#if you want TRUE camp female tudor villain i don't think you can get better than tudor rose by julia watson

[fideidefenswhore]

Put 2 books on your ask: Brief Gaudy Hour by Margaret Campbell Barnes, and Anne Boleyn by Evelyn Anthony XOXO

Anthony's Anne Boleyn:

never heard of | never read | want to read | terrible | boring | okay | good | great | a favorite

Look, I can separate from my own feelings/ideas about Anne as a historic figure enough to enjoy a novel about her, and when I read novels, I don't mind reading from the POV of a villain, but...they have to be interesting? I didn't get to marry my crush so I'm evil now is not a good enough reason to be a villain (but it was an appallingly common one from novels of this era in which she was the anti-heroine). No dice.

Campbell Barnes' Brief Gaudy Hour:

never heard of | never read | want to read | terrible | boring | okay | good | great | a favorite

...but ONLY for the camp. Inexplicably portrays Anne actually committing adultery but, eh, this was pretty common at the time...Norah Lofts did it too...whatever. It was Pre-Ives. It was a different time.

*Nope, that was just Norah Lofts. I mixed them up. Ok, I feel better about my rating now, but I stand by the camp caveat.*

I actually weirdly like the portrayal of Henry in this one, for the most part? Which is musgravite-rare for me. He's a few rungs beneath the absolute balls to wall crazy intensity of SHE HAS NO HONOUR & SO I AM A FIGURE OF RIDICULE TO YOU ; but, that tempered approach was what made it feel more grounded.

And there is this great line, never been seen before or since, of him actually on some level respecting Anne's initial rejection:

"There was that element of sportsmanship in him that could admire courage when he saw it. But unwittingly, Anne had revealed to him that it was not only her body he desired, but her spirited companionship."

On the other hand...there is such thing as TOO MUCH camp:

Apparently Henry VIII was MERLIN or some shit...what the fuck ever.