Q & A with Wendy J. Dunn

There have been numerous biographies, novels, documentaries, mini-series, and films written about the Tudor period. Why do you think viewers and readers are insatiable when it comes to the Tudors?

Perhaps it simply comes down to the sympathy of all things, another way of expressing the collective unconsciousness. The Tudor period is a rich gold mine of stories for writers to delve into and tell, and shows how well we connect to archetypes and the hero’s journey. And what a lot archetypes and heroes there are – we have the rejected daughter who turns her life into victory; the older, long suffering wife tossed aside for the younger woman; the old, rich man who marries a girl young enough to be his granddaughter to discover there nothing sadder than an old fool – except he has the power to kill her. Adultery, murder, lust, love, passion, tragedy and triumph, family secrets, ambition and pride – it’s all there. The Tudors provide readers and writers with multilayered stories that speak to our shared humanity.

What was your inspiration for Dear Hear, How Like You This?

Dear heart, How like You This? was inspired by a poem by Sir Thomas Wyatt that I first read as a teenager.

They flee from me that sometime did me seek,

With naked foot stalking in my chamber.

I have seen them gentle tame and meek

That now are wild and do not remember

That sometime they put themselves in danger

To take bread at my hand; and now they range

Busily seeking with a continual change.

Thanked be fortune, it hath been otherwise

Twenty times better; but once in special,

In thin array after a pleasant guise,

When her loose gown did from her shoulders did fall,

And she me caught in her arms long and small

And Therewithall sweetly did me kiss,

And softly said, “Dear heart, how like you this?”

It was no dream, I lay broad waking;

But all is turned thorough my gentleness

Into a strange fashion of forsaking;

And I have leave to go of her goodness

And she also to use newfangleness.

But since that I so kindly am served,

I would fain know what she hath deserved.

The real grief in that poem haunted me for years and germinated what I thought was going to be a short story. But I discovered Thomas Wyatt had other plans.

Why did you choose to write the novel through the eyes of Thomas Wyatt?

Why did I choose to write it through the eyes of Sir Thomas Wyatt? I had no choice; I don’t think I could have written Dear Heart any other way. Tom was just there, wanting to speak, not letting me alone until I acted as his scribe. Smile – we had arguments, too, when I wanted to take control of the story and take it another direction, but he always knew best. As long as I listened to him, the story moved forward, otherwise it came to a standstill.

What do you think Anne Boleyn looked like?

Intriguing question, Natalie. Some people now believe she was a redhead, but I see her as a “black Celt” – with hair so dark it had blue lights. My imagination paints her as very slender, probably a little more than average height, beautiful dark eyes, wide mouth, swan-like neck, olive skin that became sallow when she was unwell. She was vivacious and graceful, rather than beautiful, but a magnet to the opposite sex. She also could be her own worst enemy at times.

What role do you think Anne Boleyn played in her own downfall?

She made too many enemies; more importantly, she failed in her duty to provide the king with his prince, and participated too much in Tudor politics for Cromwell’s comfort.

By 1536, Cromwell knew it was either his life or Anne’s. Fate played into his hands that year when the king almost lost his life in a jousting accident and the queen miscarried her saviour, the baby that would have cemented her position as England’s queen.

I don’t believe the king ever really recovered from this jousting accident. He was unconscious for hours and it is possible he suffered brain damage.  After this, he seems psychologically a changed man – and became the tyrant king history remembers.

Was this personality change set in motion simply because the king was reminded of his mortality and that England was one death away from slipping into civil war? Even before his accident he was prone to migraines because of an earlier head injury, but I think the accident in 1536 deepened his real fear of dying without a male heir. Cromwell likely ambushed him and built up a case that the King must marry again for the sake of his kingdom. For that to happen, Anne had to be removed. Cromwell was clever enough to make that happen.

Did Henry really believe Anne betrayed him? I don’t think so. Why then would he have given her the mercy of the French executioner? He also never denied Elizabeth was his, which seems interesting for a man who claimed Anne had slept with a hundred men.

Apart from Anne, who are your other favourite Tudor personalities and why?

Besides the wonderfully gifted poet Tom Wyatt? I have a cast of characters clamouring to be listed!

I love Katherine of Aragon – she was a great queen, very intellectual (Anne knew this, too!), and encouraged Henry’s better qualities, his pursuit of learning, as well as for the English court to be a place where people not only read books but wrote them, too. She also opened the door wider for the education of women and thus prepared the ground for Elizabeth to grow into the queen who wrote her name on an age.

I love Elizabeth, too. Elizabeth’s story was my introduction to the Tudor’s as a ten-year-old and set my feet on the road I have followed ever since. I still love Elizabeth, even now knowing her many imperfections. I believe England always came first for her; she had strong maternal instincts and I think, at times, she regretted not having children of her own, but then she saw England as her child.

Your novel is rich in detail and meticulously researched. Could you share with us the process you undertook when researching it.

Thank you, Natalie! I take pride in my research. While story is the beating heart of all fiction work, I believe I have a duty as a historical fiction writer to do no harm, and that means thorough research to gain a strong sense of “who, what, and why.” Once I “know” my historical personages, my imagination takes over and writing begins. Of course, what I’m really after is for my characters to take charge and drive the story through the prism of what I believe to be true, but I need to do the research first.

When I started Dear Heart, my subconscious was already soaked by years of reading about the Tudors. That was a great starting point, but, of course, writing a historical novel means directed research (lots of reading) about your subject.

I started researching Dear Heart before the onset of the Internet. Tom Wyatt presented me (and my local library) with many challenges. I was also fortunate to travel to England and Italy before Dear Heart found its publisher, and visited Hever Castle and other places important in Thomas and Anne’s life.

Have you visited places connected to the Tudors? If so, do you have a favourite Tudor location?

I’ve been to England twice in my life now, and Hever Castle still reigns supreme as my favourite Tudor location. The grounds of this tiny castle are more beautiful now than what it was in Anne Boleyn’s times, but it is easy to imagine Anne at this castle, thoughtfully reading the latest letter from the king.

Are you currently working on any new novels?

I’m doing a Tudor YA novel, revisiting the last days of Anne Boleyn. This is the artefact I’m working on for my PhD. I also have a manuscript about Katherine of Aragon’s early life I hope to go back to one of these days.

While writing doesn’t pay the bills, I am also very fortunate to work part time as a primary teacher and a sessional tutor of writing at Swinburne University.

If you could have made a statement in defence of Anne Boleyn at her trial, what would you have said?

I will let Anne speak here:

For wrongfully you judge of me

Unto my fame a mortal wound,

Say what ye list, it may not be,

Ye seek for that shall not be found

Thank you Wendy!

And thank you, Natalie!