Two random notes on Anne Boleyn
I'm still reading novels about Anne Boleyn, but the end is nigh (of the novels, not the article).
1. Lozania Prole's (pseud. Ursula Bloom) The Dark-Eyed Queen (1967) features two bizarre twists on the usual shtick: 1) Anne has the beginnings of a second thumb on both hands, instead of the beginning of a second little finger on one hand; 2) Thomas Cranmer, normally represented as somewhat on the wishy-washy side, is here both Machiavellian and, um, into pages (as in young men, not books). I suppose #1 derives from a somewhat cursory reading of the historical source material, but goodness knows how Bloom came up with #2.
2. The Victorians are creeping into this project, courtesy of Agnes Strickland. (And you thought I could keep the Victorians out? Hah!) Directly and indirectly, Strickland's negative account of Anne Boleyn in Lives of the Queens of England has influenced more fictional representations of Anne than that of any other biographer.