Exclusive interview with author Laura Andersen and a review of her alternative history novel about a Boleyn King.
Rating: 3 Stars
By Gabrielle Pantera
“The first spark was born in 2003 while reading a biography of Anne Boleyn,” says The Boleyn King author Laura Andersen. “She had miscarried a baby boy in January 1536 and just four months later she was executed. What if that miscarriage hadn’t happened?
“The following year, while visiting London, I had images of a young couple desperately in love and desperately in danger. When the two ideas collided, I knew I had a story… Anne’s son, grown to become king, and finding that love is more unpredictable than politics.”
What if Anne Boleyn had a second child and he lived to become king? Andersen writes an alternative history to the one we know of the Tudor dynasty. Andersen weaves fact and fiction together in an engaging story. The story starts from Anne’s point of view as she delivers a boy child, then jumps ahead 17 years. Court intrigue and power are always a great pull for a novel. I wish the Andersen had not skipped those 17 years, that we had the interaction between the adults and the teens in the story, which is centers around a young king trying to throw off the yoke of the regency put in place to help him run the country. The fact that Mary is still a threat is a nice touch. There is also romance.
“As a work of alternate history, I had to pick my way carefully through actual events that would still have occurred and those that might have changed as a result of Anne Boleyn’s son being born,” says Andersen. “The most interesting part for me is that people care. Who doesn’t love to talk about their passions? Now my family and friends don’t have to take the brunt of all my enthusiasms themselves.”
Anderson did most of the research for her book online. “I would love to able to say something cool like the British Library,” says Anderson. “But, being a mom means my days tend much more to laundry and grocery shopping than research trips. The internet is useful, and then there are always surprising books to be found. One of my favorites is Documents of the English Reformation by Gerald Bray, relating to the development of the Anglican church.”
Kate Miciak at Random House is Andersen’s editor. “My acquiring editor in 2011 was Caitlin Alexander and I adored her, but she moved on to other things,” says Andersen. “Then I had Kelli Fillingim, who edited much of the second book, The Boleyn Deceit, [Anderson’s next book] and then she also moved on. Then I came to Kate, nervous because I actually knew her name, loving so many of the mystery writers she edits. And there hasn’t been a bad day since. I can’t tell you how many times my poor editor writes, ‘More description!’ on my edited manuscript.”
The Boleyn King is Anderson’s first book, although she says she has many unpublished manuscripts that might be resurrected some day. The Boleyn King has yet to be optioned for film or television. Anderson is currently writing the second book of her Boleyn trilogy, The Boleyn Deceit.
Laura Andersen lives outside Boston, Massachusetts. She was born in Oregon.
The Boleyn King by Laura Anderson. Trade Paperback, 368 pages, Publisher Ballantine Books; First Edition (May 14, 2013), Language English, ISBN 9780345534095, $15.00
