The May Bride: A Novel

Jane Seymour finds herself in the midst of scandal and intrigue at Wolf Hall, in Suzannah Dunn's masterful new novel of the Tudor era.

Jane Seymour is a shy, dutiful fifteen-year-old when her eldest brother, Edward, brings his bride home to Wolf Hall. Katherine Filliol is the perfect match for Edward, as well as being a breath of fresh air for the Seymour family, and Jane is captivated by the older girl.

Only two years later, however, the family is torn apart by a dreadful allegation-that Katherine has had an affair with the Seymour patriarch. The repercussions for all the Seymours are incalculable, not least for Katherine herself. When Jane is sent away to serve Katharine of Aragon, she is forced to witness another wife being put aside, with terrible consequences.

Changed forever by what happened to Katherine Filliol, Jane comes to understand that, in a world where power is held entirely by men, there is a way in which she can still hold true to herself.

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The May Bride: A Novel

Jane Seymour finds herself in the midst of scandal and intrigue at Wolf Hall, in Suzannah Dunn's masterful new novel of the Tudor era.

Jane Seymour is a shy, dutiful fifteen-year-old when her eldest brother, Edward, brings his bride home to Wolf Hall. Katherine Filliol is the perfect match for Edward, as well as being a breath of fresh air for the Seymour family, and Jane is captivated by the older girl.

Only two years later, however, the family is torn apart by a dreadful allegation-that Katherine has had an affair with the Seymour patriarch. The repercussions for all the Seymours are incalculable, not least for Katherine herself. When Jane is sent away to serve Katharine of Aragon, she is forced to witness another wife being put aside, with terrible consequences.

Changed forever by what happened to Katherine Filliol, Jane comes to understand that, in a world where power is held entirely by men, there is a way in which she can still hold true to herself.

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The May Bride: A Novel

The May Bride: A Novel

by Suzannah Dunn

Narrated by Nicola Barber

Unabridged — 9 hours, 51 minutes

The May Bride: A Novel

The May Bride: A Novel

by Suzannah Dunn

Narrated by Nicola Barber

Unabridged — 9 hours, 51 minutes

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Overview

Jane Seymour finds herself in the midst of scandal and intrigue at Wolf Hall, in Suzannah Dunn's masterful new novel of the Tudor era.

Jane Seymour is a shy, dutiful fifteen-year-old when her eldest brother, Edward, brings his bride home to Wolf Hall. Katherine Filliol is the perfect match for Edward, as well as being a breath of fresh air for the Seymour family, and Jane is captivated by the older girl.

Only two years later, however, the family is torn apart by a dreadful allegation-that Katherine has had an affair with the Seymour patriarch. The repercussions for all the Seymours are incalculable, not least for Katherine herself. When Jane is sent away to serve Katharine of Aragon, she is forced to witness another wife being put aside, with terrible consequences.

Changed forever by what happened to Katherine Filliol, Jane comes to understand that, in a world where power is held entirely by men, there is a way in which she can still hold true to herself.


Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

08/18/2014
Dunn (The Confession of Katherine Howard) breathes life into Tudor-era England, giving readers a view of teenaged Jane Seymour. Fifteen-year-old Jane’s life is shaken up when her brother Edward, six years her senior, brings home his bride, Katherine. Katherine becomes a member of the household, assisting the other women in their daily tasks. But when Edward goes off to war, Katherine takes his absence better than expected. Jane is surprised at Katherine’s easy relationship with her father and shocked when her father writes poetry to Katherine. While Edward’s return from war in France is a joyous occasion for the family, Katherine doesn’t seem especially overjoyed at his return. In succeeding years, Katherine gives birth to his two sons, and their marriage seems less troubled. But when Jane unintentionally reveals to Edward the knowledge of her father’s poetry to Katherine, Edward makes some startling discoveries that threaten to disrupt the happiness of the entire Seymour household. Dunn brings a fresh voice to historical fiction, embracing the humanity of her characters in modern language. Yet it is her exposure of the innermost secrets of the nobility that will resonate most with historical fiction fans. (Oct.)

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Rich in period detail, The May Bride will appeal to readers who enjoy a domestic drama set in the world of Henry VIII without court intrigue or extensive battle scenes.

DECEMBER 2014 - AudioFile

Nicola Barber’s genteel voice and elegant diction prove to be a fine fit for historical fiction. Fifteen-year-old Jane Seymour instantly adores her new, free-spirited sister-in-law, Katherine, wife of brother Edward. Barber channels the excitable, breathless Jane, while making her portrayal of Katherine sound worldlier. When Edward goes to war, Katherine helps keep the Seymour household running smoothly. Barber’s performance is top-notch when, years later, Jane unwittingly alerts Edward to an intimate relationship that existed between Katherine and their father while Edward was away. Barber makes Jane’s remorse fully credible as all their lives are upended. Katherine is banished to a convent, while Jane is sent to be a lady-in-waiting to Katharine of Aragon. Nicola Barber’s performance is often better than the material in this scandal-rife foray into the genre. S.J.H.

Kirkus Reviews

2014-08-14
"The tricky business of a man setting aside his wife" in a Tudor marriage prefigures coming events at the court of Henry VIII in the latest from six-wives chronicler Dunn (The Confession of Katherine Howard, 2011, etc.). It's Wolf Hall revisited. While Hilary Mantel borrowed the name of the Seymour family's historic manor house for the title of her Man Booker prizewinning best-seller, for English novelist Dunn, it's the prime location for her closely observed sidebar-to-history account of Edward Seymour's doomed first marriage to mercurial Katherine Filliol. Events are narrated by future royal wife Jane Seymour, who's 15 when Edward, her oldest brother, introduces his spirited bride to the household; Jane instinctively warms to Katherine's impulsive nature. What follows is an overdetailed domestic portrait of Wolf Hall through two years of seasonal shifts, feasts and festivals while Katherine's moods flicker and fade. Edward leaves for a while, to fight in France, and on his return, his wife bears him two sons. And then the family is torn apart by scandal. Jane, innocent but implicated by her friendship with her sister-in-law, tries to salvage her brother's marriage but the rift is irreparable. Katherine is sent to a convent while Edward tries to restore family respectability by placing Jane at court, as maid of honor to Queen Catherine, Henry VIII's first wife. Jane therefore has a ringside seat when Henry, like Edward Seymour before him, declares his current marriage at an end—in order to marry Anne Boleyn, whose subsequent execution leads to Jane's coronation. Dunn embroiders a capable historical novel around the few known facts about Katherine Filliol, but non-Tudor obsessives may find her minute scrutiny of the Seymour marriage an overextended prologue to the more mainstream events.

Product Details

BN ID: 2940169547047
Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Publication date: 10/15/2014
Edition description: Unabridged
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