It wouldn’t be quite right to say that I’m incredibly humbled by this – or perhaps I was but it didn’t last long – because here I am bragging about it and exploding with happiness and pride.
Why?
Because Lil from the Lil’s Vintage World YouTube channel, a book reviewer, has chosen my book The Fall of Anne Boleyn: A Countdown as her second favourite book of 2017 (that she read in 2017, not that was published then), and her favourite non-fiction book, and she reviewed lots.
I’m over the moon because Lil really ‘got’ what I was trying to do with my book and that’s a lovely feeling for an author. It’s given me the motivation to get on with all of those started book projects and get them completed this year. I started work on The Fall of Catherine Howard: A Countdown quite a few years ago now and I’ve promised myself that it will get finished this year – please hold me to this, keep at me!
A big thank you to Lil for taking the time to read and review my book and for her wonderful words, they mean so much. And an even bigger thank you to you lords and ladies because I wouldn’t even have published a book in the first place if it wasn’t for your ongoing support, encouragement and feedback (good and bad!).
Here’s the section on my book:
And here it is from the start so that you can hear all about Lil’s favourites:
If you haven’t read my book then it’s available on kindle and as a paperback. Here’s a link to find it on your country’s Amazon site, but it’s usually available from the Book Depository (free worldwide shipping) too – getbook.at/fallanneboleyn.
Congratulations Claire! This was the first one of your books that I purchased. After reading this I bought the others that you had written on the subject. Forget about being humble, enjoy the accolades. You deserve them.
Thank you, Michael, that’s lovely of you to say. Thank you for all your contributions here on the AB Files.
Wonderful ! Will get it ! Will read it !
I want to read your book to Claire when I get round it, at the moment I’m currently reading Elizabeth of York and Englands Medieval Queens, both by Alison Weir.
Thank you! Have you read Amy Licence’s book on Elizabeth of York?
I just finished that book a couple of weeks ago. I really enjoyed it. Wonderful descriptions of the time. In which she grew up and how they affected her life.
I haven’t is it good? I’d like to read Dan Jones book on The Plantaganets to, the tv series was quite good, such a lot I’d like to read, now I’m older I much prefer the biographies to historical fiction novels.
The book is excellent. Because of the limited information on Elizabeth herself as she was growing up most of what Amy license describes is what was going on with her family during the wars of the Roses. She does very good in describing from Elizabeth point of view of what it must have been like when her father took the throne and when Henry VI returned and how frightening it must have been for her when he was forced to escape to France and she and her family fled to safety. Something I found very interesting was that towards the end of the book the author starts listing case by case what Elizabeth gave as charity as queen and how much she gave to help people. Quite a generous woman. I think you’d enjoy it.
I thought it was better than Weir’s. I like Amy’s style and also her referencing too, makes it easy to look things up. I haven’t read Dan Jones’s book on the Plantagenets.
I read them both but preferred Amy’s. For me as a researcher, it’s essential for a book to be referenced properly, i.e. have the full document number, archive etc. as I like to check everything. I like to see the sources for myself, but then that’s just me lol! I’m not your everyday reader!
I have not read Elizabeth of York, but I have read some of Ms Licence’s other books. My question is, how can an author produce so many books so quickly? She must write about four a year. Most good historians take years to write books.
She’s a full-time writer and she has spent years previously researching these topics, plus she works silly hours. If you check her references and bibliographies you can see the amount of research that she has done.
Weirs book is every good to, in it she lists all the accounts from the queens household, the materials she bought and the food that was eaten, the wines and the charitable gifts she gave to the poor and her own servants etc, the correspondence she shared with her Spanish daughter in laws parents, the manors she visited and the book starts from her birth when she was the adored little princess, her parents first born and beloved of the country, her life after the death of her father was turbulent and full of danger, she endured life in sanctuary where she fled with her mother after her eldest brother the new King was taken to the tower, she endured seeing her mothers anxiety and fear after she surrendered her other brother the Duke of York and then having to come to terms with the fact that she was declared illegitimate, then the mysterious disappearance of both the princes, throughout all these uncertain times she grew up to be a most gracious beautiful woman and quite possibly the hope of the nation, she married Henry Tudor the victor of Bosworth and the people were overjoyed that Edwards daughter sat on the throne, many believing it was her birthright after her brothers vanished, Henry they didn’t take to much, but Elizabeth was a Plantaganet princess and she appeared to have inherited her fathers boldness of spirit which he had manifested well on the battlefield, she also had his charisma and from her mother, her golden haired beauty, she was in a sense a golden queen, gracious regal and beautiful, Weir notes the devastation both she and Henry felt on the death of their first born Arthur and how she tried to comfort her husband, but overcome with grief herself, they had to draw comfort from each other and their remaining children, she supported Henry throughout his role as King and tragically died in childbirth, her baby daughter did not survive either and she was mourned deeply by her family and England, Henry V111 later described his mothers death as the worse day of his life.
Yes I know quite a few people mention that about Alison and her lack of source referencing.
It’s a pain when you want to know what she’s based a theory on and come to your own conclusions.
Congratulations on another accolade for your book. Enjoy.
Thank you! This one was very special because it was a reader ‘getting’ what I had tried to do.
Congratulations, Claire. I too am hoping to pick up my Katherine Howard research this year – have been dabbling for 10 years now, although not much done over the past 5 because of other projects. x