The Secret Bride

This book caught my attention on the display table, so I thought I'd give it a read; the topic sounded interesting, as I am a fan of Tudor history. Unfortunately, I cannot give it a good recommendation. One of the most important parts of historical fiction for me is authenticity, which this book completely lacks. Perhaps the major moments are correct, but she confuses some of the side characters, melding fathers and sons it seems. If the writing was more engaging, this might not have been so bothersome, but it was not. I was never pulled into the story and ultimately finished it feeling unsatisfied. If you are looking for some good Tudor historical fiction, try Philippa Gregory instead.

I have to admit: I have been partially sucked into Tudor mania. Due to the popularity of Philippa Gregory's Tudor Court novels and Showtime's The Tudors, readers have started snatching up any book that has a connection to the infamous court of Henry VIII. These novels are made up of many of the same basic elements: political intrigue, sex, infidelity, love, and strong female characters struggling against the social conventions of the time period.

Diane Haeger's The Secret Bride hits every one of these plot elements while still bringing something different to the many fictional stories of the Tudor court. The Secret Bride follows the story of Henry VIII's younger sister, Mary Tudor. After the death of Arthur, Mary's oldest brother, and show more the forced departure of Margaret, Mary's older sister, to marry the King of Scotland, Henry and Mary cling to no one to fight the isolation of royal life and royal duty. The pair forge a strong relationship that will be tested throughout the novel.

This was the first Haeger novel I've ever picked up, and I was definitely not disappointed. The characters were intriguing, and I quickly found myself getting caught up in the life of strong-willed Mary Tudor and her seemingly doomed love affair with long-time family friend Charles Brandon. I was, however, a little surprised at Haeger's approach to the material, but not in a bad way. Instead of overloading the novel with politics or sex, like Gregory or The Tudors, Haeger focuses her novel on the relationships between Mary, Henry, and Charles. Even though the politics and sex are still present, they make up a small portion of the novel. Haeger explores such a wide variety of political questions that talking about them in depth would bog down the novel with too much information.

The sex in this novel was also surprisingly light for a Tudor period novel. Even though it was present, Haeger preferred to tastefully fade-to-black before the scene became too raunchy. This story is ideal for readers who enjoy reading about the period, but cringe at the vivid sex scenes that many Tudor historical fiction tends to have.

I can't say that Haeger is as good as Gregory, but I definitely think that she is a fine addition to any Tudor fan's library. Even though The Secret Bride is kind of difficult to get into at the beginning, I guarantee that the reader will be hooked by the end of the first chapter. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I'm definitely looking forward to picking up more of Haeger's novels in the future. show less

If I could give this book 100 stars I would! This has been one of the most fascinating books I have read in the historical novel genre about the Tudors. It is appealing to me in the fact that it is gossipy and gives details of fashion and places (similar to the mundane chatter of the courts of the time.) I highly enjoyed Diane's style of writing and will gladly read the rest of her books. The language was easy to follow (although, you may need a dictionary close by to discern some more period terms) and the story was compelling. The book contains an author's note at the end describing what truth there is to her story and to clarify certains dates and the like. Superb!

2.5 stars


Mary has known Charles Brandon since childhood and doesn’t hide her dislike. But growing up she notices her feelings starting to change, yet she knows that a princess can’t have a future with a duke. Mary does her duty by marrying the old French king and after her husband dies, she and Charles follow their hearts knowing Mary’s brother will be furious.

The book leaned more towards romance than straight historical fiction but unfortunately I couldn’t feel the passion between Mary and Charles. I kept waiting something to happen and sparks starting to fly but nothing. I didn’t really connect with Mary to be fully interested to know what happened with her. She was too naïve and well… maybe not too bright. And of course show more beautiful. Which we heard many, many times.

And there were too much sneaking around corners and secret meetings. How could Mary had the opportunity to do half of what she was doing?

This was rather easy and quick read but didn’t quite reach the expectations. show less

Originally published at http://www.skrishnasbooks.com

I have very mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, I enjoyed the portrayal of the late days of Henry VII's reign - the death of Prince Arthur, the furor over the fate of Katherine of Aragon, and her eventual marriage to Henry VIII. Much has been written on Henry VIII, but little of it on the early days. So I enjoyed the different focus; rather than honing in on the scandals of his reign, the author portrays Henry's sweeter, gentler days.

However, there were too many problems with this book to make it good. First of all, there simply wasn't enough material to make the novel compelling. It seems Mary Tudor didn't lead the most exciting of lives before her marriage to Louis, and show more while there is nothing wrong with that, the marriage doesn't occur until halfway through the book. So the reader is left with Mary's cavorting with a certain gentleman. It is sweet to watch Mary fall in love, but the book is supposed to be historical fiction, not historical romance. I do wonder why the author didn't choose to make the book 200 pages, rather than 400 - it would have made it a much more interesting read.

Also, I have a issue with how much the description of the book revealed. As I mentioned, Mary's marriage to Louis isn't until halfway through the book. There is some surprise at this arrangement as well, as it was not her original engagement. Therefore, I am puzzled as to why her marriage to Louis would be revealed so cavalierly in the description. As I said, there isn't much going on in this book - a little excitement and surprise would have been welcome.

While I can't recommend this book, it is interesting to note that Mary Tudor was the grandmother of Lady Jane Grey, the woman who was the Queen of England for three days before she was put into the Tower of London and then executed by Queen Mary. If you are looking for a good historical fiction read, I would recommend Innocent Traitor: A Novel of Lady Jane Grey. It is a much more interesting read. show less

Really I gave this a 3.5.

The book is well written and very interesting and wasn't the least bit contrived. I did have to skip/skim over a bit in the beginning...all the lavish explanation about the details of the rooms, clothing, etc. got a bit tedious for me.

It was interesting to see how Henry VIII changed.....and the story tied up nicely at the end.....no loose story lines remained.

I did not like this as much as The Perfect Royal Mistress, by Haeger...this wasn't quite as well written and was a bit slow in places.

This book was ok-had a romance novel type feel. I was already familiar with the love story between Charles Brandon and Mary Tudor-Dowager Queen of France. This book tried to compare the love of Henry VIII holding out against his father's wishes to marry Katherine of Aragon with the love of Mary-who is given as part of an alliance treaty with France to the old and sick Louis XII-she makes a bargain with her brother to choose her next husband-as she and Charles Brandon are in love.
The author takes quite abit of liberty with her historical facts and dates-much like Philipa Gregory-unfortunately her writing is not good enough for me to forgive her those lapses-unlike Philipa Gregory.