Anna of Kleve: Queen of Secrets was
the last book I bought in a shop before lockdown began! I had finished work
and felt a bit fed up so went to look at the books. When I saw a Tudor novel,
my eyes lit up and I decided to treat myself. This
was the first book of Alison Weir’s that I had read. It is part of her Six
Tudor Queens fiction series.
Synopsis
It is no secret that my favourite of Henry VIII’s wives is Anne Boleyn, but she is VERY closely followed by Anne of Cleve. History has not always been kind to Anne of Cleve, I have something of a soft spot for her. She often seems to get overlooked when the subject of Henry’s wives comes up for discussion, or she is cruelly referred to as ‘the ugly one.’ Surviving portraits of Anne prove she was actually very pretty!
In 1541 a rumour circulated that Anne had given birth to a child;
however, it is agreed by historians that this is nothing but a rumour. There is no evidence whatsoever to suggest this ever happened! However, it makes for great fiction and Alison took this rumour and turned it into one of the
main plots of her book. In her story Anne gives birth twice, the first, whilst
she was a teenager still living at home, and the second pregnancy is after her
divorce from Henry. Both babies are conceived with her cousin and true love (in this novel) Otho von Wylich (her uncle also had the same name!)
Alison uses Anne’s first pregnancy to later explain why
Henry VIII said he ‘Plainly mistrusted her to be no maid by reason of the
looseness of her belly and breasts and other tokens.' In the Authors notes at
the back of the book Alison states that Anne and Otho’s ‘love affair is
fiction, as are the narratives of her pregnancies.’ However, Otho von Wylich really did come
to England and serve Anne for 17 years.
Apart from the love affair with Otho and the two
pregnancies, Alison has stuck fairly closely to what we know of Anne's life through historical
records and one of the places you can clearly see this is my favourite part of the book, Anne’s long journey to
England to marry Henry. It is hard to imagine undertaking such a long, dramatic
journey nowadays, it must have been horrible!
I found myself cringing at the awkwardness between Anne and Henry from their very first meeting right up until their divorce, when Anne became ‘The King’s Beloved Sister.’ In the book they lacked chemistry and were unable to have a proper conversation without an interpreter. Once divorced I think Anne could relax slightly and then Henry got to know her better, they then became friends. Henry would visit her, and she had invitations to court. In the book there is a mutual respect and understanding between them.
In parts of Anna of Kleve: Queen of Secrets it is very sad, Anne
couldn’t keep her baby and be with the man she truly loved because of who she
was, politics and alliances. And whilst married to Henry and even afterwards, she was terrified of
displeasing him for fear of being executed. Although Anne had been
given houses and a generous allowance in her divorce settlement, once Henry
died, she wasn’t given as much money and suffered as a result of this and when
she died, she wasn’t a wealthy woman.
I really liked this book; it is one of the best novels I have read in a while. I enjoyed the way Alison carried on Anne’s story right up until her death. Often when Anne’s story is told it ends with her divorce from Henry, when in fact Anne lived into Mary's reign before her death. Something else I enjoyed was the way Henry was depicted, he was more likeable, it was interesting to explore him in this way.
I really recommend this book, just remember that some of the main plots are works of fiction!
You can buy the book here
If you have read Anna of Kleve Queen of Secrets, tell me
what you thought of it below or on Instagram/twitter, my handle for both is:
@historyart10
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