Recent Posts

New Author Website

Just a quick post to let you know that I have launched my author website. It is still a work in progress but I hope that you'll pop over and take a look. The blog, which I've called 'The Most Happy', is a place for me to chat about my many interests —not just the Tudors! —all the things that inspire me and bring me joy, including, in no particular order: books, family, travel, writing, beautiful and homely interiors (my style perhaps best described as a mix of French/Hamptons/Rustic/Cottage), … [Read More...]

Who Accompanied Anne Boleyn to the Scaffold?

In May 2012, I attended the Boleyn Festival Blickling and was lucky enough to hear, among other notable speakers, the late Professor Eric Ives talk about the life and death of Anne Boleyn. At the end of the evening a member of the audience asked Professor Ives whether or not he believed that the ladies that accompanied Anne to the scaffold in May 1536, were among those who had served the queen during her imprisonment in the Tower of London. To this he responded with an emphatic … [Read More...]

Who was Helena Snakenborg? Q & A with Sandra Byrd & Giveaway!

As I am currently reading and loving Roses Have Thorns by Sandra Byrd, I invited Sandra to answer some questions about her protagonist, Helena Snakenborg, a woman who has captured my imagination. Like all great historical fiction, this novel has inspired me to find out more about the historical figure behind the character – the Swedish-born woman who became a Marchioness and one of the highest ranking women in Elizabethan England. Not only did Sandra agree to the Q&A, she also very kindly … [Read More...]

A Review of The Chalice by Nancy Bilyeau

Synopsis: In the midst of England’s Reformation, a young novice will risk everything to defy the most powerful men of her era. 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 … [Read More...]

A Review of The Creation of Anne Boleyn by Susan Bordo

Synopsis: 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 … [Read More...]

The Death of Elizabeth Boleyn – Guest Post & Giveaway!

I am delighted to share with you a guest post by Nancy Bilyeau, author of the historical thrillers The Crown and The Chalice. I have had the pleasure of reading both of Nancy's novels and I cannot recommend them highly enough. They are completely engrossing and true page-turners and today you have the opportunity to go into the draw to win The Chalice! Book Description: In the midst of England’s Reformation, a young novice will risk everything to defy the most powerful men of her era.In … [Read More...]

Mary, Queen of Scots Exhibition

I am very excited that my upcoming visit to Edinburgh coincides with a wonderful new exhibition at The National Museum of Scotland. Mary, Queen of Scots opens on Friday 28 June and runs until Sunday 14 November, 2013. Here is a little taste! Created especially for the National Museum of Scotland and showing only in Edinburgh, the exhibition provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to discover much that has been written and speculated about Mary, one of the most charismatic monarchs of all … [Read More...]

Anne Boleyn’s Departure from England

2013 marks a very special anniversary; five hundred years ago, in the early summer of 1513, a young Anne Boleyn left her family home at Hever and journeyed across the English Channel to the court of the Archduchess Margaret of Austria at Mechelen, to take her place as one of the archduchess’s eighteen filles d’honneur (maids of honour). It was Anne’s first time on the continent and although no records survive recording how she felt about the move, we can imagine that she viewed the prospect … [Read More...]

In the Footsteps of Anne Boleyn Available on Amazon US

Just a quick post to let you know that In the Footsteps of Anne Boleyn, the non-fiction book that I have co-authored with Sarah Morris, is now available for pre-order on Amazon US! You can pre-order it through On the Tudor Trail's bookstore here (which is a great help to me, as I get a very small percentage of the sale from Amazon and put it towards the cost of running the website) or directly from Amazon.com. Thank you in advance for your support! … [Read More...]

Nuns in Tudor England

I am delighted to welcome novelist and poet Sarah Kennedy to On the Tudor Trail and share with you her guest post about nuns in Tudor England. Sarah is the author of The Altarpiece, a historical mystery set in Tudor England and is in the process of writing book number two in the Cross and Crown series. Welcome Sarah! Nuns in Tudor England Where did the nuns go when Henry VIII broke from Rome and closed the religious houses?  This was the question that drove me to write my first novel, The … [Read More...]

Kingdom For A Heart: The Courtship of Henry VIII & Anne Boleyn

Last March my friend Mike Glaeser gave a lecture at the University of New Hampshire on the courtship of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. He has only recently uploaded it to YouTube, so please take a look! [tube] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47kFjUtiSVg&feature=youtu.be [/tube]   … [Read More...]

In the Footsteps of Anne Boleyn

I am delighted to share with you that the non-fiction book I have co-authored with Sarah Morris, In the Footsteps of Anne Boleyn, is now available for pre-order on Amazon UK and The Book Depository, which offers free shipping worldwide! In the Footsteps of Anne Boleyn, published by Amberley Publishing, will be released in the UK on 28 September 2013. The synopsis: On the morning of 19 May 1536, a French blade stilled the heart of an English queen. Her name was Anne Boleyn and her story … [Read More...]