MY LADY OF CLEVES

by Margaret Campbell Barnes

Coming this fall:



The title says it all. My Lady of Cleves: A Novel of Henry VIII and Anne of Cleves is a captivating view of the life of Henry's often overlooked fourth wife from their betrothal to Henry's death. The usual image of the dowdy, overweight, ill-smelling foreigner is replaced with a picture of a charming but plain, domestic-minded girl who couldn't measure up to the bewitching memory of Anne Boleyn or compete with the fresh and exciting Katherine Howard.

I loved that Henry's setting aside of Anne takes place halfway through the story, and we get to see how Anne adjusts to her new situation as his adopted sister. The only other book I've read that gave any kind of detailed account of Anne after her divorce was Philippa Gregory's The Boleyn Inheritance. In that book, Anne was depicted as living her life cautiously, acutely aware that Henry's favor could be revoked at any moment, at any provocation, real or imagined. In My Lady of Cleves, Anne is very confidently going about her life, and Henry begins to see her as a lost opportunity for happiness as his marriage to Katherine Howard deteriorates.

One of the reasons I love to read various fictional accounts of the same historical personage is to witness the diverse interpretations of the person's personality and thoughts behind his or her actions. Barnes' vision of Anne is so different from others I have encountered, it was like reading her story for the first time. This is the Anne of Cleves I choose to live in my memory.