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Anne Of Cleves: Henry VIII's Discarded Bride (2009)

by Elizabeth Norton(Favorite Author)

3.93 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

1848683294 (ISBN13: 9781848683297)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Amberley Publishing

review 1: Re-watching David Starkey's 'The Six Wives of Henry VIII' over Christmas I was struck again by how little history seems to know about Anne of Cleves and how we only ever see her through Henry's eyes, so I decided it was time I knew more.This book, unfortunately, doesn't answer many of the questions I had going in; it's a pleasant enough read but light, and I would have preferred something with a bit more substance. What is clear, however, is that apart from Henry himself nobody (with the possible exception of Catherine Howard) seems to have a bad word to say about Anne of Cleves - even Mary Tudor, who suspected her of being in favour of Wyatt's Rebellion and distrusted her friendship with Elizabeth, remained on good terms with her; that can't just have been because of Ann... moree's powerful connections in Cleve, Saxony and elsewhere.The picture of Henry which emerges from this book is almost more powerful than that of Anne. Clearly he was deluded by his own self-image as a hero of an earlier time and it seems to me that he constantly failed to match up to his own expectations ... and then looked around for someone else to take the blame. That's the most insidious form of manipulation: "I've failed and it's all your fault!" Unlike most of his other wives however Anne had the quiet good sense to apologise humbly for disappointing him, fall in with almost all the decisions he chose to make on her behalf, and paint on a smile with which to greet the next Queen ... and the next. What she suffered inside - or indeed if she suffered at all - this book is regrettably unable to tell us. Whilst enjoyable in itself, it has really only whetted my appetite and made me wish that there was a much more in-depth biography available; this was a great starter, but now I want the main course.
review 2: Often touted as the “dull, ugly one” Norton presents a compelling account of the life of the wife who survived them all.Following the overview of Anne’s childhood and the betrothal arrangements, this gives a thoughtful and believable account of Anne’s entry into England and her disastrous first meeting with Henry. There’s nothing ground-breaking in the account of their brief marriage and quick divorce, my favourite part of this book, however, was the detailed account of Anne’s life after the divorce.Norton describes Henry’s generous treatment and respect for Anne during the remaining years of his life. While Anne behaved graciously during the brief marriage between Henry and Catherine Howard, she was still hoping Henry would take her back and suffered a terrible blow when he chose to marry Katherine Parr. While she had comfort and security during Henry’s lifetime, and the general assumption is that she died a rich and happy widow, Norton goes on to discuss her terrible treatment during the reign of Edward VI. With constant harassment over her lands and pension she had a miserable time, and her return to court during the reign of Mary Tudor was brief, the breakdown of the relationship between ex-Stepmother and Step-Daughter resulting in Anne living the rest of her years out quietly and dying in 1557.A detailed and well-written biography with some nice personal insights into the somewhat mysterious Anna of Cleves, and thoroughly recommended. less

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