Another New-to-Me Old Timey Writer

Windsor Castle by William Harrison Ainsworth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I didn't know what to expect with this novel. I was hoping for something like Sir Walter Scott, and was pleased to find a lot of that, but it's also something of a fantasy or Gothic novel, and I liked the injection of supernatural. I thought it was a lot of fun.

The plot is a little unconventional; it's sort of the story of Anne Boleyn, but just what happened at Windsor Castle. It starts with her arrival in a big parade, before her marriage to Henry VIII, and ends with her at the block at the Tower (told from the King's perspective, out hunting near Windsor Castle, waiting for the cannons to fire, indicating her death). (Oh, yeah, spoiler--Anne Boleyn gets her head chopped off. Hope I'm not breaking news here.) There's also a section in the middle describing the castle throughout history, much like Hugo does with Notre Dame in Hunchback. It's purely non-fiction, the author talking to his readers, but as a digression it doesn't go on too long. It is odd though.

In between those points, there are several subplots, most of them centering on courtiers and their interactions with a demon or ghost--Herne the Hunter--who has some power in the land around the castle, and uses it to lead ambitious people astray. Anyone who accepts his help is doomed. In a way, his character helps makes sense of the chaos surrounding King Henry, connecting them all in a web of secrets and betrayals.

The ending makes sense, but I would have liked a few threads gathered up. I was hoping the supernatural Herne the Hunter would be destroyed or exorcised or something, but he's untouched at the end of the novel. And some of the subplots are tidied up so early--like 75% of the way through--that I was wondering again by the end how they were doing, if they were happy, if they had kids. A few happy endings near the finale would have eased the pain of the beheadings and other sad outcomes we end with. Still, somehow, even without an HEA it didn't seem like tragedy, though it pretty much was. I guess it feels like Anne had earned her fate, and the dead Catharine was getting her just revenge. So, yay, I guess?

I dunno. It worked for me.

There probably isn't a genre called Historical Gothic, but there should be, because this would fit squarely in it. The writing is clear and forceful, the action is brisk, and most of the plot is realistic, but it is paired with magic and the supernatural, giving it a fantasy feel. I like it.

This novel is not for everybody. I see most readers scored this 3 and under. But I liked it more than that. TBH, I almost gave this 5 stars instead of 4. If there were half points, I'd definitely have gone 4.5. I have several other novels by the author waiting to go that I'm straight up looking forward to reading, with high hopes.

Recommended for readers of Scott and Dumas and the like.

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