Scan barcode
A review by katykelly
The May Bride by Suzannah Dunn
3.0
3.5 stars
I thought this would be a story of Jane Seymour's life both before and after meeting and marrying Henry VIII. There is only the tiniest snippet of Henry in this, the story is more about the footnote in history taken up with her brother Edward and his young wife Katherine Filliol.
Jane takes on most of the narration (indeed, it was a surprise when other voices suddenly appear), and unfortunately I found her a rather dull, dutiful and not at all sparky or even interesting young woman. I know history would also paint her this way, but it made it hard to listen (I read an audio version), when she doesn't pick up on subtle hints around her, never understanding what is going on.
Our young woman at Wolf Hall sees her favourite (and much revered, to the point of inanity) brother bring home a wife, a lively and incorrigible bride who dances to her own tune, and is promptly left alone by the husband eager to return to and climb the greasy Court pole with King Henry. The story follows their lives in the remote grand house, which actually does offer interesting snippets of Tudor life, but did also feel claustrophobic, as if all the interesting action is happening somewhere else (it probably is - where Anne Boleyn is making headway into the King's heart).
Eventually the plot takes off, when Katherine is accused by her husband of something shocking and scandalous, and Jane sees how wives can be treated. It is meant to mesh with the royal story here, of Henry throwing off his first wife for Anne Boleyn, but this feels rather tacked on and not at all a part of the story, as Jane goes to work for Catherine of Aragon when the Wolf Hall storyline dries up and her sister-in-law is dealt with, and she finally sees some history being made at Court.
This dragged a bit for me, Jane did not make an appealing heroine, and though there were glimpses of her future (she is telling the story from the time she is a queen-in-waiting), we never get to see the courting of her, the marriage, the short reign, which is what I had been waiting for.
Interesting for the forgotten story of Edward Seymour's first wife, but there are other historical writers who have brought out the drama and intrigue more, though Jane was never going to be the liveliest of narrators.
I thought this would be a story of Jane Seymour's life both before and after meeting and marrying Henry VIII. There is only the tiniest snippet of Henry in this, the story is more about the footnote in history taken up with her brother Edward and his young wife Katherine Filliol.
Jane takes on most of the narration (indeed, it was a surprise when other voices suddenly appear), and unfortunately I found her a rather dull, dutiful and not at all sparky or even interesting young woman. I know history would also paint her this way, but it made it hard to listen (I read an audio version), when she doesn't pick up on subtle hints around her, never understanding what is going on.
Our young woman at Wolf Hall sees her favourite (and much revered, to the point of inanity) brother bring home a wife, a lively and incorrigible bride who dances to her own tune, and is promptly left alone by the husband eager to return to and climb the greasy Court pole with King Henry. The story follows their lives in the remote grand house, which actually does offer interesting snippets of Tudor life, but did also feel claustrophobic, as if all the interesting action is happening somewhere else (it probably is - where Anne Boleyn is making headway into the King's heart).
Eventually the plot takes off, when Katherine is accused by her husband of something shocking and scandalous, and Jane sees how wives can be treated. It is meant to mesh with the royal story here, of Henry throwing off his first wife for Anne Boleyn, but this feels rather tacked on and not at all a part of the story, as Jane goes to work for Catherine of Aragon when the Wolf Hall storyline dries up and her sister-in-law is dealt with, and she finally sees some history being made at Court.
This dragged a bit for me, Jane did not make an appealing heroine, and though there were glimpses of her future (she is telling the story from the time she is a queen-in-waiting), we never get to see the courting of her, the marriage, the short reign, which is what I had been waiting for.
Interesting for the forgotten story of Edward Seymour's first wife, but there are other historical writers who have brought out the drama and intrigue more, though Jane was never going to be the liveliest of narrators.