Martha Jean Johnson is the author of the new novel The Queen's Musician. Her other books include You Can't Do It Alone. She spent many years as a public policy analyst, and she lives in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Q: Why did you decide to write a novel based on the story of Tudor-era musician Mark Smeaton?
A: Some people follow golf or cooking shows or ballroom dancing. For me, it’s the Tudors. I’ve wolfed down Tudor novels for decades and watched just about every film, play, and TV series there is: The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Anne of a Thousand Days, A Man for All Seasons—right up to Wolf Hall and the musical Six.
Henry VIII alone offers enough drama for a lifetime. He was an absolute ruler who married six times and executed two of his wives. He was mercurial and obsessed with having a son. Then, his astonishing daughter, Elizabeth I, became one of England’s greatest sovereigns.
Q: How did you research your book, and what did you learn that especially surprised you?
A: Luckily for me, a number of well-regarded historians have published thorough profiles of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII. The wonderful Claire Ridgway has gathered and vetted information about the era and all the major players.
But what surprised me is how much is still up for grabs. Historians aren’t sure when Anne Boleyn was born, for example, or how many pregnancies she had.
And that’s leaving aside the more fundamental questions: Was she guilty of any of the charges against her? Why did a man who once adored a woman decide to have her killed? Why didn’t he just divorce her and send her away?
Q: What did you see as the right balance between history and fiction as you wrote the novel?
A: I like your question because it is a balancing act. If you’re writing a novel, your mission is to tell a story that’s clear, vivid, and engaging. But you also need to respect your readers, and Tudor fans tend to be deeply knowledgeable about the history.
For The Queen’s Musician, I followed the timeline of Anne Boleyn’s rise and fall and based several chapters on the widely reported “evidence” against her. Even though the book is a novel, I included end notes for readers who want to explore the historical record.
Little is known about Mark Smeaton, so I had more leeway in portraying him. Ledgers show that he received gifts from the king, suggesting that he was a popular and successful musician. Documents refer to his arrest and execution. Beyond that, there are stories and rumors and salacious gossip. No one knows what he was thinking or why he was targeted.
I do imagine a budding love affair between Mark and Madge Shelton, a young lady-in-waiting who is Anne Boleyn’s cousin. Most historians would say that a romance between a commoner and a privileged young woman would have been unthinkable, especially on her part.
But they were likely in the same spaces many times, Mark as a musician and Madge attending the queen. People do fall in love even when it’s inadvisable.
Q: The author Albert A. Bell Jr. said of the book, “In this compelling novel, Johnson has used Mark Smeaton, a musician in the court of Henry VIII, to show readers how difficult it was to keep one’s head attached to one’s shoulders in the Tudor era. She knows this period and makes it live.” What do you think of that description?
A: I completely agree—and I’m honored by his compliment. The Tudor court was a hotbed of rivalry, treachery, ambition, and fear. Henry was unpredictable and all-powerful, and his courtiers connived and maneuvered to stay in his favor. His henchmen were ruthless. If your death was convenient and reassuring to the king, the justice system wouldn’t protect you.
By the way, Albert Bell has written a marvelous series of detective novels set in ancient Rome—Pliny the Younger is the sleuth, and Tacitus is his sidekick. Being around a Roman emperor wasn’t all that safe either, so Bell recognizes this kind of peril when he sees it.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I comment regularly on historical fiction in Historical Magic on Substack—I review books, films, and plays set in the past and discuss the questions and quandaries facing historical novelists and their readers.
I’m hard at work ensuring that The Queen’s Musician has its best chance to find its audience. This work lands on every writer’s to-do list. And I have another novel in the initial stages, another one about a musician.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: The events in this novel occurred hundreds of years ago, and parts of the belief system at the time seem outrageous to us—the assumption that only men should govern or that a woman’s fate hinges on whether she gives birth to a daughter or a son.
Virtually all the characters believe that people born into poverty are inherently inferior and should stay in their place.
But the novel also raises questions that seem more familiar: What happens when we allow lies and rumor to push out the truth? What happens when elites become consumed with pleasing a single individual? What are the dangers of believing that your “ends” justify any means?
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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