The Mary We Never Knew: Review of “La Reine Blanche” by Sarah Bryson

Mary Tudor and Charles Brandon

Mary Tudor, Queen of France

There is a wealth of information on the Tudors. Most bookstore history sections are crammed full of the latest releases on the history of the family – mainly about Henry VIII and his wives. However, there is very little written about Henry VIII’s beautiful, vibrant, younger sister Mary.  With her book, La Reine Blanche: Mary Tudor, A Life in Letters, Sarah Bryson changes that. Through her detailed analysis of the letters of Mary Tudor, Bryson brings to life the neglected Tudor sister.

Through Bryson’s carefully researched book, we see how, prior to her marriage to the King of France, Mary obtained a promise from her brother to allow her to choose her next husband. Probably expecting her brother to back out of the promise, we see a wily Mary secure her marriage to Brandon. I enjoyed reading her letters back and forth to Henry, and Bryson did an excellent job of highlighting important details.

I also thoroughly enjoyed the letters that Mary wrote during her brief tenure as the Queen of France. From her letters, it sounds as if she was happy married to Louis, and that he did indeed dote on her. Mary’s character shines through her letters, but we also get to see that she was a determined, capable, young woman.

The readers can see through her letters that Mary took her future into her own hands and deftly outwitted both her brother and Francis. It becomes obvious that Mary shared her brother’s stubbornness. Bryson does a wonderful job of letting Mary’s voice come through, while adding enough context to make the work tell the complete story.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Tudor family, especially those that want to explore past the drama of Henry VIII and his queens. This book is an outstanding overview of the life of Mary Tudor. I am eagerly awaiting Bryson’s next book on Charles Brandon.

About the Author

Sarah Bryson is a researcher, writer and educator who has a Bachelor of Early Childhood Education with Honours. She currently works with children with disabilities. She is passionate about Tudor history and has a deep interest in Mary Tudor, Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk and the reign of Henry VIII and the people of his court. She has run a website dedicated to Tudor history for many years.and has written for various websites including ‘On the Tudor Trail’ and “QueenAnneBoleyn’. She has been studying primary sources to tell the story of Mary Tudor for a decade. Sarah lives in Australia, She is currently writing a book on Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk and the history of his family.