Sleeves-in-Waiting
The problem with reading historical novels in the middle of a dreary winter, is that the mind so thoroughly takes on the imagination of the author.
You are what you eat mentally, so to speak.
Fill your head with sonnets and you might start spouting poetry. Immerse yourself in a Tudor Romance Novel and all of a sudden you want to DANCE and wear JEWELS and glance coyly at the Bus Driver when you give him your fare...
I've been reading "the Other Boleyn Girl" by Philippa Gregory, which is a historical novel about Mary, the sister of Anne Boleyn, first beheaded wife of Henry VIII. Now, why an unfettered independent female like myself would be totally engrossed in this period of time is a mystery to me. I'll just say I enjoy history but hate slogging through actual history books. Reading this one (and "the Queen's Fool" also by Gregory) has been an enjoyable glimpse into the Tudor Court with all of its excess and folly.
And boy oh boy do I need FOLLY! It is cold and grey and seems like a season without end at this time. I know, I know, it's WINTER, just what did I expect?!
HENCE, the Royal Blue you see on the table above. It is destined, pre-arranged to be married before it's a year old, joined in dowered bliss to the Revamped Shell from last week.
COLOR, like a last minute reprieve from the King when one's head is already on the chopping block will save me! Will I be sent to a Nunnery for my folly? NAY, it will be back on the Bus for me and this brilliant hue, spreading joy like sunlit SKY along the way...
Hey, has anyone seen the BBC MiniSeries (directed by another Philippa, Lowthorpe, that is) of this book in the UK? Is it coming to America?
Richard Vine writes: "Mary's story is bound up with Anne's, giving us a fresh perspective on the Tudor court: a woman, who, even though she's given the king the male heir he so desperately wants (albeit an illegitimate one), is marginalised after he's bored with her, and forced to become her own sister's chaperone and handmaiden. Though it doesn't have the epic sweep of A History Of Britain, or indeed The Six Wives Of Henry VIII, the focus on the day-to-day machinations of court life is just as illuminating. In the margins of history, The Other Boleyn Girl is a story that allows the greater picture to breathe."