Author Wendy J Dunn reads a chapter from her historical novel The Light in the Labyrinth to us as part of Anne Boleyn Day 2017. It is a wonderful novel telling of Anne Boleyn’s last days through the eyes of her niece.
Would you like to win a copy of Wendy’s book? Simply leave a comment below this post saying whose perspective you’d choose if you were writing a novel about 1536. Leave it before midnight on 24th May 2017. One comment will be picked at random and the winner contacted.
In the winter of 1535, fourteen-year-old Kate Carey wants to escape her family home. She thinks her life will be so much better with Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s second wife and the aunt she idolises. Little does Kate know that by going to attend Anne Boleyn she will discover love and a secret that will shake the very foundations of her identity. An attendant to Anne Boleyn, Kate is also swept up in events that see her witness her aunt’s darkest days. By the time winter ends, Kate will be changed forever.
Charles Brandon. He was the king’s best friend for decades.
I’m trying to understand these two men for ages…
I’ve always wondered what the ladies in waiting to the queen saw , heard or were told . They would have been around for many important parts of Queen Anne final months and the beginning of Janes life as queen consort.
Anne’s mother.
Anne herself! I would also like something from the perspective of her ladies or one of her parents. x
I’ve wondered what Anne’s parents were doing, their thoughts.
I would love Anne’s perspective — by all accounts, she was incredibly stoic and strong, and I have no doubt that’s how things went, but I’d love an in-depth look at what thoughts went through her head at the time.
Anne or Henry VIII
I have read that when Anne was executed, Henry was with Jane. I have also read that he arranged for Anne to be executed by sword and not the axe. I would like to know what Henry was actually thinking that day Anne was executed. What was he thinking when he went to bed that night. Did he have to drink himself into oblivion, or was he void of any guilt feelings.
You might be interested in historian Leanda de Lisle’s theory about why Anne Boleyn was executed with a sword rather than an axe – see https://www.spectator.co.uk/2013/08/anne-boleyns-last-secret/#.
Very moving reading
Cromwell. I’ve always wondered what he thought and his real perspective on what happened and the role he played.
Jane Boleyn’s thoughts would have been interesting
Anne or her ladies
I think Kingston’s, her gaoler.
I’m very curious about Kate’s life…interesting.
I think I would like to write this story from the servants point of view. To think about what they saw and heard.
Thomas wyatt how he felt about his friends captivity and execution.And how he felt about his arrest and the days after the execution of the queen and the young men.
George Boleyn. Of course he wouldn’t be witness to his sister’s execution but he was swept up terribly in her downfall.
Anne’s close ladies who loved her, I would like their viewpoint, or even Jane Seymour’s.
I always thought it’d be interesting to do it from the view of MaryKingston, who was with her in the Tower. What were her views of Anne Boleyn before the arrest, during the imprisonment, her thoughts on being a spy to try and ‘get dirt’ on the Queen and afterwards.
I’d like one from Jane Seymour’s point of view!
I would like to read a novel from the perspective of Thomas and Elizabeth Boleyn… an historically accurate depiction, since I’ve been informed, through this awesome event , they’ve had a bad wrap.
I would to explore the theory of their innocence further.
I agree with having the servants’ perspective. Someone who has nothing to gain or lose.
Mary Tudor’s point of view would be interesting. She would have thought that her troubles were over only to find it wasn’t the “other woman” but the King himself. It would bring in Cromwell and Chapyus as well as a treacherous court. “Baked apple” anyone?
Brandon or Cromwell would be my choice, but those saying a servant make a good point as well.
I’d do it from Wyatt’s point of view, I think.
I think I would do Charles Brandon. He saw so much during Henry’s reign. It would be interesting knowing his point of view on everything.
Jean Rombaud
Sounds like an amazing book. I was pulled in right away. If i were to write about the events in 1536 I think I would write in George Boleyn’s perspective! You don’t really see that in a novel about that time. I would want to portray him and Anne the way they really were and not as they’ve been portrayed through history!
I would write from how Anne Boleyn’s view point. Sure people have wrote stories about her and what she did’ but I have not read where they talked about her view point. what she sees, hears, feels and smells.
Hans Holbein. Imagine the things he must have known!
Kingstons without a doubt!
From what I understand–Anne could have been burned at the stake or beheaded—Henry didin’t seem to care until chided by someone and Henry in “his great mercy” decided not only would he not have an ax meet Anne’s neck but he would send to France for the most gifted swordsman. The man was all heart—I’d love to hear from all the comments (questions) displayed on this site—into one big book…..