King’s Fool #2
I am a hardcore Tudor fan, mostly because of the long ago 70’s TV series The Six Wives of Henry VIII and Elizabeth R. I inhaled everything Tudor during high school and went on to major in history in college. So when Jeri Westerson asked me if I’d care to read her book about Will Sommers, Henry VIII’s jester, the answer was easy. Set a few months before Anne Boleyn’s ultimate demise, Will is called to the Queen’s presence one evening as she’s discovered a corpse under her bed. She doesn’t know who the man is, but she does know that a dead body in her chamber will be bad and she asks Will to move it. Reluctantly, he agrees, and moves the man to the garden.
I’ve of course read Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy which follows Thomas Cromwell’s path to power as he places two women on the throne, Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour, followed by his ultimate downfall. Westerson comes at her story from the point of view of a servant instead of a member of Henry’s administration, so the focus is a different one. Will Sommers was a real person, but Westerson has embellished his life, adding a wife (with handy ties to the nobility) and a gay sex life that his wife tolerates. Both are good additions, rounding out Will’s character and giving him more range in his investigations, as his lover is also a member of the nobility.
I thought the strength of this book lay in the vividness of Westerson’s portrayal of the court. It’s like a city in itself, with nobles and servants having rooms and apartments within the castle, all revolving around Henry. In this period – 1536 – Anne has given birth to Elizabeth, who is three, and is increasingly desperate about Henry’s obvious infatuation with Jane Seymour. Jane had her own apartment at court, next door to her brother and his wife, and connecting to the King. She’s obviously Anne’s polar opposite – quiet, meek, godly.
Westerson portrays in a non-confusing way the intricacies of court politics, and for this reader, she truly illuminated the way a fake plot accusing Anne of multiple lovers could have been orchestrated. Westerson brings humanity to her story through her portrayal of Will, his loving marriage, and his relationship with Henry, whom he calls “Uncle”. Will is one of the few who can tweak the King, and he’s often caught between a rock and a hard place. Pleasing everyone at court is never possible. One of the most trenchant illustrations of this (for me) was Will’s playing with the toddler Elizabeth and then reluctantly catching Mary, Henry’s first child and now a lady in waiting to her usurper, out of the corner of his eye. He tries to give her some message of friendship but he has to hide it.
The mystery part is fairly straightforward, and Will’s investigation is somewhat hampered simply by his status at court, though, as the King’s Fool, he can come and go almost wherever he pleases. He is Henry’s servant though and Westerson is also excellent at conveying Henry’s complete assumption of royalty.
I loved the details of the food, the clothes, the way people lived in the palace, even the description of the man in the stables who makes the saddles. I really loved Will himself and loved Westerson’s imagining of him, and I appreciated the way she was able to further illustrate Tudor court life through her clever story. If you are a fan of the Tudors, don’t miss this read. Westerson has a good historical afterword at the end that highlights and explains Anne’s upcoming fate. That’s a story I always hope will end differently – but it never does. — Robin Agnew