Reviews

The Boleyn Heresy: Part One-The Time Will Come by Kathleen McGowan

cakt1991's review against another edition

dark emotional informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.5

 One of my old favorite series is Kathleen McGowan’s Magdalene Line series, which whetted my appetite for obscure feminist history. As a Tudor fan, I’ve long awaited her Anne Boleyn project, even as she dealt with myriad personal losses and other setbacks. And while I knew plans had evolved over the course of her writing and now, she had split the project into multiple parts, I still remained optimistic. Even so, I found myself feeling rather mixed about the results with The Boleyn Heresy: Part One-The Time Will Come. 

First, the positives: I love the way she is able to convincingly immerse the reader in any historical time period she tackles. Granted, a lot of that is likely due to her on-the-ground research, but it’s still worth remarking on. And I loved hearing about an aspect of Anne Boleyn’s life that is so frequently glossed over: her time with Margaret of Austria in Mechelen and with Louise of Savoy, her daughter Margeurite, and daughter-in-law the eventual Queen Claude of France. It perfectly sets the stage for her to become a champion of religious reform that would make an impact on history. And given she’s yet another example (like Mary Magdalene and other women who have featured prominently in the series prior) of a woman whose reputation has been blackened or had her contributions diminished due to the patriarchal society in which she lived, the placement she has within the series feels believable. 

I do have some gripes with some of the choices made with the other historical characters, but I think it can be argued it’s simply a matter of perspective in a lot of cases. Mary Boleyn is portrayed as rather dim with loose morals, and briefly as mistress to King Francis, and I find that the strongest offense, given a lot of that was hearsay or exaggerated, and McGowan ironically stated in her author’s note she wanted to avoid discussing Anne’s other romances prior to Henry, as she felt those had been exaggerated by her detractors. Mary Boleyn, even more than Anne, is a blank slate which misogynists have done what they like with, and it sucks that McGowan bought into that.

I find the portrayal of Princess Mary, Queen of France, a bit more forgivable, even though she is one of my favorite Tudor people. Anne and all the people she associated with have believable reasons for disdaining her (although the fact that Louise’s line supposedly “overcame” their connections to Melusine and Princess Mary’s didn’t is laughable), and it makes sense for the vain King Henry’s sister to be equally vain and somewhat self-absorbed. And Louise does praise her in the end for daring to follow her heart and marry as she pleases, even if it means facing her brother’s wrath. 

Unfortunately, with the book being split into multiple parts, the contemporary arc suffers, even if the historical one feels self-contained. On the one hand, I enjoyed getting an update on where everyone was at. Maureen and Berenger finally getting married and Tammy and Roland having had a baby made me super happy. And to see Peter finally moving on to the next phase of his life with his new partner, Petra, was nice. And it was cool to see them all working together again to unravel Anne Boleyn’s place within the Magdalene story. 

However, there’s an attempt to tease a mystery element, with an assassin targeting feminist scholars in on the Boleyn/Magdalene connection. While I didn’t expect a full-on resolution, I expected a bit more than the story delivered. The ending to her arc was so anticlimactic, and while it makes sense, since it wasn’t the end of the book, I just felt this sense of confusion, like “What about Maureen?!” She was robbed of page time and stuff to do, when she had much more in prior installments. 

I also felt that the approach in the modern arc to Anne scholarship felt very dated. Maureen and others’ claims that Anne is still seen as adulterous, incestuous, or a homewrecker, are being actively refuted by some mainstream Tudor scholars (my personal favorite, Claire Ridgway, comes to mind), even if popular media hasn’t quite caught up yet. It is believable that a hack scholar might continue to peddle old myths, but for them to be the popular, accepted belief? I struggled to accept that. 

While it was a more underwhelming return to the series than I expected, I am still eager for the forthcoming next book, upon which I may look back on this one more favorably. I recommend this to anyone who is open to an alternative look at Anne Boleyn and the Tudors, and their connections to European history.