A treat of a history lesson
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I was really looking forward to this book and was thrilled when I had it in the post! It is a beautiful book promising exquisite entertainment. The first half was a real pleasure and very much in the usual Cheek fashion. But then the portraits communicating with each other really were too arty. In the end the book become downright boring, leaving me a bit disappointed. It reminded me a bit of "Getting Back Brahms" which had an equally melancholic touch about it. But finally I have to admit that up to now I hadn't known Anne of Cleves at all and I'm truly thankful for this new piece of knowledge.
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Oh those insufferably proud, wonderfully passionate Tudors....
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Well done, Mavis Cheek!
I have always enjoyed Mavis Cheek's novels not only because of the plots and the humour which is characteristic of her, but for the amount of research which goes into the sub-plot.
Be it music, or poetry or art, she carefully explores her subject so that she knows exactly what is relevant and also historically or technically correct.
In 'Amenable Women' she has researched the life of Anne of Cleves and while the story of Flora Chapman who is coming to terms with the freedom which she experiences after her husband's death is the first plot which we encounter, there is a concomitant plot in the story of the life of Henry VIII's fourth wife.
The two lives begin to converge and in the denouement, Anne is vindicated and shown not to be the 'Flanders Mare' and Flora realises her own inner strength and how important it is not to crave the limelight as her husband used to.
There are some wonderfully funny lines:
' Inevitably where three or more are gathered together there is always a fruitcake in attendance for the specific purpose of driving everybody else nuts.'
The device of having the portraits together in London for a while so that they can converse is skilfully managed and very effective.
Mavis Cheek has achieved a tour de force here in 'Amenable Women'.
Do buy it - you will enjoy it thoroughly.
Val De Beer.
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Enjoyable, but unrealistic
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Mavis Cheek continues to write in the lively style that has been her hall-mark, but in this, and her previous book, there has been a shift in her depiction of men with a noticeable souring in her attitude. In this book the two male characters are caricatures: the dead one totally over-bearing and vain and the live one weak and timid. Where before her interactions between men and women were more playful and realistic, in this book she has a middle-aged woman appearing to have not the slightest sadness over the recent death of her husband: even the most jaded wife would have some regrets in real life. This heartlessness diminishes ones sympathy for the widow and makes her seem self-righteous. There are very few marriages where one one partner is totally without blame. The personal story of the widow is intermingled with the story of Anna of Cleves ill-starred marriage to Henry VIII. The latter certainly adds an interesting dimension to the book but the final, supposed revelation connected with a commemorative stone in the widow's garden, is a bit of a damp squib. I found the supernatural element of the characters in portraits supposedly conversing with one another a rather forced device to illustrate history.
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Not the Flanders Mare
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I bought this book because of a very good write-up in the Telegraph but it's not really my bag. I found it full of waffle interspersed with tantalizing snippets about Anne of Cleves. However it was very well put together but only came alive when mentioning Anne. Overall a bit disappointing. I think Henry only called Anne names because when they first met at Rochester she showed that she found him repulsive instead of falling on her knees and pretending to be dazzled
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Being amenable can get you what you want
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This is Mavis Cheek back to her old form. I was quite disappointed by her last two books but I loved this one. Flora has always lived in the shadow of her husband. When he dies unexpectedly in a bizarre baloon accident, she finds she relishes her freedom to plan her own life. Casting around for something to occupy her mind she comes across a half finished local history which Edward was working on, and in it a reference to Anne of Cleves - Henry VIII's fourth wife - and her connections with the area. This sparks her interest and she decides to find out Anne's story. She visits Paris to view the original portrait by Holbein and feels as though the picture is speaking to her. Fending off her daughter's attempt to wrest her inheritance from her and some startling revelations about her husband seem minor irritations compared with her search for information about Anna (Anne) of Cleves. Her search helps her come to terms with her own life and she finds many parallels in Anna's story.
This is a multilevelled story which shows while circumstances may change people stay the same. Behaviour which works in one century may well be effective in a later one. Mavis Cheek's sentences sometimes meander along for several lines, but her style suits the story and there is much gentle humour. Characters are well realised and I will certainly look at Henry VIII's 4th wife with fresh eyes from now on.
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