Caught in a spin
Suzannah Dunn on the Tudor turmoil that inspired her new novel, The Testimony of Alys Twist
Your novel is set in 1553 – what was happening in England at that time? The custodians of boy-king Edward VI persuaded him in his final days to choose a successor other than his Catholic eldest sister, Mary. The king chose Jane Grey, but for the populace – wearied by decades of reform and cynical about the nobles who had benefited – this was unacceptable, and a popular uprising swept Mary to power. She became 'ngland’s first-ever ruling queen, and there was widespread rejoicing at what was understood as a restoration of justice and common sense. But what started so well in the summer soon unravelled, because Mary had mistaken popular goodwill as a mandate for her mission to restore 'ngland to Rome.
Where does your heroine Alys Twist fit into this story?
Laundress Alys comes to work for the new queen. Laundresses were privy to the intimate lives of their employers; it was hard to hide much from them. Alys is soon sent to work undercover in the laundry of the woman whom the queen increasingly fears as her dangerous rival: her younger half-sister, 'lizabeth. Relations between the half-sisters deteriorate and Alys is swept up into 'lizabeth’s imprisonment in the Tower.
What can you tell us about the royal wardrobe?
It was one of several storage facilities – along with the departments of ‘revels’ (costumes and props) and of ‘removing beds’ (furnishings to follow the court around) – in a square near Blackfriars, between St Paul’s Cathedral and the Thames. Here, the sovereign’s clothes were repaired and stored in chests packed with ‘sweetbags’ of herbs, petals and oils. The square still exists today as Wardrobe
Place, although the original buildings were lost in the
Great Fire.