In the Shadow of the Crown

In the Shadow of the Crown-Jean Plaidy

How I found this book: Bridget, (one of my many William Jewell friends, referred to by me as the ‘Jewell gang’), gave this to me two years ago for my birthday. Being a history dork, this is usually a very brilliant idea. Too bad it isn't nearly as sexed up as The Tudors

I must admit, the author, (who also goes by Victoria Holt), was a guilty pleasure of mine as a child, I LOOOVED her bad romances. I can’t say it was a healthy or good obsession, but it was better than the Harlequin’s I insisted on stuffing into my brain.

Setting: 16th century England, during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, and Mary I.

Main Characters:

Mary Tudor, Princess of Wales: The oldest child of Henry VIII with his first wife, Katherine of Aragon, she is the focus of the story.

Henry VIII, King of England: Mary’s father, he has a bit of a problem keeping his wives around, can’t seem to produce healthy or live children, but manages to have three of them, all of whom will rule after him.

Katherine of Aragon: The first wife of Henry VIII, is apparently very saintly in the eyes of Mary, is cast aside cruelly by Henry in favor of Anne Boleyn.

Anne Boleyn: The second wife of Henry VIII and mother of Elizabeth I, she is cruel and vicious towards Mary, depriving her of the titles and rank that she has enjoyed for much of her life, (or at least Mary sees it that way). Anne will die after she is accused of being unfaithful to the king.

Elizabeth Tudor: The second daughter of Henry VIII by his second wife, Anne Boleyn, Mary sees her as scheming and wise beyond her years, but in her own odd way loves and admires her sister.

Jane Seymor: The third wife of Henry VIII, mother of Edward VI. She dies shortly after providing Henry with his much looked for son.

Anne of Cleves: The fourth wife of Henry VIII, a sympathetic character in the eyes of Mary. She is set aside because Henry finds her disagreeable, and has his marriage annulled.

Katherine Howard: The fifth wife of Henry VIII, young and idiotic, she is killed after having a fling with her lover, supposedly.

Catherine Parr: Henry VIII final wife, she is a devout Protestant, but Mary seems to warm to her despite this as she honestly does try to make Henry’s children into a family with their tyrannical father.

Reginald Cardinal Pole: Mary’s childhood sweetheart, he is her ardent supporter of her Catholic policies when she attains the throne.

Phillip II of Spain: Mary’s husband, whom she adores and believes will give her a son and heir to England.

Plot: Mary Tudor, Princess of Wales, seems to have a brilliant childhood, raised in the glittering court of her father, Henry VIII of England. But things change swiftly for her, and Mary, who is loyal both to her faith and to her mother, comes at odds with her tyrannical father, her many stepmothers and the officials of her father’s court who see Mary as a Catholic threat to the throne. She loses both her position and her place, but stays true to what she believes, until the day that she is given what belonged to her by birthright, the throne of England, and becomes the first ruling queen in England since Empress Maude, (who technically was never crowned, thus there can be an argument that Mary is the first ruling queen in England).

Themes:

The Many Wives of Windsor: Henry went through wives like most people change underwear, this has been no secret. Each new wife had its only upheavels and intrigues to the court, each of which Mary must learn to deal with as her respect for her father drains.

Protestant/Catholic in 16th century England: This was a serious political debate in much of Europe at the time, including England. In a period when the Church was as much a political as a spiritual power, the influence of Rome in a country could make or break a growing power. The tug and pull of the different sides in Henry, Edward, and later Mary’s court have real and often deadly political side effects.

Mary vs. Elizabeth: Well, being that this book is written from Mary’s viewpoint, we can tell who is coming out the victim in all of this. But Mary does seem to have an affection for the brilliant little girl who has all her father’s magnetism and all her mother’s cunning. Mary at least appears to try to forgive Elizabeth her accident of birth. Whether that really happened in history, it’s hard to say, but Mary seems to carry on as if their later rivalry had more to do with politics than hard feelings on Mary’s part over the conflict between their mothers.

Mary’s failing health: Mary in history really was a sickly child. In the story, she just seems to be in denial about it all, but then, it is 16th century medicine, she may have been told it was nothing to worry about.

Every book sucks somewhere: And boy did this one suck a lot. Not that I’m for historical novels that trump up sex and violence just to get a good story out of it, but lets face it, Mary Tudor was BORING! Only slightly better than a nun in some respects, Jean Plaidy does little to make Mary an engaging character for the reader. She seems so much less the sum of her brilliant parents’ parts, (especially the shining Henry, who despite his problems was as charismatic as you get). I mean, she's the grand-daughter of the King of England who ended the War of the Roses, and the two Spanish monarchs who united Aragon and Castille, Ferdinand and Isabella, the politico and the Catholic Warrior Queen. And there is Mary, who seems like such a whining, self-righteous toe-rag. While she is brilliant and smart and courageous in these pages, she comes off as priggish, self-righteous, and to prone to martyr herself in the most annoying of fashions. If this was supposed to be a sympathetic look at a woman who in English history was labeled, ‘Bloody Mary’, well it really didn’t do her a lot of justice.

I think Mary in this novel suffers the fate of her younger brother Edward in many ways, in that she is sandwiched between the glittering reign of her father and the magnificent reign of her sister Elizabeth, and comes out looking like a pale shadow compared to both. And no matter how much you try to dress that up, it just doesn’t come out right.

Personally, if you are looking for fun with the Tudors, watch the show on Showtime, or read/watch The Other Boleyn Girl. Sure, it’s about as historically accurate as an Oliver Stone movie, but it’s got tons of smex and really hot guys playing Henry, (hey, isn’t the dude supposed to be getting up there both in years and weight?)

What did I like: The History…I eat it with a spoon. There are details Plaidy brings up here that I’m not aware of myself, (though admittedly the Tudors aren’t my specialty). She seems to at least pay half attention to the historical details.

How would I rate this wormy book: I’d rate this LITTLE WORM, it’s really not interesting enough on its own to really make it a worthy read. Mary is just too annoying for me to ever care about as a person. But if you want to read a story on Mary’s side of things, give it a whirl; you might like it better than I do.