Behind The Book The Cardinal By Alison Weir
I’m delighted to once again be reunited with New York Times & Sunday Times Bestselling author of historical fiction and nonfiction Alison Weir, to discuss her new release The Cardinal. Believe it or not, I received the book during the week of the conclave and the election of our new pope, Pope Leo XIV!

Q: Alison would you please give a brief description of The Cardinal for those who haven’t read the book?

A: Cardinal Thomas Wolsey enjoyed one of the most meteoric careers in history. From humble beginnings in an Ipswich inn, he rose to become Henry VIII’s Lord Chancellor and cherished friend. The King relied heavily on his political acumen and remarkable ability, ignoring the jealous criticisms of the nobles, who resented Wolsey for usurping what they saw as their role as the monarch’s natural advisers.

Wolsey operated on an international stage and worked hard to broker universal peace. All was going dazzlingly until Henry fell in love with Anne Boleyn – the woman Wolsey would one day call ‘the night crow’ – and sought to end his marriage to his first wife, Katherine of Aragon. Swept up in the maelstrom of ‘the Divorce’, Wolsey – who had successfully striven to give his master everything he wanted – found himself in an impossible situation, with his world crumbling around him.
My novel tells the story of Wolsey the man, his incredible rise to power and his tragic fall. I have delved beyond the splendor and political machinations of the Tudor court to reveal the secrets of his private life, the mistress he loved devotedly, and the tragedy that overtook them. It is a tale of two women, one who loved him and one who hated him – and a tale of two men, king and commoner, the special, deep-rooted bonds that brought them together, and the forces that drove them apart.

Q: Alison, you normally write fiction and nonfiction books about royals. How did the transition go from writing about royals to writing about Cardinal Wolsey who of course isn’t a royal?

A: I knew a lot about him as he features in several of my books, and it was intriguing to discover just how challenging it was for a boy of humble status to claw his way up through the ranks of society to achieve success. And what an achievement his was – from lowly innkeeper’s son to the most powerful man in England. We know quite a lot about his background, so it was interesting to piece together those snippets of information and weave them into a cohesive tale.

Q: How long did it take you to research & write The Cardinal? Which scenes were your favorite to write for the book? I like how this book portrayed Wolsey as not a two-dimensional villain but as a man with all his strengths and flaws & his tragic love affair with Joan Larke.

A: Six months! Actually, I’d done some research before I started writing, but I already had a lot of information on which to base the novel. My favourite scenes were those with Joan Larke. I wanted to explore the dynamics of her affair with Wolsey, and what it must have been like having to keep their love a secret and not being able to bring up their two children. Tracing the trajectory of this doomed relationship was a fascinating challenge because we have only fragments on information about Joan. Yet there are pointers in dates and places. One event suggested a trigger for her break with Wolsey. And then I found her and her new husband living only a mile away from him. Their only son was called Thomas…

Q: What facts & lessons would you want readers to know and remember about Wolsey after reading The Cardinal?

A: I’d like them to see him as an ambitious and brilliant man who, through his ongoing efforts for peace, played a beneficial game on a world stage; as a loyal, devoted and loving servant to his King; and as a political figure who deserved the same high profile today as Sir Thomas More and Thomas Cromwell.

Q: If you’ve watched The Tudors & The Spanish Princess, what do you think of Sam Neil & Phillip Cumbus’s portrayals of Cardinal Wolsey? If they make The Cardinal into a miniseries or movie, who would be your top choice to portray Cardinal Wolsey?

A: I thought that Sam Neill played Wolsey well, although I have to say that there is no hint in any source that the Cardinal committed suicide! I didn’t see Phillip Cumbus in the role. If they ever made a TV series about Wolsey, I’d love to see Kenneth Branagh playing him, or Hugh Bonneville, Bill Nighy or Jude Law. I’d be on set like a shot!

Q: Since you’ve written a book about Cardinal Wolsey, would you write about The Borgias next?

A: I’d love to! Believe it or not, I was once commissioned to write a biography of Lucrezia Borgia, but someone else got there first. I find Cesare Borgia fascinating. Maybe a novel one day!