Q & A with Lyn Andrews

Welcome to On the Tudor Trail Lyn! Could you share with us a little about yourself and your background?

Hi, I’m 69 years young!!! Married for 45 years to Bob, a now retired policeman and we have triplets, 2 sons and a daughter, now all married and we have 4 beautiful grandchildren. I have been writing for over 30 years. I started with Historical novels and then progressed to Family Sagas of which I’ve written 32 so far – just started my next today. Hard work, I hate first chapters!! They are set in Liverpool/Ireland/Isle of Man where we now live and I had a Sunday Times No.1 in 2010. I don’t come from a literary background, working class Liverpudlian. Mum was a hairdresser, Dad was a Policeman.  I always loved History, especially the Tudor period so that started me writing.

What inspired you to write your new novel, The Queen’s Promise?

The Queen’s Promise by Lyn Andrews

I have always been intrigued by Anne Boleyn, she was such an enigmatic person, but after doing a little research into her love affair with Henry Percy I became fascinated by Henry’s story. There isn’t a great deal of fact re Henry, but I was drawn into this apparently gentle, sensitive young man. He was definitely not a man of his times, abhorring violence, greed and ambition. I believe he sincerely loved Anne and that they could have been happy together, they were both so young and had they been allowed to marry English history would have been so very different.

Why do you think that almost 500 years after Anne Boleyn’s death, she continues to provoke such strong feelings and emotions?

As I have said she is such an enigma. If you look, as I have done so many, many times, at her portrait which I think you’ll agree is a rather flat image (I suppose it was modern in its time) I wonder just what lies behind that image? She wasn’t classically beautiful but I think she had something indefinable – sex appeal and a natural elegance. She was clever, witty and highly educated, a gifted musician and a very graceful dancer and having been educated with European royalty was possessed of great self confidence. Unusually for that age, she had a mind and will of her own. She was also very aware of her role in life from a very young age – to be a dutiful daughter and to advance her family’s fortunes as best she could. Then she fell in love with Henry Percy, which I believe she viewed as an excellent match. He was after all the heir to one of the greatest Earldoms in the country and I think she thought she could achieve both a happy marriage and the exaulted position her family expected. Tragically it was not to be. I think she provokes such strong feelings because she caused her husband to put aside his aging wife and changed the course of both English history and religion.  In an era when women were generally uneducated and expected to be just decorative ornaments, their feelings and wishes totally ignored, she was the outstanding exception. Anne was strong-willed and confident, determined not to become just another Mistress and then be cast aside like her sister Mary. I think she really believed she was the equal of any other woman at court and more than adequately qualified to be Queen of England.  In fact when she became Queen she was determined that her Court would be as decorous and devout as Katherine’s had been, giving lie to her being promiscuous.

Whilst researching Henry Percy, did you find out anything about him that surprised you?

Yes, I found him to be possessed of great courage and integrity. He battled ill health all his life, he was bullied by both his father and Cardinal Wolsey but he persevered and was a champion of justice for the common man.

Tell us about the process you followed when researching your novel. Do you have any rituals that you follow when writing?

I start by reading everything I can lay my hands on which in respect of Anne Boleyn is more than plentiful but I have to say that without the permission of the present Duke of Northumberland to use the Percy family documents I would have been seriously struggling regarding Henry Percy. So little has been recorded that there are great gaps in his life history. I also do like to visit the places my characters lived or visited so I can get a ‘feel’ for their surroundings.

Do you feel that the facts constrained your writing in any way or did they assist you in your creativity?

No, I didn’t feel that the facts constrained me at all and as a novelist – as opposed to an Historian – I felt I had much more freedom regarding creativity. Will Chatton and his family are all totally fictitious.

I am sure that you have visited many locations with Tudor connections. Do you have a favourite?

Of course Alnwick Castle has to be a favorite. It was where Henry Percy was born and lived for a great part of his life. The original buildings and walls are magnificent, just as they would have been in Henry’s time. You can still walk in his footsteps, pausing at what is known as ‘Hotspur’s seat’ where he worried about the implications of his father’s imprisonment. The interior has been altered over the centuries but sympathetically and it’s astounding to think that after 700 years it is still very much a family home full of family photographs and memorabilia.  It is well worth a visit as are the gardens which have been completely restored by the present Duchess and boasting a tree house in which you can have a meal and a Poison Garden, where every plant will kill you! My other favorite is of course the Tower of London where Anne resided before her coronation and where she went to her death. Some years ago when I visited the Tower, I viewed the gate where she entered as a prisoner, the site of her execution and the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula. As I stood with my guide, a Gentleman Yeoman, in front of the altar of this mournful little church I couldn’t help but shudder as I realized that beneath my feet lay the remains of two of Henry VIII’s queens. Anne Boleyn and her cousin Katherine Howard. I said a silent prayer for them both.

Are there any authors that have proved particularly inspiring to you in your career?

Jean Plaidy for Historical novels and Maeve Binchey for my more modern novels.

Will you venture into the realm of Tudor fiction again in the near future?

I am currently researching the life of Anne of Denmark who was the wife of James VI of Scotland and I of England. More Stuart than Tudor but equally as fascinating. She was a very feisty girl who had a lot to put up with and was the very first Queen of Great Britain. We have recently visited Stirling Castle in Scotland were James was brought up and where Anne gave birth to her eldest son, Henry Frederick, who died aged 18 leaving his brother Charles to become the ill-fated Charles I.  It’s truly amazing the restoration work that has been carried out. It must have been breath-taking in its heyday!

What is one of your favourite Tudor moments or quotes?

I think the reply of Henry VIII to Mary Talbot’s (Henry Percy’s wife) request for money, to be found in the notes at the back of THE QUEEN’S PROMISE.

I hope this has been of interest to your members and I would welcome any comments and further questions. You can find me on twitter @Lynsagauthor

Best Wishes to everyone,

Lyn Andrews.

Read On the Tudor Trail’s review of The Queen’s Promise here.