Historical fiction book · Curated
The Autobiography of Henry VIII: With Notes by His Fool, Will Somers
Margaret George · historical fiction
Henry VIII’s manuscript, glossed in the margins by his fool Will Somers, runs from a 1491 childhood through six wives, the break with Rome, and the dissolution of the monasteries, with Cromwell, Wolsey, More, and Anne Boleyn on the same pages as the king who signs their fates. Margaret George’s 1986 novel is early-modern biographical historical fiction of Tudor England told from the throne, not from the minister’s rooms.
Why read it: A widely searched Tudor novel—the George title readers look up by name, and a king’s-voice counterpart to Wolf Hall already on the shelf (not a Cromwell sequel).
About this historical novel
The Autobiography of Henry VIII: With Notes by His Fool, Will Somers by Margaret George is historical fiction set around 1491–1547 in the Early modern period with key settings including London, Hampton Court, England, Westminster. Henry VIII’s manuscript, glossed in the margins by his fool Will Somers, runs from a 1491 childhood through six wives, the break with Rome, and the dissolution of the monasteries, with Cromwell, Wolsey, More, and Anne Boleyn on the same pages as the king who signs their fates. Margaret George’s 1986 novel is early-modern biographical historical fiction of Tudor England told from the throne, not from the minister’s rooms.
On HisFic we tag it under 4. Biographical fiction and 1. Literary historical fiction so you can pair it with similar story types. Recurring themes include power, marriage, reformation, succession, and monarchy. A widely searched Tudor novel—the George title readers look up by name, and a king’s-voice counterpart to Wolf Hall already on the shelf (not a Cromwell sequel).
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Plot summary
Henry VIII’s manuscript, glossed in the margins by his fool Will Somers, runs from a 1491 childhood through six wives, the break with Rome, and the dissolution of the monasteries, with Cromwell, Wolsey, More, and Anne Boleyn on the same pages as the king who signs their fates. Margaret George’s 1986 novel is early-modern biographical historical fiction of Tudor England told from the throne, not from the minister’s rooms. A widely searched Tudor novel—the George title readers look up by name, and a king’s-voice counterpart to Wolf Hall already on the shelf (not a Cromwell sequel).
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Eras
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Curated titles that share era, story type, or themes.
- Wolf Hall · Hilary Mantel
Thomas Cromwell rises through Tudor England’s deadly court, told in close, modern-feeling prose.
- Bring Up the Bodies · Hilary Mantel
Thomas Cromwell, now Master Secretary, engineers the fall of Anne Boleyn as Henry VIII turns toward Jane Seymour. The middle novel of Mantel’s Cromwell trilogy is court politics at close range—cool, lethal, and intimate.
- The House of Boleyn · Tracy Borman
Tudor historian Tracy Borman tells the Boleyn family's rise and fall from Hever Castle—Anne, Mary, Thomas, and the household watching Henry VIII's court close in.
- Hamnet · Maggie O'Farrell
The plague, a marriage, and the death of Shakespeare’s son—told with intimate, luminous focus.
- The Marriage Portrait · Maggie O'Farrell
Lucrezia de’ Medici is married at fifteen to the Duke of Ferrara, then isolated in a court where a duchess can be painted, praised, and quietly discarded. O’Farrell turns a famous rumor—that Lucrezia was murdered—into close, tense biographical historical fiction of Renaissance Italy.
- The Mirror & the Light · Hilary Mantel
The final act of Thomas Cromwell’s rise and ruin (Walter Scott Prize 2021).
Regions & places
Britain & Ireland
London · Hampton Court · England · Westminster
Themes
- power
- marriage
- reformation
- succession
- monarchy
Tags
tudor · biographical