Customer Reviews

Concubine

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Norah Lofts' biographical novel about the celebrated and controversial Anne Boleyn presents her as a very human, complex and completely believable character. Lofts'considerable talent for storytelling makes this familiar story new and fresh, and you'll find yourself rooting for the vulnerable, sensitive and desperately alone Anne as she struggles against the iron will of Henry VIII and the contempt of the English people. Anne's maid, Emma Arnett, is one of the original Protestants,whose story mirrors the major english social problems of the time, and this subplot adds a human and believable element. I've read most of the novels about Anne Boleyn--this is unquestionably the best of them. If you've ever felt a dislike for Henry VIII, Lofts' shares your view: he comes across as a dangerously powerful, spoiled baby, whose immaturity costs Anne her life.

It's criminal that this book is out of print! It is a fictional biography of Anne Boleyn--a story often told, but never half so well as Ms. Lofts has done. I've read every book on Anne Boleyn I could find, seen her portrayed as everything from villian to victim. Ms. Lofts alone succeeds in making her come alive as a person without ever sacrificing historical accuracy. If you like historical fiction--or just a great story--you can count on this author for a wonderful read.

A number of reviewers have said that they have read everything they could about Anne Boleyn. I have done the same. I was quite thrilled to find this book, and really enjoyed Norah Lofts opinion of the events surrounding this facinating woman's life. I would also recommend "The King's Pleasure" by the same author. This is about the life of Katharine of Aragon, and as can be supposed, fleshes out Lofts' view of this time period. Personally, I agreed with most of Lofts' conclusions about the people and events of the early 16th century. I also highly recommend Robin Maxwell's "The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn", Margaret Campbell Barnes' "Brief Gaudy Hour", and Jeane Plaidy's "The Lady in the Tower" & "Murder Most Royal". All are fictional accounts of Anne Boleyn that are extremely well done.

This is the best fictional bio of Anne Boleyn ever writen. Period. You will be caught up in the story and you will fall in love with the wild, fey creature that is Norah Loft's Anne. The final scenes of the book left me in tears as a teenager when I first read it and still move me today. I cant believe this great book is out of print.

This is a well-written work of historical fiction that focuses on Anne Boleyn. It is her story, told against the backdrop of the turbulent Tudor court. The author paints a portrait of Anne Boleyn with small brush strokes, creating a picture of a fully fleshed, complex woman.

The author first shows Anne as a vulnerable, though elegant young woman, fresh from the French court and now a lady-in-waiting to Queen Catherine. She is in the throes of first love with Henry Percy, the son and heir of the Earl of Northumberland. He, too, is smitten, and they plan to marry. Yet, just as she is about to realize her dream, Cardinal Wolsey intervenes, and she and Percy are no longer free to marry. A bitter Anne, misinterpreting why Wolsey acted as he did, vows to make Wolsey pay for her unhappy plight.

It soon becomes clear, however, as to why Wolsey interfered in her personal affairs. It appears that Anne has caught the eye of King Henry VIII, and nothing in England will ever again be the same. With her ambitious family in the wings, Anne leads the King on a merry chase, holding onto her chastity until the very last, while holding out for the Queen's crown.

Anne would wait in the wings all but Queen except in name, as King Henry VIII spent years trying to shed himself of Queen Catherine, his long suffering wife, under the theory that they had never really been married in the eyes of God. After all, Catherine had first been his brother Arthur's wife. This was euphemistically known as the King's private matter, though it seemed all of England knew of it and frowned upon it, due to Queen Catherine's popularity.

Still, the King was determined upon setting his first marriage aside in order to marry Anne. This matter would set the backdrop for the coming Reformation. The rise of Protestantism is evoked through the person of Emma Arnett, Anne's personal maid, making Anne's story more three dimensional, as this sub-plot grounds Anne's story in the historical context of the time.

The reader sees Anne's transition from that of a disillusioned girl into a woman with a great deal of power, who sees her power wane once the King has consummated his love and quenched his desire for her. The reader also sees Henry VIII make a gradual transition from being a king with an occasional roving eye, to besotted suitor, to a tyrannical despot, seeking to beget a legitimate son by whatever means necessary. It also explains why the King at varying times viewed Anne as his beloved, then as his Queen and potential mother of his male heir, and finally as a treasonous harlot.

Anne's story is intelligently told by an master storyteller, well-crafted and compelling. It is a wonderful work of historical fiction that is replete with period detail, political intrigues, and a shimmering panoply of historical events. This is a novel that those who enjoy well-written historical fiction or those who enjoy novels about Anne Boleyn or the Tudor court will love.

I'm a Tudor historical fiction addict & this book is one of the best {The King's Pleasure is equally outstanding}. Norah Lofts does a wonderful job with this story & I have become a big fan of her writing because of it. Read it & enjoy!

If you love things Anne Boleyn and perhaps missed this splendid novel written 50 years ago, grab it and savor its riches!

Norah Lofts has enriched her novel with wonderful personalities, such as Emma Arnett the maid who accompanies Anne after Anne is more or less wrenched from the arms of Harry Percy. Emma, aging at 40 years old, taciturn, seething with resentments sizes Anne up and it is through her eyes that we first see Anne. Emma will be at Anne's side to the very last and it is she who ties the blindfold over Anne's eyes before the swordsman strikes. Under cover of darkness, she and her companions will take Anne's body back to her home and Anne's- to Norfolk- and lay her to rest among their ancestors.

Lofts brings the personalities surrounding Anne to vibrant life. Anne's step-mother, Lady Boleyn, comically called Lady Bo (because Anne's brother, George called her that, not being able to bring himself to call her mother) is a major character and she is absolutely delightful. Wolsey is as you'd expect, plumped up with pride, pulling the strings, rather like a satisfied but vulnerable spider. Henry is charming at times, but becoming unpredictable loose cannon, a man of mercurial and dark moods, a tyrant, a destroyer. We see the weak and vacillating Pope Clement in Rome, agonizing over Henry's divorce dilemma. We see Henry's physician, Dr. Butts hurrying at the King's orders to attend Anne, who has the sweat, but secretly hoping she will die. We see poor Catherine, who actually loved Henry, shoved aside, implacable as a stone, but a stone weeping inside. And we see Anne, herself, small, frail, all eyes and hair, but with the determination of a bulldog, a capacity for virile hatred (Wolsey) nevertheless bewitchingly feminine, graceful and courageous, the lynchpin of Henry's court.

Norah Lofts' Anne is so very human, but so amazingly modern, really, you'll almost forget she lived almost 500 years ago. She is a free thinker and a self-made woman in a day when women were second class. You'll root for her, agonize with her. "The Concubine" is a wonderful Tudor feast, a tapestry so rich you'll have a hard time getting back to the twenty first century when you close the book.

This is the definitive historical novel about Anne Boleyn, and led me to a college major of 16th century English history. You will find it impossible to put down.

This is a well-written work of historical fiction that focuses on Anne Boleyn. It is her story, told against the backdrop of the turbulent Tudor court. The author paints a portrait of Anne Boleyn with small brush strokes, creating a picture of a fully fleshed, complex woman.

The author first shows Anne as a vulnerable, though elegant young woman, fresh from the French court and now a lady-in-waiting to Queen Catherine. She is in the throes of first love with Henry Percy, the son and heir of the Earl of Northumberland. He, too, is smitten, and they plan to marry. Yet, just as she is about to realize her dream, Cardinal Wolsey intervenes, and she and Percy are no longer free to marry. A bitter Anne, misinterpreting why Wolsey acted as he did, vows to make Wolsey pay for her unhappy plight.

It soon becomes clear, however, as to why Wolsey interfered in her personal affairs. It appears that Anne has caught the eye of King Henry VIII, and nothing in England will ever again be the same. With her ambitious family in the wings, Anne leads the King on a merry chase, holding onto her chastity until the very last, while holding out for the Queen's crown.

Anne would wait in the wings all but Queen except in name, as King Henry VIII spent years trying to shed himself of Queen Catherine, his long suffering wife, under the theory that they had never really been married in the eyes of God. After all, Catherine had first been his brother Arthur's wife. This was euphemistically known as the King's private matter, though it seemed all of England knew of it and frowned upon it, due to Queen Catherine's popularity.

Still, the King was determined upon setting his first marriage aside in order to marry Anne. This matter would set the backdrop for the coming Reformation. The rise of Protestantism is evoked through the person of Emma Arnett, Anne's personal maid, making Anne's story more three dimensional, as this sub-plot grounds Anne's story in the historical context of the time.

The reader sees Anne's transition from that of a disillusioned girl into a woman with a great deal of power, who sees her power wane once the King has consummated his love and quenched his desire for her. The reader also sees Henry VIII make a gradual transition from being a king with an occasional roving eye, to besotted suitor, to a tyrannical despot, seeking to beget a legitimate son by whatever means necessary. It also explains why the King at varying times viewed Anne as his beloved, then as his Queen and potential mother of his male heir, and finally as a treasonous harlot.

Anne's story is intelligently told by an master storyteller, well-crafted and compelling. It is a wonderful work of historical fiction that is replete with period detail, political intrigues, and a shimmering panoply of historical events. This is a novel that those who enjoy well-written historical fiction or those who enjoy novels about Anne Boleyn or the Tudor court will love.

This is a well-written work of historical fiction that focuses on Anne Boleyn. It is her story, told against the backdrop of the turbulent Tudor court. The author paints a portrait of Anne Boleyn with small brush strokes, creating a picture of a fully fleshed, complex woman.

The author first shows Anne as a vulnerable, though elegant young woman, fresh from the French court and now a lady-in-waiting to Queen Catherine. She is in the throes of first love with Henry Percy, the son and heir of the Earl of Northumberland. He, too, is smitten, and they plan to marry. Yet, just as she is about to realize her dream, Cardinal Wolsey intervenes, and she and Percy are no longer free to marry. A bitter Anne, misinterpreting why Wolsey acted as he did, vows to make Wolsey pay for her unhappy plight.

It soon becomes clear, however, as to why Wolsey interfered in her personal affairs. It appears that Anne has caught the eye of King Henry VIII, and nothing in England will ever again be the same. With her ambitious family in the wings, Anne leads the King on a merry chase, holding onto her chastity until the very last, while holding out for the Queen's crown.

Anne would wait in the wings all but Queen except in name, as King Henry VIII spent years trying to shed himself of Queen Catherine, his long suffering wife, under the theory that they had never really been married in the eyes of God. After all, Catherine had first been his brother Arthur's wife. This was euphemistically known as the King's private matter, though it seemed all of England knew of it and frowned upon it, due to Queen Catherine's popularity.

Still, the King was determined upon setting his first marriage aside in order to marry Anne. This matter would set the backdrop for the coming Reformation. The rise of Protestantism is evoked through the person of Emma Arnett, Anne's personal maid, making Anne's story more three dimensional, as this sub-plot grounds Anne's story in the historical context of the time.

The reader sees Anne's transition from that of a disillusioned girl into a woman with a great deal of power, who sees her power wane once the King has consummated his love and quenched his desire for her. The reader also sees Henry VIII make a gradual transition from being a king with an occasional roving eye, to besotted suitor, to a tyrannical despot, seeking to beget a legitimate son by whatever means necessary. It also explains why the King at varying times viewed Anne as his beloved, then as his Queen and potential mother of his male heir, and finally as a treasonous harlot.

Anne's story is intelligently told by an master storyteller, well-crafted and compelling. It is a wonderful work of historical fiction that is replete with period detail, political intrigues, and a shimmering panoply of historical events. This is a novel that those who enjoy well-written historical fiction or those who enjoy novels about Anne Boleyn or the Tudor court will love.