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Winnipeg Free Press
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Pre-Tudor prose a royally good romp
Funny, clever and unapologetically filthy, English writer Jo Harkin's second novel explores the life of an obscure but fascinating figure in the 15th-century English royal court. Harkin debuted as a novelist in 2022 with Tell Me An Ending, a work of literary sci-fi. She easily proves her depth as a writer with her switch to historical fiction in The Pretender. Harkin's stark prose and unsentimental view of history will remind readers of fellow English author Hilary Mantel, best-known for her Wolf Hall series, set at the court of King Henry VIII of England. The Pretender Here the main character is Lambert Simnel, a pretender to the throne of King Henry VII of England (father of Henry VIII). The novel opens on a remote farm in England in 1483, introducing readers to 10-year-old peasant John Collan. When we first meet John, his biggest worry is avoiding the bad-tempered village goat on his way to collect water. This changes when a nobleman arrives one day with astonishing news: John is actually Edward, Earl of Warwick, a member of the ruling House of York, nephew to the current King Richard III, and secret son of Richard's long-dead brother George, Duke of Clarence. As the nobleman tells him, 'You are the earl of Warwick by title… and, after the present king and his progeny, you're next in line to the throne.' Codenamed Lambert Simnel for now, the bewildered child is whisked away and groomed to take his place as heir to the throne when the time arrives. Lambert is informally tutored by Joan, the daughter of one of his mentors, who is gifted with striking political savvy and a definite lack of conscience. When Henry Tudor arrives in England and takes the throne from Richard III, Lambert's mentors plot to overthrow Henry and crown Lambert as the true King of England. But meanwhile, Lambert and Joan plot to take control of their own lives. The best historical fiction not only explores the dynamics of the past, it draws parallels to present times. Harkins does this skilfully. She explores themes of identity, misogyny, freedom and the biases of recorded history. One passage even takes sly aim at the influence of misogynistic podcasters like Joe Rogan and incel culture: 'All the Roman poets hated women… Men who aren't wanted by women say women are shrews or strumpets,' points out Lambert's friend Joan. While we know very little about the real-life Lambert Simnel beyond his role as a threat to Henry VII's rule, Harkins goes beyond this one episode of his life to explore how it may have affected his psyche: 'More than anything, he (Lambert) feels a great hatred for himself. His self? What is that? What part of him is this? Does it come from John Collan, or Lambert, or Edward, or Simnel? Is he any of them, even? Who the f— is he?' Lambert frets. Harkins is gleefully dirty in her writing, dropping references to sex and bodily functions as often as horses drop, well, poop. While this adds humour and makes her writing stand out against dominant historical novelists such as Philippa Gregory and historian-turned-novelist Alison Weir, it does seem gratuitous at times. Kathryne Cardwell is a Winnipeg writer.
New York Times
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Smart, Splendid New Historical Fiction
The Pretender John Collan is about to have an epic identity crisis. Wrenched out of his placid life in rural late-15th-century Oxfordshire, he's informed by his new, very secretive overlords that he's not a 10-year-old peasant but Edward, Earl of Warwick, nephew of King Richard, and thus in the line of succession to the English throne. But England is also undergoing a violent identity crisis as the Plantagenets skirmish among themselves and Henry Tudor schemes to take power. So John (temporarily renamed Lambert Simons) must remain in the shadows, where his long-dead father is said to have hidden him, lest he succumb to the dire fate of other potential heirs. Inspired by the historical figure known as Lambert Simnel, THE PRETENDER (Knopf, 471 pp., $30) is a rollicking account of a befuddled boy's pillar-to-post existence as a political pawn. After clandestine tutoring to provide him with a suitable education, he's whisked to Flanders to be further polished at the court of his supposed aunt, then abruptly shipped to Ireland, where the Earl of Kildare will ready him to be the figurehead of a rebel army. Faced with such a future, John/Lambert/Edward can only remind himself, 'a king wouldn't be trying not to cry.' Becoming a teenager is hard enough. But try becoming a teenager who hasn't the faintest idea who he really is and feels responsible for the murders of some of the few people he has come to trust. Longing simply to escape into anonymity, he's advised instead to 'get yourself a courtly countenance. Courtly claws, courtly teeth.' And so, in desperation, he does. Fifteen Wild Decembers What Emily Brontë calls 'the push-pull' of her turbulent family is the subject of Powell's suitably brooding FIFTEEN WILD DECEMBERS (Europa, 288 pp., paperback, $18). We first encounter Powell's imagined Emily in 1824 when she is sent to join her sisters at the boarding school that will later figure in Charlotte's novel, 'Jane Eyre.' But all 6-year-old Emily wants is to return to the Yorkshire moors that 'are as familiar to me as the features of my own siblings.' Narrating this account of her brief life, Emily provides a sharp perspective on the penury and isolation that created such anguish — and such inspiration — for the Brontë sisters. Tensions between them flare, as does frustration with their feckless brother, Branwell. Foremost, though, is Emily's yearning for the 'wild freedom' she knew as a child, a yearning that will color her novel, 'Wuthering Heights.' Sent to Brussels with Charlotte for more schooling, she chafes at the restrictions of polite society: 'I did not belong in this world and even if I could find the words to describe it, these people could never understand mine.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
