I'm Henry the Eighth I Am. Henry the Eighth I Am, I Am

I'm more or less through my reading block. Wolf Hall is good—it's interesting and immediate and strange. And I was starting to think that I was learning a fair amount about the Tudors and early 16th century England.

Or I thought I was, until I started talking to Chestnut. It turns out Chestnut has read extensively on the subject. "I'm just very interested in the Tudors," she said, except she pronounced it Two-Doors.

What has she read? Well, this:

And this:

And then this, too:

This last one, she warns, isn't very interesting.

But: what's the whole thing with the Tudors anyway? It's the oddest sensation, having the historical period you're reading about overlap with what your kid is reading about. I mean, normally she stays squarely in Colonial America, where girls were pure and true, or stout-hearted tomboys, etc. And they're just not a whole lot of grownup books about that (though I must take a moment to recommend the crazy One Story piece by Jim Shepard, which is, in fact, a grownup story about this period).

Anyway, it just seemed odd to me. Also humbling. I think the whole "Royal Diaries" phenomenon is a more acceptable to older kids extension of the princess obsession of youth. But maybe there's a whole other side to it? Maybe it's about finding ways in which women had power? But maybe that's what the princess thing is about too, somehow?

I will tell you this: no tween books about Cromwell. YET.

Comments

[Elizabeth Aquino]

I remember going through a Henry the VIII phase myself, but I also went through a Harlequin Romance phase as well, so I have no idea. I'm glad to hear that you've cracked through the Mantel barrier. So, it's possible?

[Smukke]

Perhaps Chestnut will like Frederick Marryat's "The Children of the New Forest". It's almost about Cromwell ;)

[L.]

True, those plain, anti-holiday Roundheads were not very romantic, were they?

I've just been reading about that time period--Clare Tomalin's biography of Samuel Pepys. Great book, but royalty don't come out looking good. Not scandalously-fun bad either, but just dully so, as being spoiled, fickle, and poor administrators.

[Kk]

If Master Cremuel were alive, and by some quirk residing in NYC, would he need to wait in line to gas up his late-model Tudor sedan? Or would he have found a workaround?

[The Diamond in the Window]

Seriously? A workaround. Or bought a gas station.

[Elizabeth Aquino]

Addendum: Have you read the incredible profile of Hilary Mantel in a recent New Yorker? The photo of her is reason enough to find it.