?

xiaotien · Post by **xiaotien** » Mon January 5th, 2009, 5:24 pm

madeliene--my hub grew up
in hainault. but his fam has since
moved to southend. =)

stay warm! i hear it's getting even
colder there now. brrr!