The Tudor Queens’ Midwife
In the glittering, glamorous, and deadly court of King Henry VIII and his Queen Katherine of Aragon, the desperate desire for a healthy male heir overshadows all. With each heartbreaking miscarriage, the queen's sense of duty and desperation deepen, her singular purpose clear; to secure a son for the English crown.
Amidst this struggle, the queen turns to Sarah Menendez, a respected and highly skilled midwife. Sarah, exiled from her homeland, must serve the queen while concealing her true self. As Sarah strives to save Katherine from the perils of childbirth, the shadows of her own past threaten to unravel the carefully crafted identity Sarah has created for herself and her young daughter.
The Tudor Queens' Midwife is a gripping tale of secrecy, sacrifice, and religious turmoil amongst the most opulent court the world has ever seen.
Praise for The Tudor Queens’ Midwife:
“Empathetic, engaging, wonderfully written, this is a terrific 'Call the Midwife' Tudor tale.”
~ Wendy J. Dunn, award-winning Tudor author
“The Tudor Queens' Midwife views history through the unique characters of the women who helped to birth the royal Tudor children. It skillfully immerses us into the era, sharing the love and loss lived by both the queen and her midwives, illuminating the precarious balance of friendship and service to those with absolute power. It is a haunting yet gripping tale that will stay with the reader long after the last page is turned.”
~ Ashley Emma, USA Today Bestselling author of Undercover Amish
Midwife to Tudor Queens of England
Mistress Sarah, you have long served as a midwife to Queen Katherine of Aragon. Many whisper of her struggles in childbearing.
Can you speak to this?
Sarah: Aye, ‘tis true that Her Grace has known much sorrow in the birthing chamber. I was called to her side many a time, yet oft did fate prove unkind. Her first babe, a daughter, came too soon and ne’er took breath. The Prince, her secondborn, was a fine, strong lad, but God claimed him at scarce two months of age. Of all her children, only the Lady Mary survived beyond infancy, though even she was a frail babe at her entering into this world. The Queen did all that a woman might do—she kept to her prayers, fasted when the Church bade it, and sought physic when the physicians advised. Yet, in the end, no woman can command the will of the Almighty.
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Some say the Queen’s difficulties lie not in nature, but in a curse.
Have you heard such rumors?
Sarah: Many a tale is spun in the shadowed corners of court, but I put no stock in such things. Some say it was the wronging of Prince Arthur’s marriage that soured the Queen’s womb—that her betrothal to our sovereign Henry was born of a falsehood. Others murmur of an ill omen, that some unseen force bars her from bearing a prince. But I have seen with mine own eyes the trials of childbirth, the dangers that lurk in the blood and humors of a woman’s body. ‘Tis not always curses that steal our babes, but nature herself, in her cruelest form.
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The King, it is said, grows restless for an heir.
How does the Queen bear such burdens?
Sarah: With the grace of a true daughter of Spain. Her Majesty is a woman of deepest faith, ever trusting in God’s divine will. Yet, I have seen the weight upon her shoulders, the silent grief in her eyes. A wife’s duty is to give her husband sons, yet what is she to do when the Lord withholds such a gift? She endures as any good Christian woman must, with patience and prayers. And still, she is a mother. The Lady Mary is the jewel of her heart, and though the King may wish for more, no mother’s love is lessened for lack of sons.
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Some whisper that the King has turned his eye to another.
Do you believe Her Majesty fears for her place?
Sarah: The Queen is not blind to the ways of men. She knows well the dangers of a husband’s wandering heart, more so when that husband wears a crown. I have heard the name Anne Boleyn upon many lips, seen how the courtiers watch, how they bow and scrape before her as they once did for the Queen. But Her Majesty is not one to bend before such storms. She holds fast to her marriage vows, as she has these twenty years. She is a true wife in every manner, and should the King set her aside, it shall not be for lack of her devotion.
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You have attended the Queen in her most intimate moments.
What would you say of her strength?
Sarah: Her Majesty’s strength is that of a woman who has known both joy and suffering, yet still stands unbroken. I have seen her in the pains of labor, gripping my hand with a force belying her delicate frame, whispering prayers even as sorrow loomed. I have witnessed her rise from childbed, pale and weary, yet standing tall before the court, showing the world a queen, not a grieving mother. She is Katherine, daughter of Isabella, wife of Henry, mother of Mary—her blood is royal, her will unshaken. And though kings may waver, she shall not.
