Exclusive interview with author Nancy Bilyeau and a review of her new novel, a 16th century thriller
Rating: 3 Stars
By Gabrielle Pantera
“I wasn’t sure what sort of book I wanted to write, but I knew it had to be set in 16th century England, my favorite period in history,” says The Crown author Nancy Bilyeau. “I wanted a female protagonist, but didn’t want to write a queen or princess or lady-in-waiting. Still, I wanted a character who was capable of some independence in this era and came up with a nun. Sister Joanna Stafford has taken novice vows at Dartford Priory in Kent. I have always been fascinated by the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and set her story in the middle of it.”
The Crown is a thriller and is the author’s debut novel. In style Bilyeau’s writing is similar to Philippa Gregory, but with an added mystery element. The Crown has enough action to keep you engaged.
The year is 1537. Aristrocratic Joanna is a novice to become a Dominican nun. Joanna leaves the convent without permission to visit her cousin, who has been sentenced to burn at the stake on the orders of King Henry VIII. Soon both Joanna and her father are arrested and sent to the Tower. The Bishop of Winchester Stephen Gardiner offers Joanna freedom if she can find the Crown of Athelstan, suspected to be hidden at the Dominican convent, and for good measure holds her father hostage so Joanna will do his bidding. People start dying at the convent and Joanna realizes that her life and the fate of the convent lie in her hands. Will she find the crown?
Athelstan, a Saxon, defeated the combined armies of the King of Scots, the King of Dublin and York, and the celtic King of Strathclyde, at the immense Battle of Brunanburh in 937. Athelstan combined the medieval kingdoms of England, making him the first king of all Britain.
Bilyeau came up with the idea for her book during a fiction workshop in 2005, held in a novelist’s home. “Because I love reading mysteries and thrillers, I decided to try one myself.”
For research Bilyeau read biographies and studies of the mid-16th century. “I read about the Dissolution of the Monasteries and religious life. I also got some help from people knowledgeable about Malmesbury Abbey, the Tower of London, and Dartford. I traveled to London and Dartford. I corresponded a great deal with a curator at the Dartford Borough Museum. It was thrilling for me to find the site of the priory.”
Bilyeau says it feels like a privilege to write a historical thriller. “I’ve really enjoyed being able to dive deeper and deeper into my love of history. I never get sick of it. The more I learned about nuns and friars and monks in this time period, the more I wanted to learn. And the more sympathy I felt for what happened to them. I find their way of life so fascinating.”
Currently Bilyeau is finishing up the sequel to The Crown, called The Chalice. “That follows the life of Joanna Stafford after the priory has been seized and demolished. I carry forward the main characters from book one, and I add new ones.”
Bilyeau lives in New York City with her husband and two children. She was born in Chicago. She grew up in the Midwest and attended the University of Michigan.
The Crown (Joanna Stafford) by Nancy Bilyeau. Hardcover, 416 pages, Publisher: Touchstone (January 10, 2012). Language: English, ISBN: 9781451626858 $24.99
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