Authors: Margaret Campbell Barnes

The Tudor Rose (47 page)

“And what will you call your fine Spanish son?” jibed Patch, from the pathway. But Harry Tudor's mind was on the score, his eye upon the target. At fourteen the thought of marriage does not mean much. “I have no idea,” he said, turning his head smartly towards the mark and drawing the mighty bow.

There was a moment's tense silence. All eyes were upon him. The string was drawn back almost to the golden down upon his cheek. He sighted the tip. And then the arrow flew, whistling through the air to strike the golden centre of the target hard and true. The glad laughing shout of sportsmen went up for joy of it, and young Harry's laugh rang out loudest of all as he thumped Charles Brandon on the back. But no sooner had the watching crowd relaxed than he ceased to be a sportsman, and became just a spontaneous boy. He pushed his bow into a page's hand and without waiting to shed either leather bracer or tab, ran to his mother, throwing his arms about her with such thoughtless vehemence that Jane and Ditton, careful of her condition, cried out to restrain him. But even though he hurt her Elizabeth did not mind. She looked radiantly happy.

Still hugging her tight, the future King grimaced over his shoulder at the grinning fool. “But, I tell you what, Patch,” he said, finding himself at leisure to continue their half-finished conversation. “If ever I have a
daughter
I know what I shall call
her
!”

“What will you call her?” asked Elizabeth, knowing as well as he.

“Why, that is easy!” he laughed, releasing her. “How else, Madam, but after you—the loveliest mother a man ever had? She shall be Elizabeth.”

1. The book opens with Elizabeth's rejection by the French prince. Right away, Elizabeth becomes “a woman aware of the ambitious cruelties of men.” How is this moment the trajectory for all that follows in the story? What other men have cruel ambitions that affect her?

2. The dowager queen is certain from the outset that Richard is intent on obtaining the throne for himself. Yet Thomas Stafford tells Elizabeth, in chapter four, that Richard's initial intentions had been to see Edward crowned, but that the council persuaded him to take it for himself. If Tom's words are to be believed, how might the suspicions and actions of the dowager queen also have played a part in Richard's change of heart?

3. What characteristics does Elizabeth exhibit while she and her family are in sanctuary that prepare her for her future role as queen? How does she later utilize these skills and innate characteristics to be a “humble and reverent” queen?

4. In chapter nine, Buckingham thinks the following of King Richard: “There were men, [Buckingham] knew, who seemed to have two personalities.” What other characters show two sides? Elizabeth Woodville? Henry Tudor? Others?

5. Ms. Barnes does an excellent job of painting Richard III as a duplicitous character, a man of immeasurable charm and yet one who is not to be trusted. She makes it difficult for the reader to reach a definite judgment of him. Buckingham says of him, “Every line of him…was a baffling contradiction. How could one assess him, or be sure?” What were some moments when you were unsure how to judge him as good or bad? What was your final assessment of him?

6. In chapter four, Elizabeth calls Henry Tudor her “archenemy.” Then in chapter 14 she thinks of him as her “personal deliverer.” Which of these does he turn out to be? In what ways is he both?

7. Elizabeth often reflects on Henry's inability “to neither love nor hate.” Instead, there is a certain level sensibility about him. She, however, comes from a long line of fiery, passionate kings. But which has history shown to make for a better king, or political ruler in general?

8. Elizabeth often laments that Henry neither wants nor needs her love. Do you agree with this? What are some ways in which Henry does need Elizabeth? Are there any moments when he shows that he does in fact need and love her?

9. “We Tudors begin to bestride the world,” Elizabeth claims in chapter 24. Historically, how is this true?

10. What is the motivation behind Elizabeth's “sudden crazy decision” to leave the garden gate unlocked in chapter 25? What is she really trying to prove with this test? Who is she testing? Perkin? Or Henry?

11. Early on, Henry promises Elizabeth that he is no murderer, and yet she suspects it of him more than once, even suspecting him of wanting her to die in childbirth. What is your verdict of Henry—is he a man capable of murder? Is he indeed a murderer?

12. Margaret Campbell Barnes's writing career first took off in the years following World War II. She published ten books of historical fiction between 1944 and 1962. She was a volunteer in the ambulance service during the war and lost her eldest son in the battles in Normandy, “a bitter loss which she must live with all her life.” All of this—the climate of the times, her own personal loss—came to bear very strongly on her writing. Where is this influence apparent in
The Tudor Rose
?

Reading Group Guide written by Elizabeth R. Blaufox, great-granddaughter of Margaret Campbell Barnes

M
ARGARET CAMPBELL BARNES LIVED from 1891 to 1962. She was the youngest of ten children born into a happy, loving family in Victorian England. She grew up in the Sussex countryside and was educated at small private schools in London and Paris.

Margaret was already a published writer when she married Peter, a furniture salesman, in 1917. Over the next twenty years, a steady stream of short stories and verse appeared under her name (and several noms de plume) in leading English periodicals of the time, including
Windsor
,
London
,
Quiver
, and others. Later, Margaret's agents, Curtis Brown Ltd., encouraged her to try her hand at historical novels. Between 1944 and 1962, Margaret wrote ten historical novels. Many of these were bestsellers, book club selections, and translated into foreign editions.

Between World Wars I and II, Margaret and Peter brought up two sons, Michael and John. In August 1944, Michael, a lieutenant in the Royal Armoured Corps, was killed in his tank in the Allied advance from Caen to Falaise in Normandy. Margaret and Peter grieved terribly the rest of their lives. Glimpses of Michael shine through in each of Margaret's later novels.

In 1945 Margaret bought a small thatched cottage on the Isle of Wight, off England's south coast. It had at one time been a smuggler's cottage, but to Margaret it was a special place in which to recover the spirit and carry on writing. And write she did. All together, over two million copies of Margaret Campbell Barnes's historical novels have been sold worldwide.