☼ A Place In The Spotlight ☼ with M.C.V. EGAN: “Anne of Cleves: Henry’s Luckiest Wife” and “Catherine Howard: Henry’s Fifth Failure” by D. LAWRENCE

Sunday, March 30, 2014

“Anne of Cleves: Henry’s Luckiest Wife” and “Catherine Howard: Henry’s Fifth Failure” by D. LAWRENCE

ANNE OF CLEVES

It is winter 1539. King Henry VIII is galloping through the night to Rochester to meet a young woman. Just arrived in England from Germany, Anne of Cleves is destined to become his fourth wife. He has never met her before. He has only seen her portrait – the portrait of a sweet, demure and innocent young woman. The impatient and lovesick king must see her before their marriage. But this rushed and unplanned rendezvous will shock them and the country both. It will also lead to some completely unexpected and fatal results.

In D. Lawrence-Young’s well-researched novel, we learn of the strong passions and the deadly politics when the romantic plans of a frustrated Tudor king go badly wrong.

CATHERINE HOWARD

This historical novel has it all: sex and romance, violence and war, infidelity and intrigue.

Catherine Howard, the Duke of Norfolk’s niece, is raised in the very free atmosphere of her grandmother’s palace. Here she becomes aware of her own sexuality and the exciting effect she has on the men at court around her. She is also an unknowing part of her uncle’s devious plan to obtain more influence with the king - he pushes her onto the newly-divorced and lovesick King Henry VIII who is looking for a fifth wife.

Meanwhile, John Butcher has become a guard in the dreaded Tower of London. He guards the king, witnesses the executions of Anne Boleyn and Thomas More and takes part in the fighting in Ireland. However, when he returns to London, his meeting with Catherine Howard, the king’s fifth queen, produces unexpected and dramatic results.

In D. Lawrence-Young’s second Tudor novel we learn how Catherine Howard’s passionate nature mixed with the murky, deadly politics of the Tudor court and a furious king produce a classic story of passionate love, disappointment and revenge on a royal scale.

AUTHOR BIO

D. Lawrence-Young takes the often pompous and frequently silly “Shakespeare Authorship Controversy” and turns it into a fast-paced page-turning detective story. All the nooks and crannies of rival candidates and claims are traversed in interesting locations and often funny encounters. The SAC has got under the Shakespeare-loving and teaching David Young’s skin and he has turned this irritant into a pleasure to read and from which there is much to learn.

AUTHOR AND BOOK LINKS