Author Interview: Vivienne Brereton
JMR- Welcome to the Book’s Delight, Vivienne,
tell us where you live and what you do for fun. What does the perfect day look
like?
VB Thanks so much for
inviting me, Jeanie. It’s a pleasure to answer your questions. I have lived in
six different countries in my adult life, including the US. I have very fond
memories of my time in Austin, Texas and Portland, Oregon. I now live in the
South of France which sounds far more glamorous than it is! I live in a small
village which I love. It was built in 1519, during the reign of François I at exactly the same time of the setting of my novel.
So I do open my front door onto a piece of history. Swimming, and walking in
nature are my two favorite ways of unwinding, apart from getting together with
good friends, reading, listening to music or watching Netflix with that forbidden
extra piece or two of chocolate.
The perfect day for me right now (as for so
many) would be a trip somewhere with my family, perhaps into the hills from
where you get a fabulous view of the Mediterranean. But just being with them
anywhere in the world would be amazing as I haven’t seen them for so long and
really miss them.
📚
JMR- Would it be fair to say that the Tudor Period is your favorite time period? Do you have a second choice? What and why?
VB I’ve always loved
the Tudors, right from a very young child. Which I think is quite unusual
because it was long before ‘The Six Wives of Henry VIII’ hit the TV screens. My
parents said they used to call me ‘The little Tudor madam’ because I wouldn’t
stop talking about them. In a past life perhaps…? My second choice would be Regency
England which has produced so many brilliant novels, with the Queen of them
all: Jane Austen at the top but with Georgette Heyer not far behind and many
excellent contemporary novels.
📚📚
JMR- What is it about the Tudors that fascinates
so many people? There is almost what you could call a cult following for all
things Tudor. What draws you to them?
VB Jeanie, I totally
agree. There is a cult following
(including me, ha ha!) and every time a new movie or TV series pops up, it
starts all over again. I think they’re so well-liked because they were larger
than life, fabulously wealthy, their clothes and jewellery the ultimate in Kardashian
bling, They lived in amazing castles and manors, with such verve and dash that
we can almost reach and touch them to this day. And they had so many flaws it
makes them more human and relatable, not remote and out of touch. If you sat
down and imagined the most dysfunctional family in the world, yet charming and
likeable, surely the Tudors would be top of the list. If they were alive today,
they’d sell out at every newsstand every week with their drama: failed
marriages; shady goings-on in various castles; question marks over missing
relatives, presumed murdered; take-overs which involved an entire country; wives
who needed to produce sons and couldn’t. Best - or rather worst - of all: one
of the most powerful man in Christendom who couldn’t father a son and blamed it
on his poor wives, forcing two of them to pay the ultimate price for their
failure.
📚
JMR- Who is your favorite Tudor and why? What’s
a burning question you’d like answered about them or another Tudor favorite?
VB It has to be Anne
Boleyn. She is the most elusive of them all. She died a dreadful death and I
think her revenge was to be out of reach for eternity. With all the characters
in my novel, after extensive research, I really felt I knew them inside out. In
Anne’s case, this was nearly impossible. She was so badly hurt by her time at
the Tudor court that I think she took everything with her when she left: the
very essence of her. We don’t even know for sure how old she was. The most
common date given is 1501 which makes sense to me but it has been put as late
as 1507. I’d love to meet Anne for lunch on the beach, kick back with a glass or
two of rosé and ask her all the questions I hope I’ve answered in my
novel but am not sure. She appears as the best friend of a major character but
she makes her presence felt. As we stretched out our feet on the warm sand, I
would ask her if she truly loved Henry or whether she still loved Harry Percy
to the end. I see another life she could have had with the Earl of
Northumberland’s son. One that brought her many children and happiness.
JMR-You’ve visited most if not all the Tudor
sites. Where did you feel closest to them?
VB Hever Castle. The home of Anne Boleyn. It’s
smaller and more intimate than Hampton Court and you are treading the grounds
of the same place she did all those years ago.
📚
JMR- Do we know everything there is to know
about the Tudors? During your research, what detail surprised you the most?
VB You always hope that
history is going to yield up more secrets and it’s thrilling when it does. A
good example of this is the newly-discovered portrait of Mary Boleyn which was languishing
in the bedchamber of Mary Queen of Scots in the Palace of Holyrood House,
Edinburgh, Scotland. It was labelled ‘Portrait of a woman’, in other words, an
unknown woman lost to history, until June, 2020. I found it so exciting because
I gain so much information from portraits, studying them in books, or far
better, up-close in a sixteenth century original setting.
📚
JMR- I think it’s really neat that you include
recipes in your book. Tell us about some of the things you’ve cooked. My
characters eat a lot of Pottage. Have you ever tasted it?
VB That’s interesting,
Jeanie. I’m looking forward to reading your novels. The recipes happened by
chance. I was trying to get the reader to be drawn back in time, using all
their senses. My novel covers four countries so I added maps, historical
background and a guide to all the characters. I liked the idea of recipes and
of course was going to leave it to the experts. Getting in touch with those
who’d written French medieval and Tudor cookery books turned out to be far
harder than I thought. It was impossible to contact the authors directly and
one agent asked for $50 just to include one recipe for one time only! The heart-warming
exception to this was Sophie Jackson who generously allowed me to select two
recipes from her lovely book ‘The Medieval Christmas’, with only a mention of her
as the author as her price.
With the other recipes, I thought, wait a
minute, how hard can it be? You’ve got all the original sources yourself of the
cookery books of the time. Do it yourself. So I had enormous fun sending off to
specialist firms for ingredients you wouldn’t normally use such as long pepper
or grains of paradise and saffron. I made every single recipe in the book
including pea pottage which turned out to be extremely tasty. I was surprised
at how all the food had a Middle Eastern flavour, probably because of all the
exotic spices they used. And no, they didn’t eat bad meat or have atrocious
table manners. Quite the opposite in fact.
📚
JMR- Vivienne tell us about your book, A Phoenix
Rising.
VB It is a novel about
love, ambition and intrigue. I wanted to include a blend of real historical
characters and fictional ones because I knew it would be more fun for me to
write. The central character who links all the others together is Thomas
Howard, head of one of the most powerful families in Tudor England, and future
grandfather to two of Henry VIII’s queens. Sent to the Tower for supporting the
wrong king at the Battle of Bosworth, Thomas rises from the ashes of his
family’s fall from grace. The Prologue takes place in Zennor Castle, Cornwall
on Twelfth Night,1497. Here we find Thomas’s favourite son, Edward, plighting
his troth to Cecily Tredavoe, daughter of a Cornish lord. Turning the page to
find out what happens next, we find ourselves fast-forwarded to 1520 where
preparations are in full swing for the extraordinary Field of Cloth of Gold,
where virtual celebrations for its 500th year anniversary in June
have now completed.
📚
JMR- What is book two about? When can we read
it?
VB Book Two is called
‘Beware the Lizard Lurking’ and continues the story. Thomas Howard is a keeper
of secrets but as the old saying goes ‘there are no secrets that time does not
reveal.’ It will be published on February 12th, 2021, right before
the name day of one of the main characters: Valentine de Fleury.
📚
JMR- Tell us how we can follow you on social media and the web?
📚
JMR- What question were you hoping I’d ask but
didn’t?
VB Jeanie, I’ve loved
answering your questions. They are so interesting and as they’re about my
favorite topic, the Tudors, what’s not to like? If I had to come up with one
question it might be one that you as a fellow writer will appreciate.
What do you think
writers appreciate the most?
Apart from readers who
are kind enough to make contact and show their appreciation, I think it would
be gratitude to those who also take the time to post a review. Hopefully not a
bad one, ha ha! But it is the reviews that make all the difference to a writer,
and are usually the reader’s first port of call to help them make up their
minds whether or not to buy a book.
Thank you, Jeanie, for letting me come on. I
do hope your readers enjoy reading my replies to your questions as much as I
enjoyed answering them.
JMR- I totally agree with this one. Reviews can make or break a great book. So, listen up readers, go back to Amazon or Barnes and Noble or wherever you bought your book and leave a review! Click the Amazon button below to see more information about Vivienne's books.
Thank you Vivienne for a very enjoyable interview. I wish you great luck with your books, I look forward to reading about Thomas Howard. Stay safe!
Reader's Don't miss a single interview, review, article or story. Subscribe Today!
Comments
Post a Comment