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3:09 pm
August 2, 2010
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I started Brief Gaudy Hour today and am about 1/4 of the way through it. It's a novel about Anne Boleyn, and I was wondering if anyone had read it? So far it's been grossly innacurate: in the book, Barnes says that black was France's mourning color, Mary Boleyn's affair was over before she had her two children, Mary had never been to France, Anne had not gone to the court of Margaret of Austria, Thomas Boleyn's wife had died and Anne had a stepmother named Jocunda….I'm horrified!! Does anyone else feel this way? I realize as a novelist you can change certain things, but this is simply too much for me.
"Grumble all you like, this is how it's going to be"
2:06 pm
February 24, 2010
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Well thank you for the review. I think I'll skip that book. I like novels, but I only enjoy them when they stick to the real history. Otherwise I sit there thinking…now that was wrong, and that, and that. I can not thoroughly enjoy a book if I'm always correcting what I'm reading.
6:17 pm
August 2, 2010
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Your welcome 🙂 I'm about 2/3 of the way through it now and otherwise I think it's a pretty good novel–I like the way Henry and Anne are portrayed–but like you said it's hard to enjoy a book when you're constantly correcting things. That being said, if you're not picky about research etc it's an okay book.
"Grumble all you like, this is how it's going to be"
8:00 am
August 31, 2010
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I'm currently re-reading this one…when I read it through the first time I would read a couple pages, groan in disgust and complain to my husband about how horribly inacurate it was and he would say “so stop reading it,” and I would tell him I couldn't because I might learn something new in the mess of nothing being true.
However, this time, I am reading it as I would read anything fictional, as just that, fictional. I'm pretending I know NOTHING about Anne…its sort of working, I still catch myself rolling my eyes or yelling at my book randomnly, but not near as much as the first read through.
1:09 pm
August 2, 2010
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Hmm, Star, I think I might try that! Like I said, besides the innaccuracies I thought the novel good, and I liked Barnes' Anne. What I thought funny (I burst out laughing) was when, at the end, there was a biography-type thing about Barnes, and it said something about her meticulous research….
"Grumble all you like, this is how it's going to be"
5:56 pm
November 18, 2010
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Removes book from wishlist.
I'd forgotten just how bad it was until I read this thread.
It's always bunnies.
6:10 pm
August 2, 2010
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Yep, definitely good for a laugh!! 🙂 Read it on a day when you need something funny…I certainly laughed when I heard about Anne's stepmother Jocunda…
"Grumble all you like, this is how it's going to be"
5:47 pm
January 9, 2010
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Jocunda?!!!! Ok, this book is OFF my wishlist!
7:44 am
June 7, 2010
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I recall reading Norah Lofts in the past, and she makes reference to Anne having a step-mother. I am not sure if there was a gap in the research at some point, and historians and writers believed Elizabeth Boleyn was dead; or if Tudor era was not research as extensivley, and little information was avaliable on Elizabeth Boleyn (and others) prior to Prof. Eton's groundbreaking research in the mid-1960's.
It seems that current Tudormania has prompted publishers to re-release Campbell Barnes's novels. Since they were written in the 1940's, I try hard to ignore the factual errors. However, I admit, it is hard!
I agree, Campbell Barnes could have come up with a better name that Jocunda!
"By daily proof you shall find me to be to you both loving and kind" Anne Boleyn
11:45 am
August 2, 2010
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Yes, Jocunda!! Appallling!!!
When I first heard it, I did a little laughing–crying…I mean, really pathetic!
But yes, they were written a while ago. That being said, in my copy, at the end, there was a note by the author's granddaughter or something, who commented on Campbell Barnes' “meticulous research.” Is it just me who has a problem digesting that last bit??!!
"Grumble all you like, this is how it's going to be"
