This is a huge thrill for me to welcome my friend, Carol McGrath today.
Acclaimed historical fiction author, Carol has brought the shadowy figure of Elizabeth Cromwell to life in a wonderful new book. Yes, we all know about the Machiavellian figure of Thomas Cromwell, advisor to Henry VIII, but the life of his wife (who died too young) is less well known and largely left to conjecture. Before her marriage to Cromwell, Elizabeth was a respected business woman in her own right. Let's bring this woman out of the shadows!
As I do with all my guests, I asked Carol to share a snippet of her research into the book...
Acclaimed historical fiction author, Carol has brought the shadowy figure of Elizabeth Cromwell to life in a wonderful new book. Yes, we all know about the Machiavellian figure of Thomas Cromwell, advisor to Henry VIII, but the life of his wife (who died too young) is less well known and largely left to conjecture. Before her marriage to Cromwell, Elizabeth was a respected business woman in her own right. Let's bring this woman out of the shadows!
As I do with all my guests, I asked Carol to share a snippet of her research into the book...
Thomas Cromwell had his secrets...
The Woman in the Shadows is the story of Thomas Cromwell’s marriage and early career, recounted through the eyes of his wife, Elizabeth. Thomas Cromwell was, of course, Henry VIII’s infamous statesman who achieved finally the King’s divorce from Catherine of Aragon. The novel is not really about The King’s Great Matter but rather about a London housewife and cloth merchant. She was a young, attractive wealthy widow when she married Thomas Cromwell in 1514 and as her family were in the Cloth Trade I placed her in that sphere as well. Elizabeth was more interested in interesting courtiers in her finer goods than she was in drawing too close to court. The book is a portrait of a Tudor woman married to a fascinating ambitious man. Anne Boleyn, King Henry and Thomas Wolsey do not have a voice but remain in the background, gossiped about by London merchant wives.
The interesting fun fact that I discovered whilst researching was that Thomas Cromwell possibly was father to a love child, born whilst he was married happily to Elizabeth. Jane Cromwell, the child, is mentioned in his will and Historians, such as Tracy Borman, have worked out that she was probably born in 1520. Jane Cromwell was married in due course to a man who worked for Thomas Cromwell and she grew up on Merseyside, not London. Since Thomas Cromwell is regarded as a family man and never remarried after Elizabeth’s death in 1528, I found this fact curious. I used it in the story and, in the excerpt from The Woman in the Shadows below, he is about to be exposed through Elizabeth’s discovery of a little book in his cloak pocket. Read the novel to find out more and the consequences of this startling discovery.
The interesting fun fact that I discovered whilst researching was that Thomas Cromwell possibly was father to a love child, born whilst he was married happily to Elizabeth. Jane Cromwell, the child, is mentioned in his will and Historians, such as Tracy Borman, have worked out that she was probably born in 1520. Jane Cromwell was married in due course to a man who worked for Thomas Cromwell and she grew up on Merseyside, not London. Since Thomas Cromwell is regarded as a family man and never remarried after Elizabeth’s death in 1528, I found this fact curious. I used it in the story and, in the excerpt from The Woman in the Shadows below, he is about to be exposed through Elizabeth’s discovery of a little book in his cloak pocket. Read the novel to find out more and the consequences of this startling discovery.
 Austin Friars Garden |  Thomas Cromwell (Holbein) |
The Woman in the Shadows
Elizabeth Cromwell is an attractive widow of two and twenty. As a female cloth merchant, she trades, despite the cloth guild’s opposition, in silk mixes loved by courtiers. She marries the steely ambitious cloth merchant and lawyer Thomas Cromwell. The couple set up home in a substantial house close to the Tower. As Thomas fills it with gorgeous Flanders tapestries, fabulously carved German chests, cupboards, closets and precious objects, she makes exquisite sample books for their cloth business. Together, they face and overcome the dangerous consequences of a shadowy secret, one which presents obstacles to their future until she discovers that Thomas carries his own secret. Early Tudor London is a ruthless city of merchants, heretics, cut purses, tricksters and fabulous pageantry. Can their marriage survive?
Read an excerpt...
I removed my blue kirtle and bodice from my clothing pole, and searched for a suitable over-gown. At length I saw one, a green flowery over skirt which hung amongst Thomas’s tawny velvet coats, the ones he wore for the Cardinal’s work. As I lifted away the over dress, a small book poking out of a wide pocket that Thomas always had set into the fabric of his velvet coats tumbled out. I scooped it up and placed it on the chest below the window wondering if it contained poems. With teaching the children their letters every day, I had been too busy to read for my own pleasure. I would look at it later.
Bessie arrived, glanced at my choice of gown and appraised it.
‘Very fine, Mistress Elizabeth. You will look a treat in that gown.’
She helped me into it and found me a pair of contrasting sleeves.
‘Hurry, Bessie,’ I said with impatience. ‘We will miss the sword-fighting, and I promised Gregory.’
‘Here, you’re done, Mistress Elizabeth.’ She tied the last ribbon and stood back to inspect me.
In my haste to dress, I left my linen work cap lying on top of the book. I changed my slippers for stouter shoes and set the slippers on the chest beside it.
Bessie arrived, glanced at my choice of gown and appraised it.
‘Very fine, Mistress Elizabeth. You will look a treat in that gown.’
She helped me into it and found me a pair of contrasting sleeves.
‘Hurry, Bessie,’ I said with impatience. ‘We will miss the sword-fighting, and I promised Gregory.’
‘Here, you’re done, Mistress Elizabeth.’ She tied the last ribbon and stood back to inspect me.
In my haste to dress, I left my linen work cap lying on top of the book. I changed my slippers for stouter shoes and set the slippers on the chest beside it.
Meet Carol McGrath
Based in England, Carol McGrath writes Historical Fiction. She studied History at Queens University Belfast, has an MA in Creative Writing from the Seamus Heaney Centre, Queens University Belfast and an English MPhil from Royal Holloway, University of London. The Handfasted Wife is her debut novel, first in a trilogy titled The Daughters of Hastings. The second and third novels The Swan-Daughter and The Betrothed Sister have followed and are now available on amazon and in bookshops. Carol is an historian specialised in The Medieval Era. Her first love, however, is writing. She is an avid reader and reviewer.
Visit her website www.carolcmcgrath.co.uk
Visit her website www.carolcmcgrath.co.uk
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