The story of Anne Boleyn as mistress-turned-queen to Henry VIII is well-known. However, much less well-known is any evidence of her personal stance on the situation and the state of her heart. Margaret Campbell Barnes allures readers with an introspective view of Anne Boleyn in "Brief Gaudy Hour".
"Brief Gaudy Hour" focuses on Anne Boleyn's relationship and love for Henry Percy. In Barnes's novel, Anne doesn't strive for the King's bed or to necessarily rise on the Court ladder. Nor does she instigate Henry's divorce from Queen Katherine with Henry VIII already following that path on his own. It is quite refreshing to not have Anne be either too much of an angel or oppositely too much of a whore, as most novels depict her. This is one of the strongest novels in terms of depicting Anne as a 'real person'.