The ConcubineA Story of Anne Boleyn Author:Norah Lofts Anne Boleyn--commoner, sixteen-year-old lady-in-waiting at the court of King Henry VIII, dark-haired slip of a girl not nearly as pretty as her own sister--hardly the face to move mountains, but for her the powerful monarch of sixteenth-century England was to remain celibate for nine long years, shed his queen, Catherine of Aragon, bastardize hi... more »s one legitimate child, Mary, and destroy scores of men, including Sir Thomas Wolsey, his oldest and truest friend.
Norah Lofts has constructed this beautiful novel of Anne Boleyn's life--from her first acquaintance with Henry, through her coronation and ultimate execution--in a series of perfectly detailed miniatures, each one threaded onto the historical chain of events in the life of this girl whose marriage caused so much unhappiness to so many, not the least of them herself. The facts are here, but concisely stated, so that the author can concentrate all of her art in illuminating characters, capturing the sound of voices--the quiet dignity of Catherine, Henry's boisterous laughter, Anne's sweet voice turning shrill in despair...
Historically accurate and emotionally convincing, THE CONCUBINE is a tragedy played out against a backdrop of court splendor and international politics, teeming with the names--Wolsey, Pope Clement, More, Cromwell, Cranmer--that influenced the whole course of history.
The reader will acquire a better understanding of King Henry's England through this exciting novel, at the same time that Miss Lofts' story-telling magic brings the characters--from serving woman to King--brilliantly to life.« less