England 1527 King Henry desires a son and a divorce from his wife Katherine who can't give him one setting his eyes on Anne Boleyn

England, 1527, King Henry desires a son and a divorce from his wife, Katherine, who can't give him one, setting his eyes on Anne Boleyn...

I love all things to do with history and the Tudors, and this book was everything I hoped it would be. For me, the author told their stories in a way I haven't heard before - NETGALLEY REVIEWER

I have long been interested in how a story can come out differently depending on who’s telling it. This dichotomy in storytelling is the basis for my book, The Great Matter Monologues.

Though the story of King Henry’s Great Matter is well known, having been popularized many times over in books, plays, films, TV documentaries, etc., I want to convey the complex triangular interplay between Katherine, Henry and Anne in an experimental form, make it into a hybrid work, both theatrical and novelistic. Seeing and hearing three characters (as if costumed, standing in different stage areas), each communicating his/her version of a shared event in individual monologues (narratives), without dialogue.

My aim is to represent the characters truthfully, while focusing on getting under their skins, adding flesh to their mythic bones, to reveal what history cannot give us, the psychological, emotional and behavioral realms that make them living, breathing people, not merely figures of historical importance. That said, I am not interested in imposing moral judgments on their actions. I leave that to each reader if he so wishes.

5 out of 5 stars. I really enjoyed this book so much. It has a really great plot, superb main characters and I read it in one sitting. I would highly recommend this book. NETGALLEY REVIEWER

I am more concerned with the reality of the characters, their reactions, their unique justifications, their spiralling thoughts and feelings in circumstances which at the time were earth-shattering, given the changes that ensued socially, culturally and religiously.

I am not a historian or biographer. I do not believe in a definitive, fixed history. If one wishes to argue that there is one, I am not game for the discussion.

I conceive this book as a poetic retelling (one of many on this great subject), though no less aimed at targeting the truth of what happened. What’s important is that these remarkable historical people be given a voice, to tell their versions of events in their unique perceived ways, and for the reader to indulge in a storied past, though forever alive.

Enjoy The great matter monologues...

Thomas Crockett