The Tapestry (38 page)

LIST OF CHARACTERS

THE STAFFORDS

Joanna Stafford,
former Dominican novice

Sir Richard Stafford,
Joanna’s father and younger brother to the Duke of Buckingham

Lady Isabella Stafford,
Joanna’s mother and maid of honor to Catherine of Aragon

Henry Stafford,
third Duke of Buckingham, executed 1521

Margaret Bulmer,
illegitimate daughter of Buckingham, executed 1537

Arthur Bulmer,
Margaret’s son

Lord Henry Stafford,
Buckingham’s oldest son

Lady Ursula Stafford,
Lord Henry’s wife and daughter of Margaret Pole

THE TUDORS

Henry VIII,
crowned king of England in 1509

Anne of Cleves,
fourth queen of Henry VIII

Mary Tudor,
Henry VIII’s daughter by his first wife, Catherine of Aragon

Elizabeth Tudor,
Henry VIII’s daughter by his second wife, Anne Boleyn

Edward Tudor,
Henry VIII’s son by his third wife, Jane Seymour

THE HOWARDS

Thomas Howard,
third Duke of Norfolk

Henry Howard,
Earl of Surrey, the duke’s heir

Catherine Howard,
daughter of Edmund Howard, the duke’s younger brother

Charles Howard,
Catherine’s brother

Elizabeth Howard,
Duchess of Norfolk and daughter of the Duke of Buckingham

Agnes Howard,
the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, the duke’s stepmother

THE KING’S COURT

Thomas Cromwell,
Earl of Essex and Lord Privy Seal

Stephen Gardiner,
Bishop of Winchester

Thomas Culpepper,
gentleman of the privy chamber

Sir Walter Hungerford,
lord of Farleigh Hungerford Castle

Hans Holbein,
court painter

Jane Boleyn,
Lady Rochford, widow of George Boleyn

Sir Andrew Windsor,
keeper of the king’s wardrobe

Sir Anthony Denny,
gentleman of the privy chamber

Sir Thomas Heneage,
chief gentleman of the privy chamber

Doctor William Butts,
court physician

Samuel Clocksworth,
barber-surgeon

Father Francis,
priest and confessor in Chapel Royal

John Cheke,
instructor at Cambridge University

PEOPLE OF DARTFORD

Geoffrey Scovill,
constable

Edmund Sommerville,
former friar of Dartford Priory

Oliver Gwinn,
farmer

Agatha Gwinn,
second wife of Oliver Gwinn and former novice
mistress

Sister Eleanor Watson,
a former nun of the priory

Father William Mote,
priest of Holy Trinity Church

Gregory,
clerk and former porter of the priory

IMPERIAL COURT

Charles V,
Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain

Queen Mary of Hungary,
sister to Charles V and regent of the Netherlands

Eustace Chapuys,
ambassador in England representing Charles V

Jacquard Rolin,
spy in the service of Charles V

Pedro Hantaras,
aide to Chapuys

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The Tapestry
was written and researched, in part, in the New York Public Library, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. Within that grand and historic building, I worked at my allotted space in the Wertheim Study, endowed for future authors and scholars by Barbara Tuchman. I am grateful to Jay Barksdale for renewing my status in the Wertheim so that I could once again take advantage of the NYPL’s world-renowned collection and be inspired by the building’s beauty.

The other exquisite New York City institutions I drew inspiration from were the Cloisters Museum and Gardens of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine. Both of them display spectacular tapestries from the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries and are sources of information on tapestry design and production.

Touchstone Books published my trilogy of novels in North America, and I am fortunate to have such a team.
The Tapestry
was acquired by the wonderful senior editor Heather Lazare, who oversaw the publication of
The Crown
and edited
The Chalice
. Lauren Spiegel edited
The Tapestry
and I am grateful for her talent and insights and her sense of humor, too, which helps in all situations. On these three books, I’ve been fortunate indeed to work with senior publicist Jessica Roth and marketing manager Meredith Vilarello. I thank art director Cherlynne Li, production editor Martha Schwartz and copyeditor Anne Cherry, and editorial assistant Etinosa Agbonlahor.

The Tapestry
would not exist without my literary agent, Heide
Lange of Sanford J. Greenburger, and her topnotch assistants Rachel Mosner and Stephanie Delman. Without such guidance, I would be lost. I am also grateful to the agents at HSG in New York City and Abner Stein in London.

When an author sets out to dive deep into sixteenth-century history, there is no chance of success without help. I am grateful to Mike Still, assistant museum manager of the Dartford Museum, for his store of knowledge of life in Dartford in centuries past. Hans van Felius and Jochen Schenck helped me with the task of re-creating sixteenth-century Antwerp, Brussels, and Germany. Sister Mary Catharine Perry, OP, Dominican nuns of Our Lady of the Rosary, kindly read my book for accuracy. I enjoyed my theological discussions with my sister, Amy Bilyeau.

As with my first two novels, author and teacher Russell Rowland steered me in the right storytelling directions. I humbly thank my readers and send my apologies for e-mailing them chapter after chapter for reaction. I know that at times they read my manuscript at some inconvenience to themselves. I will always be grateful to Emilya Naymark and Harriet Sharrard for reading
The Tapestry
, and also for the contributions of Kris Waldherr and Judith Starkston.

I must thank my magazine family at
DuJour
: Jason and Haley Binn, editor in chief Nicole Vecchiarelli, Stephanie Jones, and the rest of our supertalented staff. A special word of thanks to James Cohen, president and CEO of Hudson Media Inc.

Other people who’ve helped me on my journey: Rosemarie Santini, Max Adams, M. J. Rose, Bret Watson, Bruce Fretts, Max McDonnell, Ellen Levine, Donna Bulseco, Megan Deem, Lorraine Glennon, Jessica Branch, Daryl Chen, Christie LeBlanc, Sophie Perinot and the authors of Book Pregnant, Christopher Gortner, Amy Bruno, Debra Brown, and the like-minded friends on Twitter. A special thanks to Sue Trowbridge, website designer.

Finally, my most profound gratitude to my husband and two children, for their patience with me while my head was lost in the sixteenth century. I love you with all of my heart.

TOUCHSTONE READING GROUP GUIDE

The Tapestry

F
ormer Dominican novice Joanna Stafford occupies a precarious position—one that is all the more dangerous because, unbeknownst to Henry VIII, she has twice been implicated in plots to overthrow him. So when she is called to Whitehall Palace to oversee Henry’s valuable collection of tapestries, she is understandably wary. But even in her new position of favor, Joanna has much to worry about, and her worst suspicions are realized when an assassin makes an attempt on her life minutes after she sets foot in Whitehall. Meanwhile, her naive and beautiful friend Catherine Howard is being courted by the king, despite his still being married to Anne of Cleves.

When Joanna discovers that some of her closest allies have hatched a sinister plot with occult underpinnings, she is thrust into another high-stakes game of life and death that will take her from the highest offices in the Holy Roman Empire to the executioner’s scaffold on Tower Hill in an attempt to discover, once and for all, the life she is meant to lead.

FOR DISCUSSION

1. Upon her arrival at Whitehall, Thomas Culpepper tells Joanna that Henry VIII “
desired a court built on chivalry.
” Would you describe Hans Holbein as chivalrous? What about Culpepper? Cromwell? The king himself?

2. Though she is certainly a “woman of surprises,” as King Henry calls her, Joanna finds ways to use men’s assumptions about a woman’s role to her advantage. How does being a woman give Joanna advantages in court? Compare what Joanna does to the ways Catherine Howard uses her femininity as a tool for advancement.

3. Catherine Howard poses for a tapestry of
The Sorrow of Niobe
. In Greek myth, Niobe claimed that, because she had fourteen children, rather than just two, she should be worshipped instead of Leto, the mother of Apollo and Artemis. Apollo and Artemis punished Niobe’s hubris by killing her children. Why do you think Henry chose this subject? Can you draw parallels to any themes in the novel?

4. Holbein says that Joanna is “
someone who sees the world in black and white,
” and she can be quite single-minded in her ideas about the court. How does Joanna’s view change over the course of the novel? Give examples of some issues that become more complex for her.

5. Holbein tells Joanna, “
‘There is no one law in the German lands. Each kingdom, each dukedom, each principality has its own laws. It’s easy to make mistakes, but those mistakes can be hard to recover from.’
” How is this similar to Joanna’s life at court? How does she have to juggle shifting sets of values and codes in order to survive in England?

6. What do you think of Joanna’s decision to involve herself in the dark magic necessary to undo the spell she believes has been cast on Culpepper? What does it tell you about her character? Were you surprised by her belief in Orobas’s power?

7. Joanna struggles with whether to tell Geoffrey about the prophecy that shapes her life. Do you think that she does this more for her own protection or for his? Why?

8. Transformation is a major theme of this novel, and Joanna is witness to many personalities who are changed by love (or lack thereof). Compare Catherine Howard, Thomas Culpepper, and Geoffrey’s transformations in the novel. How does love change these characters’ fates for better or for worse? Is love worth it for these characters?

9. Joanna is often torn between her duties as a subject of the king and her duties as a woman of God, one whose Catholic beliefs are directly opposed to the court’s mandates. At times, she must compromise in order to survive. Describe Joanna’s personal moral code. Do you respect her as an ethical character? Why or why not?

10. Joanna has a complicated relationship with Catherine Howard; and Joanna can’t quite bring herself to approve of Catherine’s choices. Yet at the end of the novel, Joanna is willing to lie in order to bring Catherine happiness. Did you expect this? Would you have done the same?

11. Near the end of
The Tapestry
, Edmund says that Bishop Gardiner “
‘would do anything if it meant bringing him—and this kingdom—closer to God.’
” Contrast this with Joanna’s personality and goals. How are Joanna and Gardiner alike and different in in the ways they stick to their moral codes? Who do you most admire?

12. What do you think will come next for Geoffrey Scovill and Joanna Stafford?