Elizabeth Kerri Mahon

Title:   THE CHALICE: A NOVEL Author:   Nancy Bilyeau Publisher: Touchstone Publication date: 3/5/2013 Pages: 485 How Acquired:   Net Galley/TLC Book Tours What it’s about:   In 1538, England’s bloody power struggle between crown and cross threatens to tear the country apart. Novice Joanna Stafford has tasted the wrath of the royal court, discovered what lies within the king’s torture rooms, and escaped death at the hands of those desperate to possess the power of an ancient relic. Even with all she has experienced, the quiet life is not for Joanna. Despite the possibilities of arrest and imprisonment, she becomes caught up in a shadowy international plot targeting Henry VIII himself. As the power plays turn vicious, Joanna realizes her role is more critical than she’d ever imagined. She must choose between those she loves most and assuming her part in a prophecy foretold by three seers. Repelled by violence, Joanna seizes a future with a ...

Title:   The Creation of Anne Boleyn Author:   Susan Bordo Publisher:   Houghton Mifflin Pub Date:   April 9, 2013 How Acquired:   Bought What it's about:  Part biography, part cultural history, The Creation of Anne Boleyn is a fascinating reconstruction of Anne’s life and an illuminating look at her afterlife in the popular imagination. Why is Anne so compelling? Why has she inspired such extreme reactions? What did she really look like? Was she the flaxen-haired martyr of Romantic paintings or the raven-haired seductress of twenty-first-century portrayals? (Answer: neither.) And perhaps the most provocative questions concern Anne’s death more than her life. How could Henry order the execution of a once beloved wife? Drawing on scholarship and critical analysis, Bordo probes the complexities of one of history’s most infamous relationships. Bordo also shows how generations of polemicists, biographers, novelists, and filmmakers imagined and ...

Title:  Anne of Hollywood Author:  Carole Wolper Publisher: Gallery Books Publication date: 1/24/2012 Pages: 352 Overview: “I wasn’t prepared for the enemies. Had I been as gorgeous as a supermodel, or as rich as an heiress, or an actress with an Oscar to my credit, people would still not be happy that I had Henry’s attention, but they’d understand. What they resented was the king coupling with a ‘nobody. ’” Skirts may be shorter now, and messages sent by iPhone, but passion, intrigue, and a lust for power don’t change. National bestselling author Carol Wolper spins a mesmerizing tale of a twenty-first-century Anne Boleyn. Wily, intelligent, and seductive, with a dark beauty that stands out among the curvy California beach blondes, Anne attracts the attention of Henry Tudor, the handsome corporate mogul who reigns in Hollywood. Every starlet, socialite, and shark wants a piece of Henry, but he only wants Anne. The question is: can she keep him? Welcome to a pri...

Title:           At The King's Pleasure Author:       Kate Emerson Publisher:   Simon & Schuster Pub Date:   January 3, 2012 From the back cover: Married to one man. Desiring another. Beautiful Lady Anne Stafford, lady-in-waiting to Queen Catherine of Aragon, is torn between her love for her husband, George, Lord Hastings . . . and the king’s boon companion, the attentive Sir William Compton. But when King Henry VIII, amorous as always, joins the men clustering around her, Anne realizes she has become perilously enmeshed in the intrigues of the court. Will she be forced to decide between the two men she desires—and the one she doesn’t? My thoughts:   At The King's Pleasure was my first encounter with The Secrets of The Tudor Court series by Kate Emerson, and there were many things that I really liked about this book, and as well as several things that just didn't work for me. Emerson has a r...

Today marks the anniversary of the Execution of Anne Boleyn, a sad day of mourning and loss for those of us who love Anne. It's no secret that Anne Boleyn is my favorite of Henry VIII's wives. I just find her endlessly fascinating and enigmatic.  Last year, I was lucky enough to go on the first ever Anne Boleyn experience, where we stayed at Hever Castle for a week. One of the highlights, out of many, on that journey was the day that we traveled to London on the anniversary to lay flowers in the chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula.  We were lucky enough to actually go up to the altar where Anne and Katherine Howard are allegedly buried as well as down into the crypt where George Boleyn and the others are buried within the walls. It was an eerie and unnerving experience, knowing that we were walking on the ground that Anne trod on her final day on earth. Below are a few links to blogs celebrating Anne Boleyn: The Tudor Tutor: Her Grace Under Pressure The Anne Boleyn File...

THE IRISH PRINCESS author: Karen Harper Publisher: NAL, February 1, 2011 From the back cover: Born into a first family of Ireland, with royal ties on both sides, Elizabeth Fitzgerald-known as Gera-finds her world overturned when Henry VIII imprisons her father, the Earl of Kildare, and brutally destroys her family. Torn from the home she loves, her remaining family scattered, Gera dares not deny the refuge offered her in England's glittering royal court. There she must navigate ever-shifting alliances even as she nurtures her secret desire for revenge. From County Kildare's lush green fields to London's rough-and-tumble streets and the royal court's luxurious pageantry, The Irish Princess follows the journey of a daring woman whose will cannot be tamed, and who won't be satisfied until she restores her family to its rightful place in Ireland. My thoughts:  I first came across the name Elizabeth Fitzgerald while researching Grace O'Malley for SCANDALOUS W...

ANNE BOLEYN FATAL ATTRACTIONS Author: G.W. Bernard Publisher: Yale University Press 2010, 192 pages. Anne Boleyn has always been my favorite wife of Henry VIII's, ever since I was a child. I've read almost every major biography of her, including Antonia Fraser, Carolly Erickson, Joanna Denny, Eric Ives, and more recently Alison Weir.  When my editor suggested that I write a chapter on Anne Boleyn for SCANDALOUS WOMEN, I jumped at the chance to do even more research. As readers of this blog know, I even went on the first ever Anne Boleyn experience this summer. In other words, I'm biased! So it was with great trepidation that I picked up a copy of G.W. Bernard's book, but I felt that even though I am not a historian, I should read both sides of the argument. ANNE BOLEYN FATAL ATTRACTIONS is a particularly frustrating book. It reads more like a graduate thesis or a dissertation. I found it difficult at times to get at what he was trying to say, to the point that...

My lovely bedroom, also known as the Azalea Room. One thing about the Astor Wing, the doors were really tricky. They were thick wood, like an Tudor Door, so after you turned the key you had to work the latch to get into your room. Also there were a lot of corridors in the Wing, so in order to remember which way to go, I had to remember the Peter Lely painting of Nell Gwynn that marked one of the corridors. Otherwise I would get lost on my way to the dining room. Our goody bag, with at least some of the books that we received on our first night at the castle. On top is our Anne Boleyn Files bag. You can just about see the two of the three Elizabeth Norton books that we received, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Parr, plus another biography of Catherine Parr. I've become very interested lately in Henry's last wife. You can just barely see at the top The Tudor Housewife. The Henry VIII puppet show that took place on Tuesday afternoon, our first day at Hever, was one of the few thing...

Last week, I had the joy of spending a week at Hever Castle for the first ever Anne Boleyn Experience. This amazing trip was put together by Claire Ridgway who has the most wonderful web-site called The Anne Boleyn Files . If you don't already know about the site, please do check it out. It's one of the best historical web-sites out there.  Over my years of traveling in England, I'd been to Hever Castle before, but staying there is an entirely different experience. I felt so close to Anne Boleyn, looking out my window in the morning, I could imagine her wandering the gardens, perhaps with her brother George, or with the King himself. When the final day came, I didn't want to leave. I'm sure there are scratch marks in the castle walls from where I clung for dear life. Now that I've had a few days back in reality (I flew back to the States on Friday and spent the weekend in a jet-lagged coma watching the first series of Law and Order UK), I've had time to r...

Anne of the Thousand Days (1969) from the play by Maxwell Anderson A Hal Wallis Production directed by Charles Jarrett Starring: Anne Boleyn - Genevieve Bujold Henry VIII - Richard Burton Katherine of Aragon - Irene Pappas Cardinal Wolsey - Anthony Quayle Thomas Cromwell - John Colicos Thomas Boleyn - Michael Hordern Duke of Norfolk - Peter Jeffrey Mark Smeaton - Gary Bond Henry Percy - Terence Rigsby Synopsis (from IMDB): Anne of the Thousand Days  recounts the rise and fall of Anne Boleyn (Genevieve Bujold) who becomes the second wife of King Henry VIII (Richard Burton.) Engaged to Henry Percy, son of the Earl of Northumberland, Anne attempts to avoid to the king's attention and refuses to become his mistress, but her betrothal is broken-off by Cardinal Wolsey (Anthony Quayle.) Vowing vengeance, Anne returns to Court, where she soon becomes intoxicated with the power of having the King in love with her, using that power to undermine Wolsey. Still refusing to ...