A Matter of Time:
Henry VIII, the Dying of the Light
By Judith Arnopp
By Judith Arnopp
Publication Date: 2nd February 2024
Publisher: Independently Published
Page Length: 302 Pages
Genre: Historical Biographical Fiction
With youth now far behind him, King Henry VIII has only produced one infant son and two bastard daughters. More sons are essential to secure the Tudor line and with his third wife, Jane Seymour dead, Henry hunts for a suitable replacement.
After the break from Rome, trouble is brewing with France and Scotland. Thomas Cromwell arranges a diplomatic marriage with the sister of the Duke of Cleves but when it comes to women, Henry is fastidious, and the new bride does not please him. The increasingly unpredictable king sets his sights instead upon Katherine Howard and instructs Cromwell to free him from the match with Cleves.
Failure to rid the king of his unloved wife could cost Cromwell his head.
Henry, now ailing and ageing, is invigorated by his flighty new bride but despite the favours he heaps upon her, he cannot win Katherine’s heart. A little over a year later, broken by her infidelity, she becomes the second of his wives to die on the scaffold, leaving Henry friendless and alone.
But his stout heart will not surrender and leaving his sixth wife, Katheryn Parr, installed as regent over England, Henry embarks on a final war to win back territories lost to the French more than a century before. Hungry for glory, the king is determined that the name Henry VIII will shine brighter and longer than that of his hero, Henry V.
Told from the king’s perspective, A Matter of Time: Henry VIII: the Dying of the Light shines a torch into the heart and mind of England’s most tyrannical king.
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A Matter of Time: Henry VIII, the Dying of the Light
Judith Arnopp
A lifelong history enthusiast and avid reader, Judith holds a BA in English/Creative writing and an MA in Medieval Studies. She lives on the coast of West Wales where she writes both fiction and non-fiction. She is best known for her novels set in the Medieval and Tudor period, focusing on the perspective of historical women but recently she has been writing from the perspective of Henry VIII himself.
Judith is also a founder member of a re-enactment group called The Fyne Companye of Cambria which is when she began to experiment with sewing historical garments. She now makes clothes and accessories both for the group and others. She is not a professionally trained sewer but through trial, error and determination has learned how to make authentic looking, if not strictly historically accurate clothing. Her non-fiction book, How to Dress like a Tudor was published by Pen and Sword in 2023.
Her novels include:
A Song of Sixpence: the story of Elizabeth of York
The Beaufort Chronicle: the life of Lady Margaret Beaufort (three book series)
A Matter of Conscience: Henry VIII, the Aragon Years (Book One of The Henrician Chronicle)
A Matter of Faith: Henry VIII, the Days of the Phoenix (Book Two of The Henrician chronicle)
A Matter of Time: Henry VIII, the Dying of the Light (Book Three, Coming soon)
The Kiss of the Concubine: a story of Anne Boleyn
The Winchester Goose: at the court of Henry VIII
Intractable Heart: the story of Katheryn Parr
Sisters of Arden: on the Pilgrimage of Grace
The Heretic Wind: the life of Mary Tudor, Queen of England
Peaceweaver
The Forest Dwellers
The Song of Heledd
Previously published under the pen name – J M Ruddock.
The Book of Thornhold
A Daughter of Warwick: the story of Anne Neville, Queen of Richard III
Connect with Judith:
Tudor history, especially Henry VIII is endlessly fascinating. I wonder what Henry would have made of what he is remembered for? He would no doubt throw a tantrum and kill a few people!! On another note, I have added this series to my to-read list.
ReplyDeleteCan you even begin to imagine and remember the musical as well! He would have been fuming!!
DeleteHe wouldn't last two minutes in this day and age! But I think his tyranny is the reason his story continues to fascinate not just historians but for alot of people.
DeleteI can't see him being incredibly impressed by the musical.
DeleteOh Henry VIII I am - and I will be buying this book!
ReplyDeleteSo will I, but I think I might start with book 1.
DeleteNow you have got that song stuck in my head! Do let us know what you think of A Matter of Time. Judith is one of my favourite Tudor authors, she really brings the era to life.
DeleteI know there has been a lot of theories as to why Henry acted the way he did. What are your thoughts on his behaviour, Judith? Do you think he had syphilis and therefore that would explain how he acted the way he did, or do you think he was just a tyrant and we should stop trying to make excuses for his behaviour? I think he was the latter, and that he became more and more desperate for a son. I do wonder if maybe because he had so many close advisors killed, like Cromwell and Moore, there might have been an element of guilt, or perhaps he had no guilt and he was just a psychopath.
ReplyDeleteYou would hope that there was some explanation for his behaviour but I think he was just an entailed and spoilt bully, who was so self-obsessed that he could not see the wood for the trees. His treatment of his wives shows his complete lack of empathy, and he was certainly a narcissist. But I think one of the truly evil people of the era was Thomas Boleyn. How he saved his own skin, while encouraging Mary to become the king's whore, and then to watch both Anne and George die, and to know what they have been accused of and not stand up for them makes him the villain of the story in my opinion.
DeleteThe books are written in Henry's voice, the slow deterioration from prince to tyrant is viewed from his own perspective. In the beginning he had good intentions, he was no worse than any other monarch of his day. Disappointment poisons all that was good. He is endlessly fascinating to me but it was very hard living for four years with Henry in my head. It is important to forget everything we know in the 20th century view the events of the day from a Tudor perspective.
DeleteI think you are right, Judith. It was a very different era with a very different set of values. However executing two of your wives is never really a good idea.
DeleteI don't think I would have coped with Henry's voice in my head for that long! It must have been quite the experience stepping into his shoes and trying to see things from his point of view.
DeleteIt was certainly a very different time to the one we live in now.
DeleteI guess Henry got what he wanted in the end. He is one of Englands most infamous monarchs.
ReplyDeleteHenry VIII didn't start out as all bad, I think we sometimes forget that, and he was never meant to be king. He was not taught to be a king, and if his brother had lived, he never would have been. The Tudor dynasty was still very new, and I guess the weight of expectation to carry on the family line must have been incredibly difficult to carry, and he needed that male heir to keep his families legacy secure, after all it was his father who had ousted the last Plantagenet king. Henry did suffer a lot of loss in his life, and I believe he was particularly affected by the death of his grandmother. I think if Catherine had managed to give him a son that lived, then he would have never have strayed from her, of course this was not Catherine's fault. Catherine was a very loyal and popular with the people and I think that when he went against the Church, divorced Catherine and married Anne he would not have done so if he thought he had any other choice - after all he had been the defender of the faith. Obviously his ultimate treatment of Anne was utterly abhorrent, and from there on in, his achievements became overshowded by the way he treated his wives. But the misery did not stop with Henry. Maybe if his son, Edward, had survived then things would have turned out different. His daughter Mary was much more savage than her father had been, and perhaps it is ironic that the child he would have been most proud of was Elizabeth. I think Henry is the ultimate anti-hero. There are moments when he is exceedingly likeable and then there are others where he is just a horrible individule and I think it is that which continues to fascinate people all these years after his death.
ReplyDeleteI will certainly be checking out your series, Judith. I love fiction set in this era.
ReplyDelete