Product Description

She was the dark-eyed English beauty who captivated King Henry VIII, only to die at his behest three years after they were married. She was both manipulator and pawn, a complex, misunderstood mélange of subtlety and fire. Her name was Anne Boleyn.

In The Queen of Subtleties, Suzannah Dunn reimagines the rise and fall of the tragic queen through two alternating voices: that of Anne herself, who is penning a letter to her young daughter on the eve of her execution, and Lucy Cornwallis, the king’s confectioner. An employee of the highest status, Lucy is responsible for creating the sculpted sugar centerpieces that adorn each of the feasts marking Anne’s ascent in the king’s favor. They also share another link of which neither woman is aware: the lovely Mark Smeaton, wunderkind musician—the innocent on whom, ultimately, Anne’s downfall hinges.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #40670 in Books
• Published on: 2005-10-20
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Fans of historical fiction will savor this colorful retelling of the rise and fall of Anne Boleyn by British author Dunn. The novel (her eighth, and the first to be published in the U.S.) is narrated in turns by Anne, now imprisoned in the Tower, and Lucy Cornwallis, Henry VIII's confectioner, who observes the dramas of the court from the haven of her kitchen. Though their paths seldom cross, the two women's lives become fatefully linked through the scandalous liaisons of the English court. On the eve of her beheading, Anne documents her life's tale for her young daughter, Elizabeth, telling how she came to join the king's court as a lady-in-waiting to Henry's first wife, Catherine of Aragon, and caught the eye of the king. Ambitious and proud, she refuses to be his mistress, insisting instead on becoming his legitimate wife. Henry eventually succumbs to her pressures, but only after he breaks with Rome and declares himself the head of the Church of England. Meanwhile, Lucy falls desperately in love with Mark Smeaton, the angelic court musician who in turn is enamored with Anne. This reasonably accurate historical portrait of Anne is enlivened by Dunn's imaginative weaving of Lucy into the narrative, making for a delicious romp through the romance, politics and drama of 16th-century England.
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From Booklist
This fictional retelling of the triumphant rise and tragic downfall of Anne Boleyn rings true, reminding readers that great events are often viewed differently through the personal prisms of both participants and observers. Juxtaposing Anne's chronicle--written in prison as she awaits execution--with the recollections of Lucy Cornwallis, the king's talented confectioner, responsible for providing the insatiable Henry with an enormous variety of sweetly delectable concoctions, two divergent views of both the doomed queen and the historical circumstances surrounding her demise are provided. Presenting herself more as a victim than a villain, Anne, in her seemingly straightforward defense of her actions, lacks the objectivity and ultimate subtlety of Lucy's more balanced account. Since both women are products of their particular time in history and station in society, each brings a refreshingly unique perspective to a familiar tale. The authentically detailed narrative resonates with compassionate sympathy for the major players in this historical melodrama. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"A lively reminder of the perils of marrying kings and princes, however glam the bride." (Kirkus Reviews )

"Dunn's Boleyn is lusty, willful, ambitious and ultimately likable." (Fort Worth Star-Telegram )

Customer Reviews

This could've been lovely, but the sugar carmellized.
If I were a betting lady, I'd wager that most teenaged girls will call Anne Boleyn the heroine of this book and say Lucy Cornwallis, the ageing confectioner who falls in love with handsome young Mark Smeaton, was ... well maybe not boring but irrelevant. Lucy was so the mother or confidant figure. But then, maybe most teenaged girls would think the author was Disneyfying Anne to make her appear modern and relevant.
What really hurts is that the author admits her deliberate anachonisms: translating the motto on King Henry's jousting tabard as "No Comment" instead of "Declare I dare not." Having the so French Anne name her little dog 'Pixie' instead of what she did name it: 'Por-quoi'. Having her refer to her parents as 'Dad & Mum' at a time when even adult children knelt before their fathers every morning to obtain his blessing. Having Thomas Cromwell call her Anne and give her unsolicited advice - even when she was queen. Cromwell would have been slapped down for treating his betters as his equals. Her constant rants in her narrative to her daughter Elizabeth. No mother shows less than a dignified face to her child. Even if Anne thought of Catherine as "that old hag" (and I laughed over a lot of the author's more original barbs but they did get to be overdone) she would not have been so candid to a girl who she'd always subconciously see as a toddler.
Lucy Cornwallis was drawn much more sensitively and perceptively. Her story is worth the lone star. We see her at her work - Well described. Not boring scenes at all. We gradually get her back story. We see this shy self depreciating woman growing more attracted to this handsome young man who draws her out and begins to open her heart to feelings and her senses to what's beyond her kitchen existence.
This author's work has substance, but a historical setting and characters do not work for her.

the palace brought to life...........................
i adored this book, as it fed my curiousity about the tudor dynasty, and was told from an interesting angle, from down in the kitchen's of the king's court.
the story darting back & forth between upstairs in the court & downstairs.
it also painted a wonderfully atmospheric image of henry's castle at hampton court, a place i've visited several times & always enjoy soaking up the elegance left by henry & co's legacy.
the sweetmaker's kitchen can still be seen here, along with the other kitchens, & it is quite fascinating to view this rabbit warren of a once working industry, as in fact the court here was in fact it's own community, a lot of the original palace & the extensive grounds still remaining, & still elegant with their majestic swans, herons & deer (thankfully, no longer as royal dinner, but now free to grace the lands) - totally magical & enchanting!

Tempting first chapter, but overall disappointing
First of all, I'm a big Anne Boleyn fan. I've read almost all books about her, fiction and non fiction alike. I bought this book hoping another great fictionalized account of her fascinating life. The book starts off great, it appeals to the reader and pulls the heartstrings. However, it's downwards from there. The book is told from two points of view, Anne Boleyn's and a servant of Henry VIII, Lucy Cornelius. The chapters narrated by Lucy were dry and mostly emphasized her relationship with Mark Smeaton, the musician who was later condemned to die along with Anne Boleyn's other four lovers. The parts narrated by Anne Boleyn sounded like she was a whiner. The language that she used was coarse and the vocabulary certainly wasn't what you would called 16th century related. It sounded like a person writing for a Cosmopolitan magazine. Overall, the book was a disappointment. Jean Plaidy, Evelyn Anthony, and Margaret Campbell Barnes all wrote much better Anne Boleyn novels.