Review of The Queen of Subtleties: A Novel of Anne Boleyn

I adored this piece of historical fiction. Suzannah Dunn knows her Tudor dynasty and shows it with subtle references to minor, quotidian things that only a true Tudor admirer would know. Her use of modern language (both in narration and dialogue) is an interesting twist, and one I think that is meant to draw the reader into the Reformation by making the characters more personable and easier for modern audiences to like and to relate to their own feelings. Undoubtedly, a parallel between this novel's portrayal of Anne Boleyn and the acting style mastered by Natalie Dormer in the Showtime series, The Tudors, can be drawn. The quick tongued self-absorption of this character is only matched by Dunn's sensitive handling of her dynamic, and often extreme, emotions. I'm not entirely sure that the secondary narration of Lucy Cornwallis was completely fitting; in many ways, it detracted from the main story, and was not fully developed enough to constitute a second narrator. The tidbits of post-Boleyn information we glean from the fictional narrator Cornwallis are not worth breaking up the more colorful tapestry that is woven through Anne's interior monologue. The prose in this novel is fluid and descriptive with several instances of bitingly sharp expression and wit - any fan of the infamous King Henry VIII is surely to enjoy this well-researched and creatively expressed piece of fiction.