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Flora Chapman is surprised to discover she is not in the least distressed by the death of her husband Edward. Rather the opposite. All of a sudden she has a sense of liberation, finding her daughter's mourning somehow distasteful and wishing to emerge from the shadow which her husband's dashing image had cast over her. She hopes, too, that she will no longer hear the pet name her husband had for her - 'Bun Face'. Edward, spectacular in death as in life, has managed to kill himself thrice over. It is a shame that he hadn’t taken his paramour, the village’s pink flibbertigibbet Pauline, with him, but she is left behind to shame Flora when she allows the story of her affair to be printed in the local rag. Flora, meanwhile, has taken it upon herself to complete the history of the village that Edward had begun. She is intent on solving the mystery of the stone she has discovered on her property, one inscribed '1557' and decorated in such a way that it is obvious it was commissioned by someone of intelligence and wealth - but who? Flora, herself plain, takes umbrage at the reference in it to Anna of Cleves, Henry VIII's fourth wife, as the 'Flanders Mare'. She journeys to the Louvre to see the portrait by Holbein, and somehow forms a connection with the Queen despised by Henry. The second thread of the book concentrates on the historical aspect of that sad lady and gives her view of her own importance, including the effect she had on Henry’s daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, to whom she was both stepmother and, later, aunt. It's a shame that Flora doesn’t find the fulfilment she thinks she is now free to pursue, although she earns a new self-confidence. Her perceptions of the villagers are, however, delicious and the link she feels with Anna is interesting. It's fascinating to think that it's possible Anna of Cleves may, at this late date, see something of a revision of how she is perceived. Even though Henry didn’t think she was worth his time and affection, Anna probably didn’t feel he was terribly attractive and it says a great deal about her acuity that she was able to turn what at first appeared to be disaster into a lot of property and a very good living for herself. Nor did she come to the same end as some of Henry's other, prettier wives. The story is very entertaining-- especially all the sly and witty digs about villagers and art guides. The characterisation is well done, with the female characters being perhaps better constructed than the males, who are more cartoons than portraits. Yes, the mystery of the engraved stone is solved and even though Flora does not find fulfilment in the pages of the book, one has the feeling that she might, sometime in the future, break out, imbued with a new self-confidence. I just hope that when she is safe from detection, she poisons her abominable daughter - but that is something readers are not permitted to know.
Reviewed by Denise Pickles, April 2008
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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