The Queen’s Musician
by Martha Jean Johnson
Anne Boleyn’s story has intrigued readers, moviegoers, and theater audiences worldwide, but she didn’t rise and fall in isolation. On May 17, 1536—two days before her execution—five men were beheaded, all convicted of being her lovers. The Queen’s Musician tells the untold tale of one of these men, seen from his own perspective. Mark Smeaton is a brilliant young musician in Henry' VIII’s glittering Tudor court.
Mark is gifted and hard-working but lowly-born. He scrambles to succeed in a world where birth and rank determine all. His musical talent brings him into the king’s service where he meets Madge Shelton, Anne Boleyn’s younger cousin. Both Mark and Madge are perceptive, kind-hearted, and passionately drawn to each other, but love between them is forbidden. One is the child of a carpenter; the other is a Boleyn. In the end, Anne Boleyn’s glamour, ambition, and sudden ruin entrap them both.
In the novel, Mark and Madge speak to the reader. Each observes Anne Boleyn’s extraordinary ascent and precipitous fall from grace. They witness Henry VIII’s mounting rage and the charm and recklessness of the other men who will die with Mark. They seek beauty and meaning in life, perhaps with each other. As star-crossed lovers, they both face bewildering twists of fate.
Novelists have chronicled the lives of many historical figures of this era: Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, Mary Boleyn, Sir Thomas More, Sir Thomas Cromwell, and others. Although Mark Smeaton has been a minor character in some of these works, I do not know of any other novelist who has focused explicitly on his story. In my rendering, he is an individual with hopes and dreams of his own. He witnesses earth-shaking events from a never-before-told perspective. He faces impossible choices that few of us could ever comprehend. Madge Shelton adds another distinctive viewpoint—she is at her cousin’s side during Anne Boleyn’s most confounding private moments.
You can read more about The Queen’s Musician in KIrkus Reviews and Readers’ Favorite. Please visit Simon & Schuster if you would like to pre-order for May 2025.