The Beaufort Bride by Judith Arnopp

THE REVIEW NEW YEAR GIVEAWAY!

Today, in our first review of the year, Paula Lofting reviews The Beaufort Bride by Judith Arnopp. And as our New Year Giveaway, the author has very kindly offered a paperback copy as a giveaway - but if the winner already has The Beaufort Bride book, they can choose another of Judith's books as their prize.  To be in with a chance of winning this wonderful prize, simply leave a comment below or on our Facebook page.

Good luck!

As King Henry VI slips into insanity and the realm of England teeters on the brink of civil war, a child is married to the mad king’s brother. Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond, takes his child bride into Wales where she discovers a land of strife and strangers. At Caldicot Castle and Lamphey Palace Margaret must put aside childhood, acquire the dignity of a Countess and, despite her tender years, produce Richmond with a son and heir.While Edmund battles to restore the king’s peace, Margaret quietly supports his quest; but it is a quest fraught with danger.As the friction between York and Lancaster intensifies 14-year-old Margaret, now widowed, turns for protection to her brother-in-law, Jasper Tudor. At his stronghold in Pembroke, two months after her husband’s death, Margaret gives birth to a son whom she names Henry, after her cousin the king. Margaret is small of stature but her tiny frame conceals a fierce and loyal heart and a determination that will not falter until her son’s destiny as the king of England is secured.The Beaufort Bride traces Margaret’s early years from her nursery days at Bletsoe Castle to the birth of her only son in 1457 at Pembroke Castle. Her story continues in Book Two: The Beaufort Woman.

This is the story of a young girl who must become a child bride, who after losing her husband gives birth to England’s future king.

Margaret Beaufort becomes one of England’s most maligned noble women in history. Blamed by some as the instigator of the disappearance of the missing princes, Richard and Edward; branded as a scheming harridan whose desire for power provokes the war that caused death of Richard III, Margaret leads a remarkable life that will eventually free her from obscurity to become one of England’s leading ladies.

It is hardly possible to imagine at the start of this engaging story, that this little child bride, who nearly dies in childbirth, will become one of the most notorious women in history. Her part in the tale of the Wars of the Roses has often been portrayed negatively, as if the entire Yorkist downfall was indeed her fault, with some interested 21^st century parties even proclaiming that she should have been strangled at birth. Yes, I have indeed heard this said. Ms Arnopp’s interpretation sets the story straight and provides us with a more appropriate and likely presentation of Margaret’s life in three books, with this review solely concentrating on the first of them.

Told in the first person, and in the present tense to add immediacy to the narrative, we meet a normal girl in a world that was normal to her. Born into a noble family, with royal blood, Margaret’s bloodline came from the loins of John of Gaunt and his paramour whom he eventually married, Kathryn Swynford. Her line was considered illegitimate but eventually they were legitimised by royal decree allowing them to stand in the queue for the throne.

As this is a story that the author has chosen to write solely from Margaret’s point of view, we see events of the years unfold as the child bride would have experienced it. Arnopp does a good job of getting into the character’s psyche and we feel, breathe and think with her throughout the story. She does not make Margaret a perfect human, nor is she an evil witch, as some have referred to her. But the reader is sympathetic to her cause, who would not be when such things happen to one so young. Her other characters of course are moulded by how the young Margaret perceives them. Edmund, her first husband, the man who takes her childhood away, is not portrayed as a brutish paedophile, but pragmatically tells her that he must forgo the usual custom of not bedding her until she was considered old enough, because he needs an heir. He also needed her lands an wealth, which is why one cannot say, “Why didn’t he just go and marry someone older?”. Margaret was only 12 when given to him in marriage and this was perfectly acceptable in this era, however custom was usually more sympathetic to the child bride by dictating that she should not be brought to the marital bed until considered old enough. Apparently, that Edmund Tudor did bed her and swiftly got her with child, was even considered unseemly by his contemporaries.

Arnopp’s Tudor was kind to her, giving her all the comforts she might require and it is not long before the girl comes to love him, and then the most devastating thing that could ever happen to a woman takes place. Edmund is killed and the young girl, barely into her teens now, is devastated that she has to give birth without her child’s father being able to see him. These tender scenes are written with such emotion that as the reader, we cannot imagine what that must be like to have to live with, as today women experiencing such heart-breaking tragedies but mostly supported both professionally and by friends and family. Poor Margaret, in her day there was no perinatal mental health teams or university trained midwifery to ease her transition from married lady to widow and mother. She was expected to carry on and would even need to be thinking about a new marriage soon (she was after all a very wealthy girl). Soon she would also have the one thing that she could cling to help her through all this wrenched away from her, also.  It is a testament to Arnopp’s skills as an author that she is able to transfer such feeling and emotion to her readers through Margaret’s words.

Judith’s prose is very well constructed and flows beautifully and with feeling. Alas as with all books written in the first person, it is difficult to get glimpses of how Margaret herself may have been perceived by those around her. Neither are we able to see what was going on in the political backdrop of Margaret’s world, however we are tantalised by odd snippets that are filled by characters such as the adorable man at arms, Ned, whom Margaret becomes very fond of and who is able to drop in and let Margaret know what is happening is at court and on the fields of battle.

The 15^th Century world that we step into is very well drawn, and we learn through Margaret’s skills with herbs and potions and lotions, how injuries, ills and diseases were dealt with in this world. The author dripfeeds us with descriptions of what it was like to be a lady looking after a household in these harsh times which does not halt or obstruct the flow of the story which makes for a superb read.

The book finishes with Margaret still very young, and it is heartening to know that her story is not yet over, and we can read the Beaufort Woman and The King’s Mother which follows on from The Beaufort Bride to learn more about the life of this amazing lady. I heartily recommend this book.

About the author: 

When Judith Arnopp began to write professionally there was no question as to which genre to choose. A lifelong history enthusiast and avid reader, Judith holds an honours degree in English and Creative writing, and a Masters in Medieval Studies, both from the University of Wales, Lampeter. Judith writes both fiction and non-fiction, working full-time from her home overlooking Cardigan Bay in Wales where she crafts novels based in the Medieval and Tudor period. Her main focus is on the perspective of historical women from all roles of life, prostitutes to queens.

Her novels include: The Beaufort Chronicles: the life of Lady Margaret Beaufort (three book series); A Song of Sixpence: the story of Elizabeth of York;  Intractable Heart: the story of Katheryn Parr; The Kiss of the Concubine: a story of Anne Boleyn; The Winchester Goose: at the court of Henry VIII; and based in the medieval/Anglo Saxon era, The Song of Heledd; The Forest Dwellers, and Peaceweaver. Her latest book, Sisters of Arden, is told from the perspective of a novitiate nun during the dissolution of the monasteries.

Her non-fiction articles feature in various historical anthologies and magazines.

For more information:

Webpage: www.judithmarnopp.com

Author page: author.to/juditharnoppbooks

Blog: http://juditharnoppnovelist.blogspot.co.uk/

About the Reviewer: Paula Lofting has always wanted to write since she was a little girl coming home from school to sit at the table with her notebook. A prolific reader, she loved nothing better than to spend weekends with a book in her hand. Earliest influences such as Rosemary Sutcliffe, Leon Garfield, Charles Dickens, C.S.Lewis, inspired an interest in history. It became her lifelong wish to one day write and publish a book, but not being able to type, and having no funds for a typewriter to learn on, this ambition was reluctantly put on hold. With the advent of PC's and a need to retrain and use a computer, this old ambition was stirred and she decided to rekindle her love of writing at the grand old age of 42. At this point, she had reached a turning point in her life and studied nursing, and also decided to write the book she had been promising herself she would one day write. Her début novel, 'Sons of the Wolf' was first published with the assistance of Silverwood Books in 2012. More recently she has republished it with her new publishing company Longship Publsihing. in kindle. It is a story set in the years leading up to the Norman Conquest of England and the first in the Sons of the Wolf series. She has always admired the works of Sharon Penman and Bernard Cornwell, and Mary Stewart, amongst many others. History is a great love of hers and her interest in the subject goes beyond that of the keyboard. She also enjoys Anglo-Saxon re-enactment with Regia Anglorum, also a great source of research for her writing.

Links: Amazon; blog.

Commemorating Bosworth: Judith Arnopp

Avoiding the question of Richard on the anniversary of Bosworth Field.

I am often asked if I have ever thought of writing a book about Richard III. I have, of course, but I don’t think I ever will. I am fascinated by the period, the transitional events of 1485 but it is something I’ve avoided although I am a Ricardian at heart and have  been a member of the Richard III Society for … erm, well forever.

I first came across Richard when I was about sixteen and he was still widely largely regarded as a ‘crook-backed monster.’ He was brought to my attention by a television programme, a spin-off from the show, Softly Softly, starring Stratford Johns and Frank Windsor; I think it was called Second Verdict: Who Killed the Princes in the Tower? But my memory is vague now.

It was a police investigation, one of the first instances of a new perspective of Richard being aired to the general public. After watching it I wanted to know more. My imagination piqued, I read Josephine Tey’s,  A Daughter of Time, and became completely hooked on Richard. His portrait has hung on my wall for forty years now – gosh, I am getting old. I read everything I could lay hands on, fiction and non-fiction, and took my history teacher completely by surprise when I centred my GCSE project on Richard III and the mystery of the princes. I found that project a few months ago chewed by mice and the ink faded away to nothing –it was sad to find all that teenage passion turned to dust.

The ‘Richard’ of my teens was a romantic, maligned, tragic hero-figure, and necessarily very handsome but, these days my objective, adult mind acknowledges I was way off the truth. So much more research has been done and new light thrown upon the matter but I am afraid that, if I made him the protagonist of one of my novels, the childhood ideal might reassert itself. There are, in my humble opinion, a few too many novels that take a romanticised view. I am not sure he’d be flattered.

Since the discovery and reinternment of his body at Leicester interest in Richard has become a bit of a three ring circus – it seems that anyone who can hold a pen has been inspired to write about him. I wouldn’t want to join those ranks.

Richard was certainly not the monstrous figure that Shakespeare depicted but he was no saint either, and it is more than likely that he was guilty of at least some of the crimes assigned to him. He lived in harsh times, from the earliest age he was embroiled in violence. At the Battle of Wakefield, he suffered the death and posthumous humiliation of his father and elder brother. The struggle for the throne saw him exiled and, on his brother’s behalf, he entered the perils of battle when he was (to modern eyes) little more than a child. He was very religious; family orientated and, up until a certain point in time, seems to have been completely honourable. Even before he took the throne he was an immensely powerful, influential lord, the king’s right hand, a soldier, and an ambitious man. But because he was battle-hardened and politically ruthless doesn’t mean he would resort to murdering small children. Perhaps Henry VI was fair game, and the swift unauthorised execution of Hastings has, to me, an act carried out in haste, regretted at leisure.

This month marks the 530th anniversary of The Battle of Bosworth. There will be celebrations, re-enactments, and, hundreds of articles and blogs written on the subject. Richard will be dug up again, his character put through the paces once more, endless speculation and immense fun. The fascination of the struggle between York and Lancaster, the mystery of the fate of the princes and the enigmatic figure of their uncle never palls. Thanks to the furore surrounding his reinternment, (barring perhaps Henry VIII) love him or hate him, Richard III is now probably the most famous of our English kings.

These things should make him irresistible to any writer but not me. Many novelists portray him as a cruel, calculating usurper, murdering small children and kings, and making martyrs of his brother’s friends and poisoning his wife. Equally, from the other point of view, he is often a saintly, romantic, sweeter than sweet victim of capricious fate. Rarely does an author find middle ground and, until I am convinced I can write the definitive Richard, a convincing, multi-faceted human character, I will concentrate on other men.

Having said that, Richard III is not absent from my novels. I cannot resist the pull of the transition between York and Tudor and all the conflicting personalities of the period. A Song of Sixpence is narrated by Richard’s niece, Elizabeth of York, and (for the sake of the story) his nephew, Richard of York (Perkin Warbeck). The novel opens just after Bosworth. Both characters remember King Richard kindly, and (since Richard of York has not been murdered) neither regard him as a cruel man, but he clearly isn’t a saint either. After Richard III is slain in battle Elizabeth is faced with marriage to a man she has been raised to mistrust, and York/Perkin is exiled, battling to raise an army to regain his rightful throne. When the two finally meet again … well, you will have to read the book to find out.

Judith’s novels include:

A Song of Sixpence: the story of Elizabeth of York and Perkin Warbeck

Intractable Heart: the story of Katheryn Parr

The Kiss of the Concubine: a story of Anne Boleyn

The Winchester Goose: at the court of Henry VIII

The Song of Heledd

The Forest Dwellers

Peaceweaver

Coming soon: The Beaufort Chronicle, a trilogy tracing the life of Margaret Beaufort.

www.juditharnopp.com

http://author.to/juditharnoppbooks

Louise E. Rule Interviews Judith Arnopp for The Review Author Interviews

From Judith Arnopp's Author Page on amazon.co.uk

Judith Arnopp

I live on a smallholding in West Wales with my husband, John, and two of our grown-up children. We used to do the whole self-sufficiency thing but the fox ate all the chickens, the slugs ate all the lettuce and ill health forced us to give up the battle. Now we care for our daughter's elderly pony and enjoy our Jack Russell, Bryn.

My greatest loves have always been writing and history. Since I was very small I have had a book in one hand and a pen in the other. These days, I have progressed to this wonderful machine which allows me to write the sort of books I love to read. Historical settings with a good strong lead female.

One of the great tragedies of history is that monastic chroniclers didn't think women sufficiently important enough to give them space on the record. This has caused women to be under-represented and, in my opinion, also often incorrectly categorised. Of course, the male section of medieval society tried to suppress their women; it still happens today but that doesn't mean that every one of them bowed down to male authority.

There were women like Aethelflaed, who ruled Mercia for thirty four years, led armies against the Vikings, refortified the Roman towns of Chester and Tamworth, founded Shrewsbury, Bridgnorth, Warwick and Stafford. Eleanor of Aquitaine who, among other things, ruled England on behalf of her son, King Richard the Lionheart's behalf until he could come to claim his throne. Margaret of Anjou who fought unsuccessfully for her son's rights and Margaret Beaufort whose campaign to put her son, Henry VII, on the throne, was rather more successful. Mary Banks who, along with her daughters and a handful of servants, withstood a siege at Corfe Castle on behalf of King Charles during the civil war. These are just a few examples of women who 'displayed a courage far above their sex as to surprise and disconcert their men' and they are the type of women you will find in my novels.

Welcome Judith Arnopp to The Review Author Interview, and thank you for taking the time to chat with me today.

Apart from your poetry book Waving at Trains, a personal account of your life, Judith, you have written and co-written many books. Can you tell the readers what gave you the inspiration to write about the Tudors?

The Winchester Goose

I have always loved the Tudors but when I started to write professionally I thought they'd been 'done to death' so I set my first novel in the Anglo Saxon period, which is another era I love. it was quite well received but, three novels later, I'd had so many people ask me if I had written anything 'Tudor' I thought I should oblige. That is when The Winchester Goose came into being and after that things really took off for me. I am very grateful, both to Henry VIII for having so many wives and to the people who suggested them.

Given that many books have been written about the Tudors, and in particular, Anne Boleyn, what was the catalyst that drove you to write The Kiss of the Concubine: A Story of Anne Boleyn?

I have both studied and read novels about Anne Boleyn since I was a young girl but never been entirely satisfied with any of them. She has been sadly maligned for years. I don't believe she was perfect but certainly most of the accusations against her were false. Most of the authors I've read embrace the legends of incest and witchcraft that emerged after her death. In my opinion Anne's story is dramatic enough and doesn't need embellishing too much. The Kiss of the Concubine doesn't concentrate on the pomp and ceremony of being queen, it hones in on the woman beneath and what marriage to a man like Henry might have been like.

I found it very interesting that you wrote it in the first person, and in particular at the beginning of the book, when Anne is a ghost talking to Henry on his deathbed. It lends an air of the sinister, matching the life of the king. With this in mind, can you tell the readers why you decided to write it from Anne's point of view?

The Kiss of the Concubine

I enjoy writing in the first person narrative and wanted to tell the story from her perspective. As I mentioned in the previous question she was subjected to false accusations and posthumously demonised further by her enemies. By stepping directly into her shoes, the reader experiences only the things that Anne would have been aware of. Henry and Anne's marriage was full of argument and reconciliation but there is very little to suggest any untoward break-up in their relationship right up to the time of her arrest. In The Kiss of the Concubine, when she is in the Tower, Anne is not fully aware of the real danger in which she stands and clings to the belief that Henry will free and forgive her. She knows nothing of the plots against her, or that the swordsman is summoned from France before her trial has taken place.

It is really intriguing seeing what life was like with Henry VII. Even though there is much to read regarding Henry and Anne, how did you go about making it different from all the other books written about them?

I didn't really give it much thought at the time but in retrospect I think it is different from other books because of the perspective it is written from, and also because I have stripped away the glitz and glamour to show the man and woman beneath. In the excerpt below their son has just been still-born, instead of having Henry angry and resentful, I paint them as grieving parents.

Exhausted after hours of travail, I slump on my pillows as they hand me my child. My son is swaddled in linen, his little blue face closed as in sleep, his purple lips like a bow. I cast back the covering to examine his perfectly formed limbs, his minute nail-less fingers, the tiny proof of his manhood. Apart from the fact he does not breathe, our little prince is perfect.

They take him from me, creeping away, and I roll over and wish I could die. I can find no comfort. I have lost our son, the prince that we have fought for all these years. What has it all been for? The tears don't fall, they wash down my face, no sobbing, no thrashing. I am saturated in grief. My attendants don't know what to say to me. They avoid my eye, speak in whispers and creep from my presence. When Henry finally deigns to come and face me I am quite alone, with only the terror of my thoughts for company.

He is deflated, like a child's bladder ball, his royal brilliance destroyed, his confidence quashed. I raise sore, wet eyes to him and for a long while we stare at each other, my throat working painfully, my breast burning. His face is flaccid and I can detect no anger, just unquenchable sorrow. In the end I hold out a hand, and after a long time of just looking at it, he eventually takes it and falls onto the bed beside me.

I curl myself around him, cling to the strong trunk of his body, my arms choking, my legs wrapped about his hips. If I could climb inside him I would, for there is nowhere and no one safe in this world but him; nowhere I can escape to and no way to put things right.

 As we lie there together, his torso begins to quiver and then shakes as great heaving sobs begin to tear him apart. I weep with him; useless, wrenching tears that have no end and do not heal. Henry and I are the most powerful couple in all of England and yet, in the face of death, we are powerless.

Writing historical fiction allows an author carte blanche to mix fact with fiction with alacrity. So how do you go about creating a balance between the two?

There is a very fine balance needed to create a believable world. By sticking too closely to facts and events the resulting book an be colourless. I research the Tudor world until I feel I can walk through the streets and houses quite comfortably. When it comes to writing it down I try not to describe it so much that I distract the reader from the story. I try to add just enough to provide an authentic backdrop. I keep a timeline of recorded events to hand, pictures and short bios of the historical characters and then I just begin to write. It sort of just happens. During the edits I sometimes have to take things out or add a little more to get the best mix. It is a bit like cooking; sometimes the recipe needs more spice, sometimes less. Whenever I do stray from fact or accepted opinion I always clarify it in an author's note. The past has gone and we can never really know what happened or how it was, so I never claim my version of events is 'history' or 'truth.' My stories are just ideas or speculation of how it might have been.

You are a prolific writer, Judith. Could you tell our readers what you next book will be about?

It is called A Song of Sixpence and is about Elizabeth of York and Perkin Warbeck - a dual narrative meshing their stories together until the time they meet. I have taken the idea that Perkin was in fact one of the princes in the Tower and Elizabeth's younger brother. It is going very well. I am just writing about the infancy of Elizabeth's second son, the young Henry (later the eighth of that name) and as you might imagine he is a proper handful. Elizabeth's life is quite well recorded so her side of the story follows history quite closely but we know virtually nothing of Perkin's life overseas so I am able to give my creative side fuller rein. This book is proving to be fun to write and I usually find that the more I enjoy writing a book the better it turns out. I have high hopes for this one.

Do you find writing becomes easier the more books that you write?

In some ways it does. Structure and formatting becomes second nature but it is quite difficult to ensure all the books don't end up the same. I have read lots of very successful authors who start off really fresh and gripping but after a while their books become formulaic. I hope I can avoid that but only time will tell. I think it is traditionally published authors who suffer this the most; they have the pressure of deadlines and publisher demands. As an independent author I can take as long as I want over a book and I put a lot of thought into how I want to structure it. If I want to take a risk and write first person, present tense I can, because I am my own boss. If it doesn't work I have only myself to blame. So, for me, keeping fresh is the greatest challenge.

When you co-write a book, how do you go about dividing the writing, or does it just evolve?

The only books I've co-written are anthologies with the writing group Cwrtnewydd Scribblers of which I am a member. We do one most years. We just get all our favourite different pieces together and decide which should go in and which should not. We then have to agree on covers and fonts etc. We give a percentage of the royalties to Air Ambulance Wales. Publishing our anthologies has improved our writing and publishing skills and added to the cohesion of the group and I would recommend it to all writing groups. You might not sell many but it is another string to your bow.

Judging by your posts on Facebook, your writing day starts quite early. Do you have a set working ethic, or is it flexible Judith?

It is entirely flexible; it has to be but I try to write and promote every day and aim to write four out of seven days. I write quite quickly so this works well for me. I also do a lot of blogging and networking, usually early in the morning while I am having breakfast and then I settle down to work on the WIP. I try to get a set amount of words done each day and sometimes I reach my goal, sometimes not. I often have to take a break to research some detail. There are also periods when my head gets so clogged up with the events in my novel that I am in danger of forgetting who I really am. Then I have to force myself to turn it off and re-enter the real world for a while.

I love making notes, and lists to do with my writing. How do you keep your story-lines on track?

I make a time-line and pin it up to keep a track of where I am supposed to be going. It is like the backbone of my novel and everything else is the flesh and muscle. When I research I scrawl notes on a notebook but my handwriting is so terrible I really struggle when it comes to reading them back. If I were to take all the sticky Post-It notes I have used so far in my career I could probably paper the walls of the house.

Many authors have beta readers for their manuscripts, so do you have beta readers for yours?

When I meet with the writing group they listen to the work so far and critique it as I go along. My husband also reads it. Then I have two other beta readers who are not related to me in any way. They look for continuity errors, things that trip them up, typos etc., by this time I have usually read it through so many times I am sick and tired of it and begin to not really 'see' it anymore. That is the time to lay it aside and step away.

After that I give it a final read through and edit before it goes off to my professional editor who does a wonderful job on it. Every writer really needs beta readers and editors - it is really not a good idea to publish without. It is asking for trouble.

Finally, Judith, could you tell our readers how you go about choosing a cover for your books?

In the early days I made many mistakes with covers and, once I had gained more experience, I had to repackage all three of my early novels. The cover is a big decision, something I didn't realise at first. These days I am lucky to have made friends with the designer Covergirl, and she now does all my covers. We work together to find a photograph we both like. I have simple tastes and prefer just a figure or a symbol that says something about the era the book is written in. For my last book, Intractable Heart, I was lucky enough to work with Darren Wilkins of The Tudor Roses fame, and purchased the use of his wonderful photograph. My cover designer then worked her magic on it. I am currently looking for a photograph or a contemporary painting that is available for use. Ideas are always welcome.

Thank you so much Judith, it's been really so interesting chatting with you.

Judith Arnopp is also author of:

Intractable Heart: A Story of Katheryn Parr
Peaceweaver
The Forest Dwellers, and so many more. 
To see all of Judith's books, please visit her amazon.co.uk page here.

Judith can also be found on Facebook, Twitter and on her blog and website

Louise E. Rule

Louise E. Rule is author of Future Confronted
And can be found on Facebook, Twitter and on her blog.

Sunday Wrap Up: Week Ending March 30, 2014

This week at The Review we've done a spot of travelling--through time and across the globe, to get a bit of insight into a variety of circumstances, the sorts that birth new ideas or shape the people we become, direct us toward what kinds of stories we wish to hear or tell, read or write. While not all these circumstances are cheery, one positive outcome is that they all--real or fictionalised--continue to be told and will go on being passed down to future generations as long as humans exist, for people like nothing better than to hear a story. These events are so important because not only do they affect those who took part, but also all who follow. 

Starting in present-day Linda Root takes us for a visit to Wales with a historical fiction author who discusses a variety of perspectives and angles as to how she writes, what she thinks about and so on. We go on a guided tour, as it were, of the author's works and how they came to be. Next, Lisl takes us across the pond as well as a continent, up a gulf and into a magical, huge land once the scene of a devastating earthquake. Still within living memory, this week marks the 50th anniversary of the shakedown, and across Alaska and the world people remember that day, a few of these precious memories picked out by Lisl for us to have the privilege to share. And to round out our epic sweep, Stuart makes the return trip with us back to the UK--Edinburgh in particular, for a spot of scare and history into the bargain. Told a tale of tyranny, we then are brought back to today as our final narrator brings us to one of the spots in which some individuals also met their end. 

Journey with us again or for the first time, as The Review wraps up a week of adventure.

"We are honored to have with us today a writer whose creative energies seem boundless, Judith Arnopp, who is just as comfortable weaving portions of two ninth century epic poems into her fine novel Songs of Heledd as she is invading Henry VIII's death watch to listen in while the ghost of Queen Anne Boleyn intimidates him with her whispers. Join me as we explore Judith's past endeavors, share her present successes and glimpse a bit of what her future offers." So says Linda as she introduces us to an epic interview with Judith Arnopp, who adds: "Although I love all periods of history, I am not drawn to any particular era but rather to particular characters. I am interested in what made them tick, how they might have felt, their motivations. If a situation or historical personage sticks their head up and waves at me, I read around them and see if and how I can take it further." You can do the same with Linda's fabulous interview, and continue the journey with Judith--bring your chocolate and coffee!

Hopping on our transport, we go west with Lisl, to the Ring of Fire in which sits Alaska, an absolutely massive country that--many people are unaware--experiences earthquakes several times a day! Alaskans tend to be used to the smaller earthquakes (many of which are ignored), as they usually result in some rattling and conversations starters. "When the shaking started on March 27, 1964, people generally responded in the same way. It was a Friday, Good Friday in fact; schools were closed and businesses wrapped up early for the holiday. The weather had warmed up to 28 degrees (-2 C) and the afternoon and early evening proceeded like any other.

Unbeknownst to Alaskans, however, the Pacific plate pushing under the North American, 100 miles east of the largest city, Anchorage, had been grinding away and was about to subduct. They were to know soon enough, however, as the rattling continued and the ground began to move beneath them. Surface waves motioned and gaping fissures in the ground split downtown Anchorage apart."

The largest in U.S. history, this earthquake led to the creation of the National Earthquake Information and Alaska Tsunami Warning centers. Read some details of this event and individual recollections as Lisl pauses for Remembrance Week as part of her Great Land History series.

The mother of history series here at The Review, Stuart's histories of Scotland, and particularly his beloved Edinburgh, have always enthralled us. This week Stuart lands us at Greyfriars Kirk, scene of some unsettling history between Sir George Mackenzie and the Covenanters, a persecuted religious group whose members were jailed, tortured and executed for their beliefs. In the spot we visit today are said to be nightly hauntings: "Sir George Mackenzie, the man whose unquiet spirit is said to be the source of the paranormal activity, was born in Dundee in 1636. He was born into a life of privilege, being the grandson of the first Lord Mackenzie of Kintail and attended universities in Aberdeen, St Andrews and Bourges in France. He was elected to the Faculty of Advocates in 1659, and spoke in defense at the trial of Archibald Campbell, the Earl of Argyll, in 1661. He acted as justice-depute from 1661 to 1663, a post that involved him in overseeing the extensive witch trials which afflicted Scotland with a form of mass hysteria at the time."

To see how it all ended, click here, but bring your tissues!

Oh the places you'll go! Last weekend was a wrap up encompassing unusual exploration. No worries if you missed it, just click to catch up!

Interview: Judith Arnopp interviewed by Linda Root

Meet the Incredible Judith Arnopp

An interview by Linda Root

We are honored to have with us today a writer whose creative energies seem boundless, Judith Arnopp, who is just as comfortable weaving portions of two ninth century epic poems into her fine novel Songs of Heledd as she is invading Henry VIII's death watch to listen in while the ghost of Queen Anne Boleyn intimidates him with her whispers. Join me as we explore Judith's past endeavors, share her present successes and glimpse a bit of what her future offers.

                           

Researching The Song of Heledd required you to do an exhaustive critical analysis of a collection of ninth century Welsh poetry entitled Canu Heledd, and your novel is based upon fragments of the poems. How did you approach such a demanding task?  What drew you to it?

I studied early medieval literature as part of my Master’s degree and became familiar with Heledd that way. Only a tiny fragment of the poem, the beginning and end, are extant, but it is quite clear that Heledd held herself responsible for the loss of not just her family, but the entire dynasty. I found myself constantly wondering what she had done. It was the sort of question that keeps you awake nights even though there is no way we will ever discover the real truth.
The poem tells us that she loved her brother Cyndylan, King of Pengwern, but although she also loved her sister, Ffreur, she doesn’t mourn her. Why on earth not?
There could be a number of reasons but the more I thought about it, the more real Heledd and Ffreur became. In the end the only way to put my ‘historian’ mind to sleep was to let my creative side take over and make up the middle part. Because so little is known about the people involved in the events I was able to give my imagination full rein. We have the names, we have the places, we know of the wars they were involved in, we know the way it ended. The only questions left were how and why. So I made it up.
I didn’t rely on my own critical analysis; I am not skilled enough or confident enough for that but a lot of academic study has been done on the subject and I am lucky enough to have the University of Wales practically on my doorstep. I owe particular thanks to Jenny Rowlands and her book Early Welsh Saga Poetry.
                                                                               

Although I love all periods of history, I am not drawn to any particular era but rather to particular characters. I am interested in what made them tick, how they might have felt, their motivations. If a situation or historical personage sticks their head up and waves at me, I read around them and see if and how I can take it further. I have always been a bit ‘nerdy’ and love research so it is not a chore for me, especially if I have chocolate and a good supply of coffee.

If you were to expand one of your novels into a series, which would you find the most tempting?

I haven’t ever thought of doing a series. I think I might get bored with the characters and if I was bored with them, think how bored the reader would be! I did consider doing a follow up to Peaceweaver, tracing the lives of the sons she bore Grufydd ap Llewelyn. The historical record tells us they returned to Wales and attempted to win back the lands their father governed but the records are sketchy so it would be pure fiction. Most of my novels have such a complete ending that I don’t see how I could take the others further. I suppose the closest I’ve come to a series is with my Tudor novels; I tackle Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard in The Winchester Goose, and Anne Boleyn in The Kiss of the Concubine.

According to my review of your career, you began contributing short pieces to anthologies or writing short stories and snippets.  What made you decide that it was time for Judith Arnopp to move on to a full length novel?

It was the other way round actually. Although I have written short stories since I was a child I never let anyone read anything until I was well into my adulthood. Around 2004 I wrote a very bad historical novel set in medieval England that will never see light of day, then I progressed to Peaceweaver. Once I decided it was good enough to publish I began to write short pieces and blogs to draw attention to my work. On occasion I have plucked something very old from the archives and reinvented it but on the whole the novels came first, the short pieces second. When I first began to blog I adapted old university material but now I try to stick to whichever period I am writing in and link it in some way to one of my books.

Are you ever tempted to try out a different genre?  If so, which would it be?

I’ve written a bit of romance but my heart isn’t in it. I am too bloodthirsty for contemporary stories. I like to make my characters suffer and often kill them off so it doesn’t really suit the romance genre. My heart is in historical, I am more comfortable in a medieval setting and since my personal life is so rural I have no idea what it is really like to live in the modern world. I am in a beautiful time bubble here in West Wales with only sheep and the windswept landscape for company.

It strikes me that the tone and setting of your first three novels is unmistakably Welsh.  And then, you take another leap, this time hundreds of years forward to Tudor England. Did some particular interest, challenge or event cause you to move from pre-invasion Saxon Britain all the way to Tudor England in your recent offerings, The Winchester Goose and finally, The Kiss of the Concubine?

As a teenager when I first became interested in history I was a huge Tudor fan. The Tudor period formed part of my university degree but by that time I was far more taken up with the Anglo-Saxons and early medieval period. It seemed natural to start there with a world that was fresh in my mind and Peaceweaver, The Forest Dwellers, and The Song of Heledd were born from that.
I published a very short lighthearted pamphlet of six stories called Dear Henry: Confessions of the Queens. It wasn’t a serious academic study; I did it in a workshop with no research material to hand. Readers who demand accuracy slammed it but I also had some positive reviews and loads of emails from other readers asking if I’d written any other Tudor books.

I had so many readers asking that I thought seriously about it and the result was The Winchester Goose. I found the transition very smooth and am comfortable in Tudor England. The difference between Dear Henry and The Winchester Goose is the months of research that went into the latter. It is about a prostitute from Southwark and contrasts the life of a whore with that of Henry’s queens. The glittering royal court is juxtaposed with the stews across the river. During the course of researching The Winchester Goose I conceived the idea of writing a novel about Anne Boleyn without embellishing her story or taking defamatory material too literally. The result was The Kiss of the Concubine and the response from readers has been astounding. I am so very touched by all the letters and reviews that are flooding in.

Kiss of the Concubine is populated by actual persons--Anne Boleyn,  her early lovers Wyatt and Percy, and the colorful member of her  own family, especially her brother George and her sister-in-law Lady Rochford, and of course, the king.  How did you deal with the immense amount of conflicting data available about them, and especially, how did you approach the controversy that surrounds the trial and execution of Queen Anne and her parade of alleged lovers?

You have to take every historical record with a pinch of salt. Every writer, especially one recording history as it happens, has an agenda. You have to ask yourself;, why was he writing it? Who was he writing it for? What was his motive? After Anne’s death many of her possessions and papers were destroyed. There are very few letters remaining in her hand, so much of what we learn is gleaned from sources that were ‘allowed’ to survive to the present day. Some were written by her enemies and some of the more complimentary stuff penned later, in her daughter Elizabeth’s reign. It is a case of reading between the lines. Many of the dates of her alleged offences can be dismissed as records show she elsewhere at the time; on one occasion when she was accused of committing adultery she was still in childbed with Elizabeth. It is quite clear the charges were trumped up.
Anne is a very popular figure and there is a large following who believe she has been maligned by Spanish and Tudor propaganda. To find the real woman, or to come as close to her as we can ever can, one has to remain objective. Of course secondary sources on Anne Boleyn are readily available and Eric Ives, Susannah Lipscombe and Claire Ridgway were invaluable when it came to sources and theories. I read the more critical stuff too so as to form my own opinion but I have to agree Anne was innocent, a victim of state politics.

Did your personal attitude toward Anne and Henry change as your book progressed, and if so, in what way?  Do you see Anne and Henry's story as a love affair?

My opinion of Anne was vindicated by my studies of her and remained unaltered, but my research into Henry changed my opinion immensely. I always assumed he was a brute, a wife murderer, a psychopath in fact, but the more I read about him, the more I came to understand, or at least to acknowledge, his psychological flaws. He was a man with immense power, a man in search of the unobtainable and this, together with his belief that he was second only to God, determined the monstrous behavior that he is famous for today.
My personal belief is that he did love Anne, and she him. Henry was a selfish and demanding man yet he courted her for seven years. If he didn’t truly love her he would have given up, yet it seems he scarcely looked at another woman in all this time.
His disappointment when she failed to conceive a son made him vulnerable to the political attack that took her down. I think he believed the lies that were told about her. Henry was a jealous and possessive man and I think the realisation that Anne had died innocent didn’t come until it was too late. Henry and Anne’s relationship was always stormy; they had frequent and public disagreements but their reconciliations were just as public. There are no contemporary reports that the marriage was failing; just a few weeks before her arrest even the Spanish ambassador Chapuys reported that the king and queen were as much in love as ever. In The Kiss of the Concubine, after her arrest, Anne believes it is just another misunderstanding; she is sure Henry will soon cool down and save her.

Without asking you to pick a favorite amongst your novels, can you tell us which of them was the most enjoyable writing experience for you?  And of course, on the flip side, which novel or part of a novel was the most difficult?  How did you overcome the obstacles?

I think the novel that was the most fun to write was The Winchester Goose. There is usually some humour in my novels because I believe that even in the most trying of human predicaments, we find the time for irony or foolery. Joanie Toogood, the main character in The Winchester Goose is a good humoured, big hearted woman and taking on her life as a prostitute enabled me to fully explore the pestilent, filthy, cut-throat underworld of Tudor London. I discovered a variety of people there from the generous to the downright nasty. Amid all the squalor Joanie emerges as funny, compassionate and loud – her mind is probably the one I’ve most enjoyed inhabiting during my writing career so far.
The most difficult was a scene in The Song of Heledd when Heledd’s actions destroy the person she loves most. I wrote the scene several times but it wasn’t right. The situation she was in was so horrible; it was way beyond my own life experience. In the end I imagined it was happening to one of my own sisters (I have three, all of whom are very precious to me). Once I had made the scene personal it came easily, as did the tears I shed while I wrote it. I don’t want to be guilty of spoilers but that particular chapter is the hardest I’ve had to write. It still makes me shudder when I read through it.

Of the heroines in your novels, which one do you most consider ‘a Woman for All Seasons'?

Oh dear, there is a difficult question. Not many of my female characters win in the end. It is more about the journey than the destination; in fact a lot of my women don’t survive beyond the last chapter. I can think of one that would fit the bill in The Forest Dwellers but that would involve a huge spoiler so I will stick with Alys from the same book.
After the Norman invasion the people of the New Forest are treated so harshly by the new regime that life becomes impossible. Alys, an extraordinarily pretty girl, uses a variety of ways to hold her own in a rapidly changing world. Once she discovers her most effective weapon is her own physical beauty, she fights and scrambles her way up the ladder. She survives, she gets what she wants (or needs to survive) but not without the greatest sacrifice of all. Love.
Alys is not easy to love but she is impossible to ignore. She is flawed, her mistakes are legion but at the end of her struggle when she lives on beyond the closing of the book, you will have come to understand her and forgive her failings.

Were you writing regularly when your children were preschoolers? How did your writing mesh with your family life?  Has that changed now that your children are older?  What advice would you give to new writers with young families?

I was too busy being mum and running a smallholding to write seriously until my children were grown up. I used to scribble stories as a hobby but never dreamed of publishing them. I have a clutch of stories I wrote about them when they were little. I’d put them into scenarios and take them through excellent adventures to read at bedtime. When I was expecting my daughter I wrote about the forthcoming event so as to help her brother, Simon, who was just about two years old, to look forward to her arrival as much as we were. I was worried he would feel displaced but I didn’t need to worry, he adored her from day one and they are all still really close.
Now they are all grown up they are proud of my achievements and bore all their friends about their ‘fabulous mum.’

Was there ever a time after your first book was published when you thought of giving it all up?

No. I’d never give up writing. Even if nobody bought my books I would still have to write. Initially I sought the traditional publishing route but I soon got fed up with that malarkey. I was taken on by an agent but she really didn’t ‘get’ what I was about. She wanted me to write more like Philippa Gregory but I didn’t want to; I wanted to write like me.
I have had my share of despondency, bad reviews, negative feedback. I encourage constructive criticism but downright nastiness is upsetting and damaging. One of my writer friends was so hurt by personal criticism that she gave up writing altogether. I can’t see me doing that. I wouldn’t know what else to do.
Once I decided to go it alone I found myself on a huge learning curve. I had to be self-critical, discover a good editor (I have an excellent one now after two or three failures.) I learned to develop new skills, typesetting, layout, formatting, cover design, marketing skills and I had to learn how to be receptive to readers even if I was having a bad day and feeling a bit grumpy. Facebook and Twitter are invaluable for making connections with readers. I have a lovely little band of friends now and it is those people that make all the hard work worthwhile.
It is tough sometimes. A very solitary existence. You have to be happy in your own company, you have to be tough and develop the skin of a rhinoceros. Most of all I think you need to have conviction in your own way of doing things.

I have seen you describe your writing as coming from a feminine perspective.  Do you consider yourself a feminist?  How does your empathy for the plight of women affect your presentation of the principal male characters in your story?   Of all of the males in your several books, which one of them, if any,  would you consider a feminist or the most sympathetic to the needs of women?  And of course, who is the insensitive bad guy in the mix?

I believe in equality for women in the modern world. I know it didn’t exist in the period I write in and I try very hard not to make my female characters act and speak as we do today. Their expectations were entirely different to ours. That is not to say that women didn’t have an impact on history. There are plenty of incidences where the actions of women have had a huge influence; very often they were unrecorded or glossed over in favour of male achievements.
The male characters that empathise most with women are probably Peter the Costermonger in The Winchester Goose, and George Boleyn in The Kiss of the Concubine.
I don’t think any of my male characters are absolute brutes. They might be insensitive, unschooled in the art of love, and they tend to shout a lot but they are not evil, just human. There are no black/white, evil/nice characters; I try to present multi-faceted people. I don’t know anyone who is wholly good or wholly bad so why should they appear in fiction? Gruffyd ap Llewelyn in Peaceweaver is the nastiest of my characters. He was the leader of the Welsh and, by most accounts, a powerful man in a harsh and brutal world. When Eadgyth finds herself married to him we see him from her perspective which isn’t a pretty one, but I do manage to give him the chance to explain his behavior and explore what made him the man he was. I had a quandary with Gruffydd because the records we have of him were written by those who defeated him and so can’t be wholly relied on. But since it was his own men who betrayed him to King Edward I could only surmise that if the Welsh turned against their own leader in favour of the English he must have been a real ‘baddie.’

Now that the Kiss of the Concubine is a completed project, what’s next for Judith Arnopp?  Please tell us a little about your current work in progress, but also give us an idea of where you would like to be ten years down the line, both as a writer and as a woman who has a deep commitment to her family and her heritage.

I am still with the Tudors. This time I am writing the life of Katherine Parr, Henry’s last wife. She comes across as a strong woman. She married four times, the first three occasions for political rather than personal reasons. She withstood a siege at Snape Castle during her second marriage to Lord Latimer and, when the king targeted her as his next wife, she put aside her own desire to marry Thomas Seymour until after Henry’s death. She was a good consort to Henry and, although long thought of as a dull little nursemaid, she emerges a fascinating woman. She was in fact very scholarly and a published author. She stood as regent for England while Henry was warmongering in France and was a strong role model and mother to his children. Her eventual marriage to Thomas Seymour was not an altogether wise choice as it turns out; their short marriage was fraught with suspicion and infidelity until she died shortly after childbirth scarcely a year after the king’s death.
The novel is to be called Intractable Heart, which is a phrase taken from her book The Lamentation of a Sinner in which she acknowledges her ‘obstinate, strong and intractable heart.’
It is told via four narrators: Katherine’s step daughter, Margaret Neville; Katherine herself; Thomas Seymour and Elizabeth Tudor. I am about three quarters of the way through the story now, just beginning Elizabeth’s part and am hugely excited to be tackling such a huge figure.
The future is a dark uncomfortable place to contemplate, I am much happier in the past but in ten years' time I would like to be healthy, fit and happy, doing much as I am doing now only with more confidence and success. I should also like my husband to have finally given in to my demands and retired so he can become my ‘kept man.’ Some more grandchildren would be nice too.

I hope you have enjoyed spending time with Judith Arnopp as much as I have.  My next task is to clear some space on my ‘to be read’ shelf for Judith’s earlier works, and of course, with a special reserved space for Intractable Heart. Visit Judith’s author pages at  Amazon and Amazon UK. 

Linda Root is the author of the novels in the Queen of Scots Suite. If you would like Linda to review your book or conduct an interview, please see our submissions tab above.