Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Carol McGrath's The Woman in the Shadows, a novel about a little-known Tudor woman

This is a lovely read about the little-known wife of a famous man. It’s also an illuminating portrait of their marriage, showing how a clever woman of independent spirit navigates her relationship with a husband who controls the purse-strings and makes all major decisions… and whose wishes she must frequently heed.

In addition, The Woman in the Shadows presents a detail-rich portrait of a merchant household in Henry VIII’s England. Two years ago on this blog, I wrote a post entitled Tudor Fiction Without the Famous, and this novel fits (even though it does have one very well-known character).

The heroine is Elizabeth Williams, nee Wykes, a 23-year-old widow in London of 1513. Following her husband’s untimely death, she decides to take over his cloth business – it was her father’s trade as well – but runs into obstacles, for her fellow tradespeople and even her own servants, at least at first, resent her taking a prominent role in a man’s world. Her father wants to see her return home and remarry, but Elizabeth has other plans – like traveling up to the Northampton Cloth Fair and running a stall there herself.

Readers will find themselves absorbing significant detail on the cloth trade, including fabric types, arrangements to import materials from the continent, and the sumptuary laws regulating the colors and apparel types that different classes are permitted to wear.

Elizabeth’s life changes after she reconnects with a childhood acquaintance, Thomas Cromwell, a lawyer who had served as her father’s middleman overseas. In contrast to another, less pleasant suitor, Elizabeth finds Thomas kind and protective, a reliable potential husband. For the sake of love, something Elizabeth doesn’t really expect in a marriage, she gives up her role as solo businesswoman. Although their relationship is warm and loving, for the most part, Elizabeth sometimes chafes at the sacrifices she must make as the wife of an upwardly mobile man whose increasing political prominence makes her uneasy. The novel’s focus is domestic; none of it takes place at court. Elizabeth sometimes comments on royal happenings and worries that Thomas’s attachment to statesman Thomas Wolsey will lead to danger.

As Elizabeth’s family grows, dramatic subplots involve the repercussions of a secret from her first marriage, another housewife’s spiteful jealousy, the growing influence of the “new learning,” and a surprising revelation about Thomas himself. Although the novel intimates what Thomas Cromwell’s family life may have been like, this isn’t just a “woman behind the famous man” novel; the author shows us that Elizabeth’s story is noteworthy in itself.

The Woman in the Shadows was published by Accent Press in August in trade paperback and ebook. Thanks to the publisher for sending me an advance copy.  For more information on how the author crafted the novel out of the limited facts about Elizabeth and her family, see Carol McGrath's article "The Woman in the Shadows."

10 comments:

  1. Sounds such an entertaining read.

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    1. I thought so - the plot moved along well.

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  2. I am all for stories about ordinary Tudor people - it seems the default is always stories of the Royal family, but everyday life is just as interesting.

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    1. I totally agree. The royals draw a lot of attention, and there have been plenty of novels written about them, and comparatively fewer about average people and their daily lives. I've come to appreciate novels of this type more and more.

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  3. Count me, too, as someone who doesn't really want to read about the royals anymore. Sarah, this novel sounds wonderful. Thanks for the recommendation!

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    1. There was a time when I'd read any novels about royalty, and I used to collect them, but I'm far more selective now. I hope you'll enjoy this one! It makes for a nice change of pace.

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  4. This sounds fascinating!

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    1. It was. I especially enjoyed its perspective on daily life in the 16th century.

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  5. Well, we do know there's no happy ending for this one. Alas.

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    1. As far as her life goes, yes... though the novel ends before that point.

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