Review by Bianca Pritchard
Five centuries later, and Amy Robsart is best known for her death. The painting ‘The Death of Amy Robsart’ is a vivid depiction of this legacy: a short flight of stairs, an ethereal body, and a mystery that has outlasted the Tudor monarchy.
In 1560, the inquest that judged Amy’s death as accidental wasn’t enough to stem royal court gossip that speculated her husband’s involvement, Robert Dudley (then master of the Horse, later Earl of Leicester). In their defence, Robert’s affair with Queen Elizabeth I is quite the murder motivation! But one must ask with all this speculation about her death, what was it like for Amy, before that fateful day? Wendy J. Dunn’s latest historical fiction novel Shades of Yellow reimagines the mystery of Amy in a dazzlingly refreshing and unique way, through a story about writing a historical novel.
Shades of Yellow is Wendy J. Dunn’s fifth historical fiction novel, following her first non-fiction work Henry VIII’s True Daughter. The award-winning Australian author often captures her fascination with Tudor history through unseen, niche perspectives of the time, and her latest novel is no exception. Historical fiction fans will be delighted by the fascinating insight into Amy’s Tudor world – the turbulent, 28-year time period she lived in, from 1532 to 1560, which sees the demise of Henry VIII and the chaotic ascension of his children, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I.
There’s a lot to love here, with the metanarrative providing Dunn the perfect opportunity to share intriguing insights into the writing process, such as the struggle of putting lost voices to the page. To me, it often felt like reading a love letter from a writer.
“As hazy as the facts she had discovered about Amy – all of them second-hand from records about the men close to her. For the most part, Amy remained a footnote to their stories, her flesh and blood story but a stripped skeleton. Stripped and silent. Do I have any right at all to give voice to a woman dead for centuries?
At the epicentre of Shades of Yellow, however, is a touching story about two women: Amy, and Lucy, the determined author unravelling her mystery. Set in the 2010, Lucy takes time off her teaching job to finish her debut novel, a task which feels more pressing than ever with the onset of a recent illness, and a marriage on the verge of collapse after her husband had an affair. She flees to England to immerse herself in the remnants of Amy’s world, but how long can she run before it all falls apart?
“That’s what frightens me… if you go for six weeks, it’s not the novel that’s finished, but you.”
Until I picked it up, I had never heard of Amy Robstart (my knowledge of the English monarchy is limited to Horrible Histories and pop culture osmosis), but I can confirm Shades of Yellow is a fantastic way to learn about such a historical niche. Lucy is the protagonist, while Amy’s perspective is seen through exerts of Lucy’s novel. This helps give Amy’s story a modern lens. We feel, starkly through the page, the tragedy of her circumstance and her strength despite this. The style of writing also switches between contemporary to period-piece in a way that’s very compelling.
The story is well-paced, with problems resolving in satisfying, unexpected ways, and new ones popping up that I didn’t expect. It also starts at an interesting point in Lucy’s story. You may have heard of the writing advice, start late, leave early. Well, in Shades of Yellow we start in what feels like the middle of Lucy’s story – she’s almost finished her novel, she’s no longer living with her husband, and by chapter 2 she’s ready to jump on a plane. It’s slightly disorientating, but it didn’t take me too long to settle into the world and become invested in Lucy’s character. I’m still curious about that first half of that story, but the decision to have the narrative be contained to Lucy’s trip to England ends up being one of its core strengths.
There’s also the well-plucked motif of cowslips in the story. I bring this up in my already wordy review because it’s the perfect way to describe the tone. Cowslips are flowers which symbolise everything from “death”, “birth”, “doom”, “adventure” and “mischief” – this narrative has fields of cowslips. Despite dealing with some heavy themes, Dunn endeavours to show the hope, connection and joy that comes hand in hand with hardship. The collapse of Lucy’s marriage is dealt with in surprising ways, and Lucy’s eccentric English relatives who we meet during the trip simultaneously add a lot of drama and levity.
It’s a story that’s funny, sad, emotional, dramatic, and every shade in between. For a relatively quick read, Shades of Yellow is the go-to for readers who love historical novels and character-driven stories. It’s also a great way to learn about the life of Amy Robstart, and other lost voices in the fields of Tudor history. To give a circular finish to my review, I’d like to mention that the painting of Amy I referenced earlier (‘The Death of Amy Robsart, William Yeames, 1878), is currently on display at Nottingham castle. I’d be on the lookout for that, as well as what Wendy J. Dunn gets up to next.
Our thanks to Other Terrain Press for providing us with a free copy of this book for review purposes.
