Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Tale of Two Portraits, 18 Nov 2006
This is a romantic romp through one of the great mysteries of Tudor times. It is set in the 16th Century, in the family of Sir Thomas More, one-time chancellor to Henry VIII who defied him and was executed. The bookends of the story are two portraits of the More family done by Hans Holbein, the German artist who became Henry's court painter. The first portait is a charming sketch of the family dating from 1528, but by 1532 when the work is redone, the family members have moved around, a mysterious man has entered the picture, and family solidarity is clearly threadbare. Meg Giggs, Sir Thomas's erudite ward, appears as a central character in the first sketch, but later is elbowed aside by her adoptive sister, who seems to be casting a lascivious glance at Meg's husband. Many experts have wondered what is going on here. Bennett's novel fills in the story between the first and second pictures, focusing on Meg and the two men in her life, her weak husband John Clement and Holbein, the clumsy genius. Bennett acknowledges a debt to an art historian who has a startling theory about the true identity of Meg's husband.
It's surprising at first that the characters speak in 21st century English, and there are no thee's and thou's. But the purpose is to show that in affairs of the heart there is scant difference between 16th century women, in their fierce pentagonal bonnets, and ourselves. Read this for a fascinating peek into life in a great Tudor family.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
loosely plotted with lots of untied ends..., 25 Mar 2008
sorry to be a negative voice here: I always want to find good historical novelists and so was ready to love this book but was disappointed.
The plot just tries to do too much and fails to tie the whole thing together: the characters are a mystery in that they say and do things that are at odds which what we've been told they feel; and the historical sense seems all wrong.
I was interested in reading a book set in the early Tudor period that doesn't focus on either Henry or Anne Boleyn and Thomas More is an interesting subject. However the man is made a mystery (in an unsatisfying way) in his combination of erudite humanism and his grisly, sinister torturing of both 'heretics' and himself (the hair shirt) for his religious beliefs. The revelation at the end of his early love is equally out of keeping with everything we have learnt about him.
Similarly Meg Griggs, the heroine, moves off in all kinds of odd directions that never come together: she's part educated woman, part superstitious herbalist rejecting 'scientific' medicine; part Latinist, with a feeling for protestantism; she discovers a sinister side to the man she knows as father and yet manages to forget it. And her relationships with the two men which should have been the heart of the story are shallow and over-romanticised.
Also the narrative is structured in an odd way: it's mainly a first-person narrative by Meg, but then there are interspersed narratives by Holbein and John Clement that just appear and then disappear again...
All together there could have been a good book at the heart of this but it unfortuantely reads like a first draft that needs more work. The plot needs pruning, the narrative needs tightening up and the characters clarifying. At the moment there's a sudden flurry of information in the last chapter which completely changes the story and the characters (or ought to) and yet it's all just swept away for an obligatory happy ending.
For a brilliant though very different read, try Peter Ackroyd's biography of Thomas More.
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14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant Novel: Intriguing, Moving, and Rich in History., 6 Oct 2006
For anyone who enjoys historical fiction, romance, or politics, this book is for you! It's over 500 pages but I read it in two days, I couldn't put it down!!
This novel takes a theory about Holbein's painting and gives an entire amazing back story. The author uses such descriptive detail that it's easy to lose yourself in the story. All the while there is so much else going on between other characters, with Sir Thomas Moore and the changes in religion. I prefer historical fiction because I can learn about history in a more interesting way than reading a non fiction novel, and as 16th century England wasn't something I knew a lot about, I learned loads from this novel. There is a great deal of history and multiple characters integrated into the story, but its woven so well that it reads easily and keeps you interested! For the girl in me, who loves romances and drama, the love story between Meg and John is both heartwarming and heart-wrenching.
Portrait of an Unknown Woman is an amazing story of the creation of Hans Holbein's Ambassadors and More family paintings, but more importantly about the people who were in them and the changing world around them. I was really impressed with this read, as it's apparently her first work of fiction, and have recommended it to all my mates! Five stars!
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