What do you think?
Rate this book
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle By William Harrison Ainsworth
146 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1843
About the author
William Harrison Ainsworth
680 books50 followersWilliam Harrison Ainsworth was educated at Manchester Grammar School and later articled to a solicitor, deserting this profession for literature.
Among his best known novels are The Tower of London (1840), Old St. Paul's (1841), Windsor Castle (1843) and The Lancashire Witches (1848).
Among his best known novels are The Tower of London (1840), Old St. Paul's (1841), Windsor Castle (1843) and The Lancashire Witches (1848).
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
September 25, 2022
A great many older novels carry themselves well into modern times. Windsor Castle is not one of them. The language drags in archaisms which would have been archaic in the nineteenth-century: it has been a long time since I read a novel that included the word yclept and the exclamation “By my halidom.” The historical content is often didactic to the point where it sounds as if cut and paste from an encyclopedia has been used, and whenever Herne the Hunter or poor Mabel Lyndwood appear it becomes complete melodrama. I wouldn't be surprised if Dion Boucicault had a go at adapting it for the stage.
Where it comes to life, far too intermittently, is with the confrontations between Anne Boleyn and either King Henry, Queen Catherine or Jane Seymour. Only Catherine is allowed to come out of it well as the abused Queen who had the audacity to provide Henry with a daughter. King Henry is a loud-mouthed braggart and violent man with an eye for any pretty face he sees at court. Anne's motives are more difficult to see. She falls in love with Sir Henry Norris – in the Project Gutenberg text he is respectfully called the King's Groom of the Stole, really he was the Groom of the Stool that is, he maintained hygiene on His Majesty's Royal backside after the Regal defecation, quite a task when one sees full length portraits of Henry VIII. Some women go for that type of thing, I'm told – anyway, Ainsworth avoids accusing Anne of witchery, in fact she is the one character who spurns Herne's temptation to sell her soul most fervently, even though to do so would save her life.
Beneath the melodramatic action it is a complex characterization and one comes away wondering how Ainsworth saw her. She is hardly villainous yet she is not without a vindictive streak towards both Catherine and Jane Seymour. As for Jane, well, she is a man-stealing minx through and through and for a while Windsor Castle could become an episode of Dallas.
And so to Herne the Hunter and his benighted minions. There are some sections of action and dialogue which would have been taken in their stride by a nineteenth-century audience but are now, to some degree, funny.
King Henry is cornered by Herne's adherents in the forest when Sir Thomas Wyatt – recently won over to Herne's cause - springs out of nowhere:
“Ah! God's death!” [Henry] cried, “can I believe my eyes? Is it you, Sir Thomas Wyatt?”
“Ay,” replied the other.
“What do you here? Ha!” demanded the king. “You should be in Paris.”
And then one of many sudden Herne appearances produces a theatrical trap-door effect:
“This shall prove whether thou art human or not,” cried Henry, taking deliberate aim with the dag [a sort of pistol].
“Ho! Ho! Ho!” laughed Herne. And as the report rang through the room, he sank through the floor, and disappeared from view.
“Gone!” exclaimed Henry, as the smoke cleared off; “gone! Holy Mary! Then it must indeed be the fiend.”
It is all very over-dramatized – and the British Victorians loved it. Herne is a demonic villain who can be booed and hissed to your heart's content. His only saving grace is that Henry is worse – and Henry's villainy, if not evil, is very real.
It could be time to turn to Hilary Mantel. After all the final exclamation of Herne the Hunter to King Henry is: “Away to Wolff Hall, and bring thy new consort to Windsor Castle!”
Where it comes to life, far too intermittently, is with the confrontations between Anne Boleyn and either King Henry, Queen Catherine or Jane Seymour. Only Catherine is allowed to come out of it well as the abused Queen who had the audacity to provide Henry with a daughter. King Henry is a loud-mouthed braggart and violent man with an eye for any pretty face he sees at court. Anne's motives are more difficult to see. She falls in love with Sir Henry Norris – in the Project Gutenberg text he is respectfully called the King's Groom of the Stole, really he was the Groom of the Stool that is, he maintained hygiene on His Majesty's Royal backside after the Regal defecation, quite a task when one sees full length portraits of Henry VIII. Some women go for that type of thing, I'm told – anyway, Ainsworth avoids accusing Anne of witchery, in fact she is the one character who spurns Herne's temptation to sell her soul most fervently, even though to do so would save her life.
Beneath the melodramatic action it is a complex characterization and one comes away wondering how Ainsworth saw her. She is hardly villainous yet she is not without a vindictive streak towards both Catherine and Jane Seymour. As for Jane, well, she is a man-stealing minx through and through and for a while Windsor Castle could become an episode of Dallas.
And so to Herne the Hunter and his benighted minions. There are some sections of action and dialogue which would have been taken in their stride by a nineteenth-century audience but are now, to some degree, funny.
King Henry is cornered by Herne's adherents in the forest when Sir Thomas Wyatt – recently won over to Herne's cause - springs out of nowhere:
“Ah! God's death!” [Henry] cried, “can I believe my eyes? Is it you, Sir Thomas Wyatt?”
“Ay,” replied the other.
“What do you here? Ha!” demanded the king. “You should be in Paris.”
And then one of many sudden Herne appearances produces a theatrical trap-door effect:
“This shall prove whether thou art human or not,” cried Henry, taking deliberate aim with the dag [a sort of pistol].
“Ho! Ho! Ho!” laughed Herne. And as the report rang through the room, he sank through the floor, and disappeared from view.
“Gone!” exclaimed Henry, as the smoke cleared off; “gone! Holy Mary! Then it must indeed be the fiend.”
It is all very over-dramatized – and the British Victorians loved it. Herne is a demonic villain who can be booed and hissed to your heart's content. His only saving grace is that Henry is worse – and Henry's villainy, if not evil, is very real.
It could be time to turn to Hilary Mantel. After all the final exclamation of Herne the Hunter to King Henry is: “Away to Wolff Hall, and bring thy new consort to Windsor Castle!”
May 17, 2025
What a riot!! A royal, sensational, Gothic, paranormal soap opera, that recounts the goings on at Henry VIII’s court!!
Utterly ridiculous and preposterous in every way…
How delightful!!! 🤣
Utterly ridiculous and preposterous in every way…
How delightful!!! 🤣
October 14, 2011
Ainsworth is one of those once-famous writers who, so they say, 'nobody reads any more'. Out of curiosity and contrariness, I thought I'd give him a try, but I really wasn't expecting very much.
Happily, 'Windsor Castle' isn't nearly as bad as I feared it might be. It's a very odd amalgam of melodramatic historical romance (Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn), court pageantry and the occult (Herne the Hunter, haunter of Windsor Forest) which plays by its own rules and somehow pulls it off. All a load of hokum, no doubt, but not at all turgid. Herne is fun, Ainsworth can write, things usually zip along at a snappy pace, and it all slips down easily enough.
Hardly required reading, and I can't argue with the current judgment that Ainsworth is a minor literary figure, but you can see why he was popular for so long (this novel was continuously in print from the 1840s to the 1960s). I think it would be a pity if he's allowed to sink entirely without trace.
May 23, 2025
Enjoyed while simultaneously saying 'what the heck am I reading?'
December 26, 2017
Well, this was an odd book. I ran across it because I was reading a blog about some of the background characters in British mythology relating to the Green Man, and one of them was Herne the Hunter. This book is on the one hand a historical story covering the period of Henry VIII's courtship of Anne Boleyn, his divorce from Katharine of Aragon, the fall of Wolsey, then on to the casting off of Anne in favour of Jane Seymour.
This is a story I have read in a number of different tellings, from Philippa Gregory to Hilary Mantel, but the difference with this one is that Herne the Hunter, an immortal character confined to Windsor Great Park, gets involved in various parts of the story, and promises some of the characters what their heart desires if only they will become his followers. It's not clear if he actually makes an difference to the events as they play out, but alongside the familiar parts of the narrative there are repeated attempts to catch Herne and his followers, which always fail, and attempts to imprison some of them, and other characters, which fail because Herne can appear from nowhere and spring them from their cells.
Then there is the central section of the book which is simply a history of the architecture and development of Windsor Castle, which was also quite odd. As if this were not enough, the author digresses at various points of the actual narrative into his own experiences at Windsor Castle - one of the characters is in a certain place, and he leaves off the tale to tell us how he once caught sight of the present queen (Victoria) coming along that very part of the gardens.
Being a Victorian author, his books are all out of copyright and free to Kindle, so I downloaded a few, but I don't think I'll be in a hurry to read more of them. I'm glad I've read this one though.
This is a story I have read in a number of different tellings, from Philippa Gregory to Hilary Mantel, but the difference with this one is that Herne the Hunter, an immortal character confined to Windsor Great Park, gets involved in various parts of the story, and promises some of the characters what their heart desires if only they will become his followers. It's not clear if he actually makes an difference to the events as they play out, but alongside the familiar parts of the narrative there are repeated attempts to catch Herne and his followers, which always fail, and attempts to imprison some of them, and other characters, which fail because Herne can appear from nowhere and spring them from their cells.
Then there is the central section of the book which is simply a history of the architecture and development of Windsor Castle, which was also quite odd. As if this were not enough, the author digresses at various points of the actual narrative into his own experiences at Windsor Castle - one of the characters is in a certain place, and he leaves off the tale to tell us how he once caught sight of the present queen (Victoria) coming along that very part of the gardens.
Being a Victorian author, his books are all out of copyright and free to Kindle, so I downloaded a few, but I don't think I'll be in a hurry to read more of them. I'm glad I've read this one though.
September 9, 2021
This historical romance written in 1843 about Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn was very entertaining. It was a quick read. I loved the descriptions of dress, meals, and processions. The character of Herne the Hunter was a fantastic addition.
September 5, 2023
A friend and I decided we ought to read a Harrison Ainsworth, the author who outsold Dickens. I chose Windsor Castle since the secondhand bookshop had a copy.
Well, what a load of moderately enjoyable old tosh. Its most glaring ridiculosity is in its treatment of history. Ainsworth sets his scene in the court of Henry VIII during the time he was divorcing Catherine of Aragon, marrying Anne Boleyn and moving on to Jane Seymour. Thus far, factually accurate, but whether Sir Thomas Wyatt, The Duke of Richmond (Henry VIII’s illegitimate son) and the Earl of Surrey were all at the time intimate and variously in love with Anne Boleyn and/or Lady Elizabeth Fitzgerald and/or Lady Mary Howard (Surrey’s sister), heaven knows.
Out of this, a complex web of intrigue is constructed, complicated further by the presence of Herne the Hunter. Herne the Hunter is a literary manifestation of a legendary spirit who, in this story, haunts the forest and dwells in a series of caverns beneath an old oak. He is not a force for good, having once been jilted in love when he was alive. He is utterly unfrightening as an otherworldly presence, having all too physical a presence, and appears more like a Victorian prestidigitator and illusionist than an entity with any powers that are of Satanic force or origin. But Ainsworth has him meddle in the lives of all his major protagonists, including the King, and in particular with that of Mabel Lyndwood, a beauty brought up in the Forest by her venerable grandsire, Tristram Lyndwood, and with whom he, Herne, falls in love.
What a gallimaufry! to adopt a word such as Ainsworth could have used to create this gaudy post-medieval world in which Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland and Basil Rathbone would have been at home with Eric Korngold scoring them all the way to ‘The End’. The style is one that struck me, as a retired teacher, as probably ticking every box required by the government’s current marking criteria for a grade 9 at GCSE – colons, semi-colons, adjectives, adverbs, grammar, vocabulary etc all wide-ranging, proficient and utterly undaring. Oaks are noble, the night is profoundly dark, maidens manifest pleasure in silvery laughter through cherry lips, spirits speak in sepulchral tones, lightning is wickedly forked, tender valedictions are uttered between lovers, damsels are comely, and few people are said to speak unless accompanied by an adverb indicating the manner in which they did so – energetically, bitterly, angrily or disdainfully for example - and of course they almost always exclaim, rejoin, laugh, cry, whisper etc. There are lots of by my fays, upon my troths and the saints preserve us. All right, I exaggerate, and it is all too easy to mock a popular novelist’s style tuned to what his public will enjoy, but what has to be said is that Ainsworth’s style has a tremendously pleasing clarity. In this respect it’s easy to see why he outsold Dickens: sheer escapism, untroubled by elements of social commentary or an often clotted sentence structure. And, one has to admit, the whole narrative is not unpleasing to read: disbelief is suspended in the same way as you know all those who dwelt in Sherwood Forest with Errol and Olivia and Basil could never possibly have looked that clean. It is still possible to delight in all the shenanigans.
I wonder if it would be interesting – if no one’s done it already – to compare Ainsworth’s historical novels with Frederic Leighton’s huge paintings set in medieval or Renaissance times. A painting such as Cimabue's Celebrated Madonna Is Carried in Procession Through the Streets of Florence in which the costuming and pageantry looks (at least) accurately researched. Ainsworth’s descriptions of a royal procession early in the novel contains a wealth of obscure and educative/improving words such as hautpas, murrey-coloured, mantelet, brodequins, tylsent, purfled and balas such as must have been derived from a good deal of reading or discussion with the learned. And both he and Leighton seem keen to make sure their public can see and understand clearly what they are reading or looking at. And Ainsworth, for example, in one of the more extraordinary parts of ‘Windsor Castle’ even takes time out to provide us in ‘Book the Third’ with a historical tour of the castle itself: it struck me as being as good a guide as you are likely to find on sale today.
So, a load of old hokum, certainly, but by no means unskilfully written and, if you’re in the mood, a very jolly way to pass the time.
Well, what a load of moderately enjoyable old tosh. Its most glaring ridiculosity is in its treatment of history. Ainsworth sets his scene in the court of Henry VIII during the time he was divorcing Catherine of Aragon, marrying Anne Boleyn and moving on to Jane Seymour. Thus far, factually accurate, but whether Sir Thomas Wyatt, The Duke of Richmond (Henry VIII’s illegitimate son) and the Earl of Surrey were all at the time intimate and variously in love with Anne Boleyn and/or Lady Elizabeth Fitzgerald and/or Lady Mary Howard (Surrey’s sister), heaven knows.
Out of this, a complex web of intrigue is constructed, complicated further by the presence of Herne the Hunter. Herne the Hunter is a literary manifestation of a legendary spirit who, in this story, haunts the forest and dwells in a series of caverns beneath an old oak. He is not a force for good, having once been jilted in love when he was alive. He is utterly unfrightening as an otherworldly presence, having all too physical a presence, and appears more like a Victorian prestidigitator and illusionist than an entity with any powers that are of Satanic force or origin. But Ainsworth has him meddle in the lives of all his major protagonists, including the King, and in particular with that of Mabel Lyndwood, a beauty brought up in the Forest by her venerable grandsire, Tristram Lyndwood, and with whom he, Herne, falls in love.
What a gallimaufry! to adopt a word such as Ainsworth could have used to create this gaudy post-medieval world in which Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland and Basil Rathbone would have been at home with Eric Korngold scoring them all the way to ‘The End’. The style is one that struck me, as a retired teacher, as probably ticking every box required by the government’s current marking criteria for a grade 9 at GCSE – colons, semi-colons, adjectives, adverbs, grammar, vocabulary etc all wide-ranging, proficient and utterly undaring. Oaks are noble, the night is profoundly dark, maidens manifest pleasure in silvery laughter through cherry lips, spirits speak in sepulchral tones, lightning is wickedly forked, tender valedictions are uttered between lovers, damsels are comely, and few people are said to speak unless accompanied by an adverb indicating the manner in which they did so – energetically, bitterly, angrily or disdainfully for example - and of course they almost always exclaim, rejoin, laugh, cry, whisper etc. There are lots of by my fays, upon my troths and the saints preserve us. All right, I exaggerate, and it is all too easy to mock a popular novelist’s style tuned to what his public will enjoy, but what has to be said is that Ainsworth’s style has a tremendously pleasing clarity. In this respect it’s easy to see why he outsold Dickens: sheer escapism, untroubled by elements of social commentary or an often clotted sentence structure. And, one has to admit, the whole narrative is not unpleasing to read: disbelief is suspended in the same way as you know all those who dwelt in Sherwood Forest with Errol and Olivia and Basil could never possibly have looked that clean. It is still possible to delight in all the shenanigans.
I wonder if it would be interesting – if no one’s done it already – to compare Ainsworth’s historical novels with Frederic Leighton’s huge paintings set in medieval or Renaissance times. A painting such as Cimabue's Celebrated Madonna Is Carried in Procession Through the Streets of Florence in which the costuming and pageantry looks (at least) accurately researched. Ainsworth’s descriptions of a royal procession early in the novel contains a wealth of obscure and educative/improving words such as hautpas, murrey-coloured, mantelet, brodequins, tylsent, purfled and balas such as must have been derived from a good deal of reading or discussion with the learned. And both he and Leighton seem keen to make sure their public can see and understand clearly what they are reading or looking at. And Ainsworth, for example, in one of the more extraordinary parts of ‘Windsor Castle’ even takes time out to provide us in ‘Book the Third’ with a historical tour of the castle itself: it struck me as being as good a guide as you are likely to find on sale today.
So, a load of old hokum, certainly, but by no means unskilfully written and, if you’re in the mood, a very jolly way to pass the time.
November 13, 2021
I didn't know what to expect with this novel. I was hoping for something like Sir Walter Scott, and was pleased to find a lot of that, but it's also something of a fantasy or Gothic novel, and I liked the injection of supernatural. I thought it was a lot of fun.
The plot is a little unconventional; it's sort of the story of Anne Boleyn, but just what happened at Windsor Castle. It starts with her arrival in a big parade, before her marriage to Henry VIII, and ends with her at the block at the Tower (told from the King's perspective, out hunting near Windsor Castle, waiting for the cannons to fire, indicating her death). (Oh, yeah, spoiler--Anne Boleyn gets her head chopped off. Hope I'm not breaking news here.) There's also a section in the middle describing the castle throughout history, much like Hugo does with Notre Dame in Hunchback. It's purely non-fiction, the author talking to his readers, but as a digression it doesn't go on too long. It is odd though.
In between those points, there are several subplots, most of them centering on courtiers and their interactions with a demon or ghost--Herne the Hunter--who has some power in the land around the castle, and uses it to lead ambitious people astray. Anyone who accepts his help is doomed. In a way, his character helps makes sense of the chaos surrounding King Henry, connecting them all in a web of secrets and betrayals.
The ending makes sense, but I would have liked a few threads gathered up. I was hoping the supernatural Herne the Hunter would be destroyed or exorcised or something, but he's untouched at the end of the novel. And some of the subplots are tidied up so early--like 75% of the way through--that I was wondering again by the end how they were doing, if they were happy, if they had kids. A few happy endings near the finale would have eased the pain of the beheadings and other sad outcomes we end with. Still, somehow, even without an HEA it didn't seem like tragedy, though it pretty much was. I guess it feels like Anne had earned her fate, and the dead Catharine was getting her just revenge. So, yay, I guess?
I dunno. It worked for me.
There probably isn't a genre called Historical Gothic, but there should be, because this would fit squarely in it. The writing is clear and forceful, the action is brisk, and most of the plot is realistic, but it is paired with magic and the supernatural, giving it a fantasy feel. I like it.
This novel is not for everybody. I see most readers scored this 3 and under. But I liked it more than that. TBH, I almost gave this 5 stars instead of 4. If there were half points, I'd definitely have gone 4.5. I have several other novels by the author waiting to go that I'm straight up looking forward to reading, with high hopes.
Recommended for readers of Scott and Dumas and the like.
The plot is a little unconventional; it's sort of the story of Anne Boleyn, but just what happened at Windsor Castle. It starts with her arrival in a big parade, before her marriage to Henry VIII, and ends with her at the block at the Tower (told from the King's perspective, out hunting near Windsor Castle, waiting for the cannons to fire, indicating her death). (Oh, yeah, spoiler--Anne Boleyn gets her head chopped off. Hope I'm not breaking news here.) There's also a section in the middle describing the castle throughout history, much like Hugo does with Notre Dame in Hunchback. It's purely non-fiction, the author talking to his readers, but as a digression it doesn't go on too long. It is odd though.
In between those points, there are several subplots, most of them centering on courtiers and their interactions with a demon or ghost--Herne the Hunter--who has some power in the land around the castle, and uses it to lead ambitious people astray. Anyone who accepts his help is doomed. In a way, his character helps makes sense of the chaos surrounding King Henry, connecting them all in a web of secrets and betrayals.
The ending makes sense, but I would have liked a few threads gathered up. I was hoping the supernatural Herne the Hunter would be destroyed or exorcised or something, but he's untouched at the end of the novel. And some of the subplots are tidied up so early--like 75% of the way through--that I was wondering again by the end how they were doing, if they were happy, if they had kids. A few happy endings near the finale would have eased the pain of the beheadings and other sad outcomes we end with. Still, somehow, even without an HEA it didn't seem like tragedy, though it pretty much was. I guess it feels like Anne had earned her fate, and the dead Catharine was getting her just revenge. So, yay, I guess?
I dunno. It worked for me.
There probably isn't a genre called Historical Gothic, but there should be, because this would fit squarely in it. The writing is clear and forceful, the action is brisk, and most of the plot is realistic, but it is paired with magic and the supernatural, giving it a fantasy feel. I like it.
This novel is not for everybody. I see most readers scored this 3 and under. But I liked it more than that. TBH, I almost gave this 5 stars instead of 4. If there were half points, I'd definitely have gone 4.5. I have several other novels by the author waiting to go that I'm straight up looking forward to reading, with high hopes.
Recommended for readers of Scott and Dumas and the like.
February 22, 2019
Apparently, Ainsworth was quite the popular author back in his day, and after having read Windsor Castle, I can see both why he was popular and also why he has completely fallen out of favor.
The book is filled with hallmarks of Romanticism. There are luscious descriptions of clothes, the castle itself, and the woods surrounding it. The dialogue is completely unnatural but poetic. There's even an entire book (Book 3) that deviates from the narrative to tell the history of Windsor Castle from its time as a wooden fort through the events of the book and to the contemporary moment with Ainsworth was writing. All of that represents conventions that modern audiences largely reject, especially the narrative detour.
I was fine with the conventions themselves (plowing through Book 3 as fast as possible just to get it over with), and there are elements that I actually really like, but the book doesn't end up feeling terribly cohesive as a single work.
First, the story. Henry VIII is going to divorce Catherine and marry Anne Boleyn. This plot thread proceeds with predictable motions. Anne lords of Catherine. Catherine pleads for her station and her life. There are whispers of infidelity everywhere. It's pretty unremarkable. The other major plot thread is far more interesting. It revolves around Herne the Hunter, a figure of English lore born from the time of Richard II. He's a ghost who haunts the woods around Windsor Castle and terrorizes those he choses to, haggles with individuals for their souls to serve in his hunting party, and is generally creepy in all the best of ways. The descriptions that Ainsworth writes around Herne's powers are colorful, creepy, and fun. His manipulation of people's weaknesses and desires is engaging.
The issue is that the two plots are actually kept pretty separate from each other for large stretches of the book. It got to the point where I was wondering why Henry VIII and Anny Boleyn were interrupting the tale of Herne the Hunter.
Ultimately, the book is an interesting relic from another time with completely different sensibilities. There's a story there that's actually rather well told, but it's hidden behind largely dead conventions.
The book is filled with hallmarks of Romanticism. There are luscious descriptions of clothes, the castle itself, and the woods surrounding it. The dialogue is completely unnatural but poetic. There's even an entire book (Book 3) that deviates from the narrative to tell the history of Windsor Castle from its time as a wooden fort through the events of the book and to the contemporary moment with Ainsworth was writing. All of that represents conventions that modern audiences largely reject, especially the narrative detour.
I was fine with the conventions themselves (plowing through Book 3 as fast as possible just to get it over with), and there are elements that I actually really like, but the book doesn't end up feeling terribly cohesive as a single work.
First, the story. Henry VIII is going to divorce Catherine and marry Anne Boleyn. This plot thread proceeds with predictable motions. Anne lords of Catherine. Catherine pleads for her station and her life. There are whispers of infidelity everywhere. It's pretty unremarkable. The other major plot thread is far more interesting. It revolves around Herne the Hunter, a figure of English lore born from the time of Richard II. He's a ghost who haunts the woods around Windsor Castle and terrorizes those he choses to, haggles with individuals for their souls to serve in his hunting party, and is generally creepy in all the best of ways. The descriptions that Ainsworth writes around Herne's powers are colorful, creepy, and fun. His manipulation of people's weaknesses and desires is engaging.
The issue is that the two plots are actually kept pretty separate from each other for large stretches of the book. It got to the point where I was wondering why Henry VIII and Anny Boleyn were interrupting the tale of Herne the Hunter.
Ultimately, the book is an interesting relic from another time with completely different sensibilities. There's a story there that's actually rather well told, but it's hidden behind largely dead conventions.
March 30, 2019
A classic historical novel about events in and around Windsor Castle during the time of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. The historic events are heightened dramatically by appearances of a forest demon, Herne the Hunter. The novel closes with the death of Boleyn. Interspersed between the novel's chapters are non-fiction historical descriptions of Windsor Castle as it was in earlier eras. Having been there as a tourist a couple years ago, I found the descriptions and the story an interesting read.
November 23, 2025
There is something about the atmosphere of a Victorian novel that just calms my soul. It had been a while since my last Victorian book, so maybe that's why I loved this one so much?
Windsor Castle by W. Harrison Ainsworth was so fascinating! Centered around Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, this book takes all kinds of historical liberties, including the addition of a supernatural character and a little magic.
Windsor Castle by W. Harrison Ainsworth was so fascinating! Centered around Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, this book takes all kinds of historical liberties, including the addition of a supernatural character and a little magic.
May 21, 2023
✔️Published in 1843.
🖊 My review: An interesting historical romance presented with inserted poetry.
🤔 My rating 🌟🌟🌟
🟣 Media form: Kindle version.
🟢 E-book format found here on : Project Gutenberg .
✿●▬●✿●✿●▬●✿
🖊 My review: An interesting historical romance presented with inserted poetry.
🤔 My rating 🌟🌟🌟
🟣 Media form: Kindle version.
🟢 E-book format found here on : Project Gutenberg .
✿●▬●✿●✿●▬●✿
August 20, 2018
Unintentionally hilarious.
July 31, 2024
3,5 🌟
April 21, 2025
I'd rather watch paint dry than read a page out of this again.
May 30, 2010
[These notes were made in 1987:]. Had he heard of Dorothy Sayers, Ainsworth might have learned a trick from her and called this "A Romance with historical interruptions." There is, more precisely, one long historical interruption - a centre section which details (à la Tower of London) the history of Windsor Castle from its inception to the present day (of Ainsworth). Coming as it does in the middle of a story about the sixteenth century, that's a little jarring. Otherwise, however, the novel is reasonably unified; a standard double plot with a supernatural being (Herne the Hunter) impinging on both. The "top" plot is that of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour, and Ainsworth is unashamedly partial to Anne, whom he makes into something of a tragic heroine, resisting devilish offers made by Herne the Hunter. The second plot involves Sir Thomas Wyat and a non-historical character named Mabel who gets into the clutches of said Herne. She too dies tragically (by drowning). Ainsworth was no doubt historically accurate in his Windsor Castle account, as usual - but there is a curious slip. I was expecting at least a mention, if not quite a dramatic use of the fact that Anne was executed by a French swordsman. Given WHA's morbid propensity for extended execution scenes, it seemed likely he'd revel in this one. But he seemed to have lost interest, merely giving the whole thing a paragraph in Henry's mind's-eye; and poor old Anne gets the axe like everyone else. The word "copious" is inadequate to describe the illustrations, sketches and plans in this book, and although I have never visited it, I could probably draw you a reasonably accurate map of the Castle even now, just from reading this book. Its pleasures are a bit miscellaneous, but I did enjoy this "locality" book - the more so since it's the last in my Ainsworth series!
November 8, 2016
It would be unfair to give this fewer than three stars, since I did quite enjoy it, but my word Ainsworth didn't know when to stop. There's a good story in here, but he just goes on and on, as if he had a word count to meet -oh, I know, I'll put in a bit more about Herne - and then there's the central section which is purely the history of Windsor Castle, very interesting, but out of place in a romance. And of course, post-Mantel, one has to wonder why Thomas Cromwell wasn't on the scene anywhere...
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews