Troubled Queen (The Marwood Family Tudor Saga)
Troubled Queen is the second in the Marwood Family (Tudor) Saga, in which second oldest daughter, Thomasin, is lady-in-waiting to Queen Catherine. It follows Dangerous Lady, wherein Thomasin hopefully learned a harsh life lesson at Anne Boleyn’s frivolous mock-court, but at times her continuing naiveté is maddening, as she falls in and out of infatuation at an alarming rate. That and the constant referral to eyes of every colour, shape, and size, is tiresome. But having read the whole book and the author’s notes, the things I liked most about the novel are seemingly what the author wants to convey.
In 1528, Henry is awaiting the Pope’s dispensation, Catherine believes she can regain her husband’s love, and the court is rocked by outbreaks of the sweating sickness. These problems create frenetic movement between palaces―Windsor, Westminster, Hampton Court, Greenwich―throwing Henry and Catherine into close proximity and creating drama which is not of Anne Boleyn’s making. Henry’s love for Anne is overshadowed by his more fervent belief that God might strike him down. His fear is palpable as he tries to outrun the disease. This is not a side of Henry we often see, but it becomes a timely thought: that the most important things in life place these illustrious individuals in the precarious balance alongside us.
Queen Catherine is beautifully portrayed and is reason alone to pick up the novel. Never did a woman retain such regal authority, befitting her birthright as daughter of royalty, as in those months when she faced down Anne Boleyn and her grasping family. For me, the Marwoods are somewhat peripheral, but the novel’s use, beyond cameo roles, of many other historical characters―Wolsey, Cromwell, Maria Salinas, William Carey, More, Margaret Roper, and others―allows us a glimpse into their vulnerabilities, their humanity, and 16th-century court life.
