Judith
Arnopp
Judith’s novels
concentrate on strong female characters from English history. Her trilogy of
Margaret Beaufort, The Beaufort
Chronicle, provided Margaret with a credible voice. She does much the same
in this novel of Mary Tudor, Queen of England. Mary, due to the violent
punishment she inflicted on heretics has come to be viewed as little short of a
monster. In this novel, Mary isn’t white-washed; she is simply allowed to tell
her own story. Judith says:
‘I always think it would be awful if, after my
death, I was only remembered for the very worst thing I’ve ever done. Everyone
is guilty of something, and people like Mary, and her father Henry VIII carried
out horrible deeds. Unfortunately, those actions have come to define them. Burning
anyone to death seems terrible to us but it was the standard punishment for
heresy in the 16th century. It would be wrong to look upon Mary as
some half-mad monster, glibly sending Protestants to their death. There was
much more to her than cruelty. She was kind, generous and terribly
well-meaning. She adored her people but her reign wasn’t as benign as she
intended. My study of Mary Tudor revealed a sad, isolated and desperate woman
whose intention was to be a good and loving Queen. The fact things turned out
rather differently were mostly due to exterior forces. In The Heretic Wind, the mortally sick and embittered Mary looks back
on her life and explains to some extent, the reasons why things happened as
they did.
The Heretic Wind
Adored
by her parents and pampered by the court, the infant Princess Mary’s life
changes suddenly and drastically when her father’s eye is taken by the
enigmatic Anne Boleyn.
Mary
stands firm against her father’s determination to destroy both her mother’s
reputation, and the Catholic church. It is a battle that will last throughout
both her father’s and her brother’s reign, until, she is almost broken by
persecution. When King Edward falls ill and dies Mary expects to be crowned
queen.
But
she has reckoned without John Dudley, the Duke of Northumberland, who before Mary
can act, usurps her crown and places it on the head of her Protestant cousin,
Lady Jane Grey.
Furious
and determined not to be beaten, Mary musters a vast army at Framlingham Castle;
a force so strong that support for Jane Grey crumbles in the face of it, and Mary
is at last crowned Queen of England.
But
her troubles are only just beginning. Rebellion and heresy take their toll both
on Mary’s health, and on the English people. Suspecting she is fatally ill, and
desperate to save her people from heresy, Mary steps up her campaign to compel
her subjects to turn back to the Catholic faith.
All
who resist will face punishment for heresy in the flames of the Smithfield
fires.
Judith Arnopp is
the author of twelve Historical Fiction novels:
The Heretic
Wind; the life of Mary Tudor, Queen of England
Sisters of Arden
The Beaufort Chronicles: the life of Lady Margaret
Beaufort (three-book series)
A Song of Sixpence: the story of Elizabeth of York
Intractable Heart: the story of Katheryn Parr
The Kiss of the Concubine: a story of Anne Boleyn
The Winchester Goose: at the court of Henry VIII
The Song of Heledd
The Forest Dwellers
Peaceweaver
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