I want to seek out the truths that lie behind the historical evidence and, for this, fiction is a versatile medium because it offers scope to develop ideas that have no place in a history book, but which can help to illuminate the lives of these queens. In all the romancing, for example, has anyone noticed the evidence that tells us what Anne Boleyn felt about being pursued by Henry VIII? Or that Henry VIII, an overprotected teenager, was prudish when it came to sex? I could go on … The extensive research I have done has afforded new insights into their lives. The lives of the six wives make for dramatic stories. It was an obvious choice, for I have studied Henry’s queens over several decades, and published books on them, notably a collective biography in 1991, which I am now re-researching and rewriting. The idea of writing a series of six novels about the wives of Henry VIII came suddenly to me as I was discussing another proposal with my agent.
0 kommentar(er)
