Being as you are someone who writes about Anne Boleyn, I must ask you, which are your favorite portrayals of Anne Boleyn? I mean fiction (novels, film, tv) but also non-fiction. And, do you feel your fav portrayals have influenced you in the way you write Anne and her story? Your least favorite ones, do they have an influence too? Which ones are they? Thanks
If there's one with zero merit and/or minimal entertainment value I won't include it on the list, I'll say I'll ** = my absolute favourites and * = my compelling in some aspects, but tread with caution, and those sort of in between I'll leave alone.
Or rather, let's put it another way...* is worth a library rental or free Kindle borrow, whichever you have available, and ** is worth an actual purchase. Those without *...eh, I'll leave it to you.
The Challenge of Anne Boleyn, Hester Chapman*
Adultery, Heresy, and Desire, Amy Licence*
Raven's Widow, Adrienne Dillard**
Jane Boleyn, Julia Fox**
Among the Wolves, Lauren Mackay*
Queens of Henry VIII, David Starkey*
The Story of the Death of Anne Boleyn, Translation, Edition, and Essays by Joann DellaNeva**
The Lady Elizabeth, Alison Weir*
Renaissance Prince, Lisa Hilton*
Hunting the Falcon, John Guy & Julia Fox**
The Life & Death of Anne Boleyn, Eric Ives**
Tudors in Love, Sarah Gristwood
Tudor England: A History, Lucy Wooding**
Children of Henry VIII, John Guy*
Henry VIII by Lucy Wooding**
The Other Boleyn Girl, Philippa Gregory*
The Lady in the Tower, Alison Weir*
The Lady Anne (Book 2 of 5 of Above All Others series) by Gemma Lawrence**
Judge the Best (Book 2 of 5 of Above All Others series) by Gemma Lawrence**
Threads by Nell Gavin*
In the Shadow of Lions, Ginger Garrett*
Tarnish by Katherine Longshore*
Brazen by Katherine Longshore
Anne & Henry by Dawn Ius*
Wife after Wife by Olivia Hayfield*
The King's Mind by Christopher Rae**
The Concubine by Christopher Rae**
VIII by HM Castor
Queenbreaker by Catherine McCarran
The Tudors (2007-)**
The Lovers Who Changed History (2014)**
Anne Boleyn miniseries (2021)**
Blood, Sex & Royalty (2022)**
I Am Henry: A Compelling Novel of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII (2023)
And, do you feel your fav portrayals have influenced you in the way you write Anne and her story? Your least favorite ones, do they have an influence too? Which ones are they? Thanks
Pieces from everything influence me, Christopher Rae's and Gemma Lawrence's novels, for example, both had some of the best and credible portrayals of Henry Norris I've ever read, both in credible unrequited love (tying into, Anne's wariness thereof) that was forged into a weapon against him and for why he became such a favourite of HVIII's in the first place (would've included Jeff Lavender's thesis of Norris also, had you asked for beyond fiction and non-fiction books). The best parts of all of the above have inspired me to craft AB as a character at turns, sympathetic and unsympathetic: proud, courageous, intelligent, zealous, prudent (more in the 16c sense than 21c), fierce, jealous, sensitive, vindictive, unyielding, talented, compassionate, bold, spirited, pious, impassioned, loyal, loving ...somebody who inspired either complete devotion or implacable hatred, with very little in between, and felt comparable extremes towards her own family, friends, and adversaries.
From my least favourite...I try to remember that every choice she made was morally defensible and/or justifiable, from her own perspective, regardless of whether or not it actually was (and of course, they weren't always). I try to remember also that fear and insecurity can best explain some of her less palatable choices, as enumerated here. Basically, just that she was human and flawed, but also that there were many people personally (and often, religiously) invested in magnifying her flaws and reducing, or even outright omitting, her strengths. Obviously, that misogyny can also be a factor in some of her portrayals, is a salient remembrance to keep in mind, as well.
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tbh i don't find the "katherine howard was a useless child with no autonomy played like a cheap kazoo by her uncle and the king" narrative any more useful than "katherine howard was a nasty little slut who was so mean to poor little henry viii and deserved everything she got"... mind you, katherine howard was a young woman manipulated by her family to benefit the howards' position in court, but it is possible to understand katherine howard as both a victim of a vindictive and cruel king and an uncaring family and at the same time a young adult with the capacity to make choices of her own. which she did! she was sixteen at the absolute youngest (and twenty-one at the absolute oldest, but realistically probably somewhere in the middle), which, while not necessarily making her an adult, certainly made her more than a helpless little girl who didn't have a clue what she was doing. i think it's important to challenge the commonly-held and obviously incredibly cruel assumption that she was just some stupid slut who had it coming, but i worry that some portrayals of her go too far in the opposite direction. it is essential to analyse historical figures as the living, breathing, feeling people that they were, and avoid making caricatures of them as much as possible; and if you ask me, both these different images of katherine howard fail to truly reckon with her character
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People focus way too much on whether Katherine of Aragon and Arthur consummated the marriage, on whether she lied or not. The dispensation for HVIII and KoA’s marriage covered both possibilities, and it was neither the first nor the last marriage of this kind (Manuel I of Portugal married two sisters and their niece, Sigismund II of Poland married two sisters as well), Henry himself wanted to divorce his wife to marry the sister of his mistress and asked for a dispensation that would cover it.
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I just now realized the parallels between Sansa and Mihrimah in Crown of Ashes… in fact I wonder in this AU, if the ASOIAF/GOT series still exists (it was based on the war of the roses so it might still exist), if Sansa is inspired by Mihrimah in some ways.
Oooh. Okay so I have never watched/read etc but I have read some fic so my opinions come from that but Ooooh. Mihrimah could absolutely have some Sansa parallels (though her golden prince actually is a golden prince which the AU of good!Joffrey is something I’m sure someone has done…) in Crown of Ashes world. (Actually Tommy also has some Sansa vibes in this verse…)
(I don’t have the knowledge to make the OT3 verse of ASOIAF/GOT - I do think it exists though! Possibly a very different lens because I think there’s a HVIII analogue targ king @eidetictelekinetic ??? That just would not be a thing)
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Thank you so much to @sekihamsterdiestwice for creating this masterpiece for me! I am absolutely in love with it 😍😍
This depicts Katherine of Aragon and Mary I c.1518, and is loosely based on the description of her proxy betrothal to François, Dauphin of France, on 5 October 1518. Mary was described as wearing "cloth of gold" and "a cap of black velvet" with jewels. Katherine was around seven months pregnant at this time, and that has been included too.
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So....about a possible Fanfiction.... It wouldn't be bad to set it in the years between the first and second film. Michael is officially the new young Don, the heads of the other families are dead and Michael has to deal with what comes from it, power but also responsibility, structures and alliances to rebuild, opponents who would like to take advantage of the situation. Meanwhile we have Connie in crisis over the loss of her husband and full of resentment, undergoing change and rebellion towards her brother and family. Fredo who has to deal with the fact of having been step over and has already been harboring envy. Finally there is Kay. Kay who would like not to know but in reality she knows, she knows the truth, that door in her face is not enough to close the conversation, Connie's words resonate in her head, her husband in his new role is less and less present, more and more detached, he is at times cold, busy with his men, he tries to keep work and family separate but it is impossible not to see, not to read what the newspapers say, not to notice the comings and goings of shady individuals, the darkness (in fact and symbolic) from the office from which Michael enters and exits. Kay tries, tries, to ignore the man her husband has become and to find in the small gestures of love, towards her and towards Anthony, the Michael she has fallen in love with, but sometimes it is really difficult to do so, especially when frustration leads to arguments. Mary is the strongly desired, almost demanded, and failed, attempt at a second son and as much as we know that Michael will become very much in love with his daughter, the initial disappointment that it is a girl is presumable, while for Kay it soon becomes a relief, at least she will not be sucked into that world to which Anthony instead seems attracted, even if as a desperate attempt to be with his father a little more, to attract his attention and have his approval.
Oh ok, yeh, that would be interesting. I definitely see Michael being disappointed and Kay being relieved, but also sad for the baby girl (shit, he reminds me of Henry VIII, but HVIII was actually happy when his Mary was born since it was his first child to survive).
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