At the Mercy of the Queen by Anne Clinard Barnhill

Her third novel, 'The Beautician's Notebook' (2017) was a change of pace - a somewhat lighthearted murder mystery. She often appeared at readings in an Elizabethan gown and cheerfully performed an educational (and un-risque) striptease to demonstrate the layers of fabric that went into everyday dress in the 1500s. Barnhill turned that into 'Queen Elizabeth's Daughter' (2014).Ī meticulous researcher, Barnhill turned herself into an authority on Tudor-era dress and fashion. Family lore had it that Elizabeth broke one of Mary Shelton's fingers in a rage when she discovered the girl had married without her permission. Martin's.Īnother ancestor was a ward to Queen Elizabeth I and one of the royal dressmakers. Barnhill fictionalized that as 'At the Mercy of the Queen' (2012), published in paperback by St. One of her ancestors was a lady-in-waiting to Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII's second queen (and some rumors claimed she was a royal mistress herself).

(Her sister was misdiagnosed for many years worse, prevailing wisdom at the time blamed the condition on parental neglect.)īarnhill followed that up with 'What You Long For' (2009), a volume of contemporary short stories, then two historical novels loosely based on her genealogy. Her thesis became her first book, 'At Home in the Land of Oz' (2007), a memoir about growing up in the 1950s and '60s with an autistic sister. 12, on social media.Ī career teacher, Barnhill earned an MFA in creative writing at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. She is faced with a terrible dilemma: give herself to the king and betray the love of her life or refuse to become his mistress and jeopardize the life of the her cousin, Queen Anne.The local literary scene was saddened by the death of author Anne Clinard Barnhill, 66, after a long battle with cancer. But Margaret has fallen deeply in love with a handsome young courtier. But she soon finds herself drawn into the perilous web of Anne's ambition.ĭesperate to hold onto the king's waning affection, Anne schemes to have him take her guileless young cousin as mistress, ensuring her husband's new paramour will owe her loyalty to the queen. A sweeping tale of sexual seduction and intrigue at the court of Henry VIII, At the Mercy of the Queen is a rich and dramatic debut historical about Madge Shelton, cousin and lady-in-waiting to Anne Boleyn.Īt the innocent age of fifteen, Lady Margaret Shelton arrives at the court of Henry VIII and quickly becomes the confidante of her cousin, Queen Anne Boleyn.

At the Mercy of the Queen by Anne Clinard Barnhill