Status
Available
Call number
Call number
F Pla
Series
Collection
Publication
Putnam Adult (1987), Edition: 1st American ed, 405 pages
Description
Fiction. Literature. Historical Fiction. HTML:One of history�??s most complex and alluring women comes to life in this classic novel by the legendary Jean Plaidy. Young Anne Boleyn was not beautiful but she was irresistible, capturing the hearts of kings and commoners alike. Daughter of an ambitious country lord, Anne was sent to France to learn sophistication, and then to court to marry well and raise the family�??s fortunes. She soon surpassed even their greatest expectations. Although his queen was loving and loyal, King Henry VIII swore he would put her aside and make Anne his wife. And so he did, though the divorce would tear apart the English church and inflict religious turmoil and bloodshed on his people for generations to come. Loathed by the English people, who called her �??the King�??s Great Whore,�?� Anne Boleyn was soon caught in the trap of her own ambition. Political rivals surrounded her at court and, when she failed to produce a much-desired male heir, they closed in, preying on the king�??s well-known insecurity and volatile temper. Wrongfully accused of adultery and incest, Anne found herself imprisoned in the Tower of London, where she was at the mercy of her husband a… (more)
Subjects
Original publication date
1986
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User reviews
LibraryThing member Dnorthup
An excellent companion to the Showtime series "The Tudors." The two follow one another closely. Plaidy's writing blends history and fiction in a way that makes the story easily accesible. If you've watched the series and want to know what happens next (we all know what happens to Anne Boleyn, but
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what of everyone else) then this is an excellent source. Show Less
LibraryThing member NCDonnas
I first read The Lady in the Tower quite a few years ago and it has always been my favorite of all the books I've read so far about Anne Boleyn.
LibraryThing member ahappybooker
I first read The Lady in the Tower quite a few years ago and it has always been my favorite of all the books I've read so far about Anne Boleyn.
LibraryThing member Dream24
History has been very unkind to Anne Bolyen. Most of the time, she is painted as the witch for enticing Henry VIII away from his loyal Queen of twenty years, causing the break with Rome and the closing of monasteries.
But we never really got to know the real her, the woman behind that ugly
Anne, naturally was an innocent, precocious and intelligent child. Who is quick to pick up on things and is able to be part of history. While in France, she learns of courtly love but is spurned but the tragic downfall of her sister Mary, who may have been far too giving of her attentions. The stain on Mary's reputation in France, forced Anne to become extremely guarded of her honour and reputation.
As the years go by and Anne catches the attention of Henry VIII, you can feel and hear her struggling to push away Henry. Knowing that it could never be. She never aimed to be ambitious or seek to be Queen of England. But certainly the excitement and emotions of Henry soon overwhelmed her, and slowly she becomes ambitious and seeks the best for herself and her family. After all, since Henry Percy was taken from her, why not aim for the best, especially when Henry VIII was willing to move heaven and earth for her love.
It's always been known that Anne was extremely loving and tender towards Elizabeth. Despite her struggles with carrying a male child to full term, you know she is extremely happy to have Elizabeth. The apple of her eye. It is moments with Elizabeth that you can still catch a glimpse of the happy and innocent woman she use to be, before becoming a bitter and spurned Queen.
Overall, I love how Anne is represented. She is not a witch, nor an innocent victim. She took too many risks (some paid off, others not so much), and in the end faced the axe. But for all that she did.... she did manage to give the world Queen Elizabeth I.
But we never really got to know the real her, the woman behind that ugly
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reputation. Jean Plaidy has wonderfully woven a story about Anne and what shaped her character and lead to her rise and ultimate downfall. We start off with Anne, locked up in the tower, awaiting for her soon to come demise. And then, Anne starts telling her story from the very beginning, from when she was a child, right up until the day of her execution. Anne, naturally was an innocent, precocious and intelligent child. Who is quick to pick up on things and is able to be part of history. While in France, she learns of courtly love but is spurned but the tragic downfall of her sister Mary, who may have been far too giving of her attentions. The stain on Mary's reputation in France, forced Anne to become extremely guarded of her honour and reputation.
As the years go by and Anne catches the attention of Henry VIII, you can feel and hear her struggling to push away Henry. Knowing that it could never be. She never aimed to be ambitious or seek to be Queen of England. But certainly the excitement and emotions of Henry soon overwhelmed her, and slowly she becomes ambitious and seeks the best for herself and her family. After all, since Henry Percy was taken from her, why not aim for the best, especially when Henry VIII was willing to move heaven and earth for her love.
It's always been known that Anne was extremely loving and tender towards Elizabeth. Despite her struggles with carrying a male child to full term, you know she is extremely happy to have Elizabeth. The apple of her eye. It is moments with Elizabeth that you can still catch a glimpse of the happy and innocent woman she use to be, before becoming a bitter and spurned Queen.
Overall, I love how Anne is represented. She is not a witch, nor an innocent victim. She took too many risks (some paid off, others not so much), and in the end faced the axe. But for all that she did.... she did manage to give the world Queen Elizabeth I.
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LibraryThing member PhilSyphe
With the Queens of England series, which features novels that aren’t in any type of sequence, Jean Plaidy was essentially rewriting various histories from her Royal sagas, such as the Plantagenet period and, like in this case, the Tudor period. The difference being that this series is written in
“The Lady in the Tower”, like others in the series, could’ve been much better if the author stuck to the heroine’s viewpoint, rather than digress into other events that the narrator has heard second-hand from other characters.
This is supposed to be from Anne Boleyn's perspective, yet often – especially during her childhood years in France – we’re faced with lots of incidents that Anne wasn’t part of. The following three sentences are quotes that lead into second-hand reports:
“I wish I had seen that meeting of the Kings.”
“Their words were, of course, recorded by observers and repeated.”
“Now I can imagine his feelings on that celebrated occasion.”
If Ms Plaidy wanted to cover more ground, third person would’ve been a wiser option, though of course it would then be something like self-plagiarism. A focus on what the narrating character did, saw, and felt would’ve made this *decent* novel a *good* one.
The book is patchy, partly because of the point-of-view as mentioned above, partly owing to repetition of information (a Plaidy trait), and because the author was never one for spending much time revising her works, which is evident by the unimaginative language and weak elements of English style. Some sentences, for example, feature “I” several times, while paragraphs feature "I" countless times, something a conscientious author would seek to reword for a more stylistic effect.
Sometime this author does annoy me, but despite her faults, something about her stories make me want to read more of her works. Perhaps it’s her passion for the English and French past, interests that I share, which keeps me coming back for more. Sometimes I’m disappointed, other times enthralled, though usually my opinion falls somewhere in between, like with “The Lady in the Tower”. At times I was engaged, at other times far from it.
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first person, not third.“The Lady in the Tower”, like others in the series, could’ve been much better if the author stuck to the heroine’s viewpoint, rather than digress into other events that the narrator has heard second-hand from other characters.
This is supposed to be from Anne Boleyn's perspective, yet often – especially during her childhood years in France – we’re faced with lots of incidents that Anne wasn’t part of. The following three sentences are quotes that lead into second-hand reports:
“I wish I had seen that meeting of the Kings.”
“Their words were, of course, recorded by observers and repeated.”
“Now I can imagine his feelings on that celebrated occasion.”
If Ms Plaidy wanted to cover more ground, third person would’ve been a wiser option, though of course it would then be something like self-plagiarism. A focus on what the narrating character did, saw, and felt would’ve made this *decent* novel a *good* one.
The book is patchy, partly because of the point-of-view as mentioned above, partly owing to repetition of information (a Plaidy trait), and because the author was never one for spending much time revising her works, which is evident by the unimaginative language and weak elements of English style. Some sentences, for example, feature “I” several times, while paragraphs feature "I" countless times, something a conscientious author would seek to reword for a more stylistic effect.
Sometime this author does annoy me, but despite her faults, something about her stories make me want to read more of her works. Perhaps it’s her passion for the English and French past, interests that I share, which keeps me coming back for more. Sometimes I’m disappointed, other times enthralled, though usually my opinion falls somewhere in between, like with “The Lady in the Tower”. At times I was engaged, at other times far from it.
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LibraryThing member VhartPowers
Anne Boleyn's side of the story. It was a good read.
LibraryThing member Kristelh
This book tells the history of England during the Tudors through the voice of Anne Boleyn. As a review of history, I found the book good but as a novel it was lacking. First person narrator has its limitations. Anne was a young girl mostly growing up in the French court so was aware of the games
Rating 2.4
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played in the aristocracy. She describes herself as having little interest in sex but she had a whole lot of interest in gaining power and prestige. She was wise and kept her mouth closed as a young girl but as a woman she had a quick temper and tongue that did not keep its peace. How could there be such a change in personality. With youth there should be more irrational behavior and with maturity this should improve. Not in the case of Anne. I am not interested enough to read anymore in this series. At least at this time. Rating 2.4
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LibraryThing member classyhomemaker
This is the second Jean Plaidy I've read and I do enjoy her most of all the Tudor fiction novelists I've read. Her books are fairly clean and pretty straightforward, as far as the history of things goes. There were a few places where I found myself a bit bored---mainly during the years where they
I knew the basic story line of Anne's life; but this story brought it to life in a way that I think is very plausible, but one that I didn't necessarily like too much. Plaidy's Anne starts out as a woman of high character, driven to live by her principles, and unafraid of standing on morality. I really liked and admired her character at the beginning---my mind had been changed about her.
But, as soon as she chose to compromise her virtue and allow herself to be betrothed to the King, she became increasingly selfish and spoiled. She spent a lot of time whining about how people despised her for being his supposed concubine and how she hadn't sought that in the beginning, yet she was held to blame. In my opinion, she became completely accountable the moment she decided to begin romantic relations with a married man. I found it interesting that, during the time they were trying to have Henry's first marriage annulled, he seemed to become more patient and compassionate while she became more selfish and paranoid.
The story was really helpful in understanding the politics surrounding Henry VIII's influence on the institution of Protestantism in England. Two of my sons are currently studying this era so it's a topic I'm more interested in than usual this season.
I do wonder how much of Anne's character was based on historical record. She was a woman of virginal and chaste morals in the beginning; and her daughter, Elizabeth I, was thought, by some, to also be a virginal and chaste woman. I wonder how much of that was in response to what she'd been told about the character of her mother. I was also intrigued by the idea that Anne could have influenced Court fashions of the day with her designs to hide her (perhaps made up) mole and sixth nail.
All in all, it was a great read and I'm happy that I have so many more by this author on my TBR for the future.
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were just waiting on tides to change---so not really her fault, but that of history. I knew the basic story line of Anne's life; but this story brought it to life in a way that I think is very plausible, but one that I didn't necessarily like too much. Plaidy's Anne starts out as a woman of high character, driven to live by her principles, and unafraid of standing on morality. I really liked and admired her character at the beginning---my mind had been changed about her.
But, as soon as she chose to compromise her virtue and allow herself to be betrothed to the King, she became increasingly selfish and spoiled. She spent a lot of time whining about how people despised her for being his supposed concubine and how she hadn't sought that in the beginning, yet she was held to blame. In my opinion, she became completely accountable the moment she decided to begin romantic relations with a married man. I found it interesting that, during the time they were trying to have Henry's first marriage annulled, he seemed to become more patient and compassionate while she became more selfish and paranoid.
The story was really helpful in understanding the politics surrounding Henry VIII's influence on the institution of Protestantism in England. Two of my sons are currently studying this era so it's a topic I'm more interested in than usual this season.
I do wonder how much of Anne's character was based on historical record. She was a woman of virginal and chaste morals in the beginning; and her daughter, Elizabeth I, was thought, by some, to also be a virginal and chaste woman. I wonder how much of that was in response to what she'd been told about the character of her mother. I was also intrigued by the idea that Anne could have influenced Court fashions of the day with her designs to hide her (perhaps made up) mole and sixth nail.
All in all, it was a great read and I'm happy that I have so many more by this author on my TBR for the future.
Show Less
Pages
405