Adrienne Dillard

Cor Rotto is an historical fiction account of Catherine Carey Knollys, niece of Anne Boleyn. She is also rumored to be the bastard daughter of Henry VIII. Per Webster's dictionary the title means corrupt, depraved, immoral or, in my opinion, rotten to the core. However, the author gave a different definition: heartbroken.

The publisher's summary:

Catherine Carey has been dreaming the same dream for three years, since the bloody execution of her aunt Queen Anne Boleyn. Her only comfort is that she and her family are safe in Calais, away from the intrigues of Henry VIII’s court. But now Catherine has been chosen to serve Henry VIII’s new wife, Queen Anne of Cleves. Just before she sets off for England, she learns the family secret: the true identity of her father, a man she considers a monster. One she will shortly meet.

I loved Catherine's story. I view her life as charmed given her wealth, loving husband and large family that got along with each other. Serving five queens of England, she had great jobs. She worked for Anne Boleyn, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, Mary 1 and Elizabeth 1. The character who used the Latin phrase cor rotto in a letter to Catherine was Princess Elizabeth who was heartbroken over the death of her mother many years earlier. I also view Princess, then Queen, Elizabeth as having a charmed life. However, the author tells us that both of these characters were heartbroken. We all can agree that Elizabeth's early life was difficult but Catherine had heartbreak too as she lost two of her children and was frequently separated from her husband and children.

Religion plays a big role in the novel as it covers all of Henry VIII's wives, son Edward, and sisters Mary and Elizabeth. Our heroine Catherine, however, does not care how others practice their religion. She accepts whatever faith tradition a person wishes to follow and because of that she never spread gossip either against the Catholic Church or against the reformers. Consequently, everyone liked her. Her conduct was always exemplary. By the way, she was a reformer.

The Tudor setting was exotic. The ladies wore sumptuous dresses and the men of the court wore velvet. In this book the reader gets the full perspective on what it was like to wear these dresses. While beautiful to look at, getting dressed was cumbersome because of all the layers and for Catherine, who was pregnant sixteen times, too heavy to wear. It wasn't all exotic for the ladies who lived during this era as they were required to spend the last three months of pregnancy confined to their rooms and another two months of confinement after the birth until they were churched, that is, allowed to go to church for a purification rite and to thank God for their newborn child.

The writing itself was fast paced as many chapters covered several years and the chapters were short. There is a ton of detail in the novel so it was definitely well researched. Given that the author has, to date, only written about Boleyn family members, she must be an expert on the family. The story begins when Catherine is 15 and ends with her death at age 47. It seemed to me that Catherine lived to be much older because we read about the minutiae in her life as well as the big events. However, per Wikipedia, Catherine died at age 47. She led an incredible life.… (mehr)

Adrienne Dillard has published four books to date, three of them historical fiction accounts of Jane Seymour, Catherine Carey (Anne Boleyn's niece) and Jane Boleyn. Keeper of the Queen's Jewels is her most recent novel, which was published in 2022 and it is about Jane Seymour.

The publisher's summary:

Two women with opposing allegiances are bound together by desperate circumstances: one must birth a son to secure the throne. The other hides a dangerous secret that could cost them their lives. No longer the meek and mild, the ineffectual queen of the history books, Jane Seymour is reimagined as a woman on the precipice - one misplaced step away from oblivion.
In the maid's dormitory, Margery Horsman struggles as she comes to terms with the fallout of her careless words, uttered recklessly in a fit of envy and greed, ending in the ruin and death of her first love. Surrounded, yet feeling alone and abandoned, Margery searches for her place in the world. When a young widower still grieving over the loss of his wife asks for her hand, Margery steps into a role she never imagined, that of mother to a half-orphaned boy.

As religious rebellion threatens to tear the country in two, fortune's wheel turns, and formerly rising stars of the Tudor court tumble. Amid the upheaval, a queen and her devoted maid will unite to preserve the legacy of Anne Boleyn for England's once and future queen: Gloriana.

Each chapter alternates between the points of view of Jane Seymour and Margery Horsman.
Margery was one of the ladies in waiting for Anne Boleyn who stayed on at Henry VIII's behest after Anne's beheading. For some reason he kept on all of Anne's attendants. I can only presume that there were political reasons for this but the book doesn't go into it. At first Margery handled the wardrobe but later became in charge of the jewelry. She was adept at picking out the right jewels for the right gown.

The characters were taken from real life. I was not familiar with them in depth, particularly Jane Seymour, and I learned alot about her political ability. Yes, she did have some ability. I was not aware that she was terrified of ending up like her predecessor but probably should have known that she would. Any woman would mistrust Henry VIII considering how he disposed of two prior wives. The Tudor setting is always going to be exciting for me. I love reading about the dresses that the ladies wore, and the jewels of course, as well as descriptions of the food offered at feasts.

Keeper has a nice take on often told stories of the wives of Henry VIII. With the perspective of someone with real power, the power of holding the jewels, the reader learns everything that that entails.… (mehr)