Book Extracts

The week is over, we have celebrated ringing in the new year, and have already started (or stopped) our New Years resolutions! Now we get to relax and read the second part of Dereks submission, and for the first time, we get to see Jane! … ‘You may go.’ She departs hastily and I am left reflecting that she usually addresses me as ‘mother’ rather than ‘madam’ but she will come around in time and she already knows that I mean business. I must, however, tread carefully with her. Fully aware as I am of the trauma of her early years as a small child, having her half sister Mary assigned to wait on her like a servant when she was barely two years old and later, after the violent death of her mother, being declared illegitimate and then being shuttled around the country hither and thither, rarely settling long enough to call anywhere home. It is hardly the sort

read more The Bradgate Heiress – Derek Ansell Part 2 [Chapter]

Recently I feel like I’ve been reading about Jane Grey more and more, so I thought it was strange when Derek Ansell emailed me! Its as if he knew, haha! He has graciously submitted the first chapter of his novel The Bradgate Heiress, and is also this weeks featured author! The beginning of this book starts off from a point of view I never considered when it comes to Jane, Katherine Parrs! Very intriguing! A note from the author, I think my idea initially was to present a young woman who was strong willed, a good scholar and very pious who was very badly used and groomed by ambitious, aristocratic men  to serve their own ends. I do think it resonates sadly with much that has gone on in recent times and indicates that little has changed. I have tried to present her much as  she would have been, given the time and places and kept to historical facts except

read more The Bradgate Heiress – Derek Ansell Part 1 [Chapter]

My apologies for this post being a little bit late! I have been so busy recently, I totally forgot about it! I really need to integrate this into my schedule! Anyway, onto the point of this post! Here is the second part of Forgotten Tudor Women! If you haven’t read part 1 (which I highly recommend you do, before reading this post), CLICK HERE … Forgotten Tudor Women Lady in Waiting pt 2 In private, Wolsey attributed his fall from grace to that “serpentine enemy about the King”. He meant, of course, Anne Boleyn, whom he had also dubbed “the Night Crow”, referring, perhaps, to her dark colouring. At the same time, however, the politically savvy cardinal was well aware that only Anne Boleyn was able to restore him to his former glory. Wolsey employed the help of his pupil Thomas Cromwell, the rising star of Henry VIII’s court, who laboured on behalf of the disgraced cardinal. In one of his

read more Forgotten Tudor Women – Sylvia Barbara Soberton Pt 2 [Chapter]