Estelle Paranque brings us a book about Anne Boleyn and her betrayal--betrayal by her husband, France and the Tudor court at large. The author spends a good deal of time establishing Anne's upbringing at the French court and her allies there before Anne's fateful romance with Henry VIII. The book centers around a lot of the diplomats from France, Spain and England and how they worked between all of the different courts.

I thought this book was informative and I definitely learned a few things. I was annoyed that Paranque called Henry's court the Henrician court. Why not just say Tudor? Also, as other reviews have mentioned, she recreates dialogue. So that was odd in a non-fiction book. The downfall of Boleyn comes up pretty quickly in this book and I don't think facts and circumstances were established enough for the author to rush into Anne's death.

Thanks to Hachette Books and NetGalley for a copy of this book.

This was a DNF @75%ish.

Thorns, Lust, and Glory started off in a promising way. This book was hyped to be a new favorite history with an interesting premise and excellent storytelling. Slowly though, I realized that this story is not what I thought it would be. First and foremost, I disagreed with the main premise of the book; that being how the French caused the downfall of Anne Boleyn. While Henry and Francis had a rather annoying love/hate relationship throughout the years in the book, I hardly think we can blame Francis (who was dealing with his own bullshit) in the downfall, when Henry was in the world being a plague to every poor woman that crossed him. In addition, I went into this book thinking that I would be reading a thorough biography of Anne Boleyn. Instead, this was more about the Kings who had an almost constant hand in her life, and about the politics of the period. I also hated the blatant made-up dialogue in the text, alongside the almost constant supposition and repetition (especially in the second and third parts). It made a fast-moving story into a slog to get through. In the end, I ended up not caring about Anne, Henry, or the rest and this killed my attention to the point where I decided not to finish it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book.

I will not be posting on any public review sites besides GoodReads out of respect to the author.

I want to thank NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

EVERYONE who loves Anne Boleyn and/or the Tudors needs to read this book. It is such an important examination of Anne's political influence on the Tudor court between 1528 and 1536. Rather than being a simply biography of Anne's life, Paranque takes the reader through the European geopolitical landscape of the early 16th century. By stepping outside of England, Paranque highlights both the importance of England as a power balance to the Holy Roman Empire and France and Anne's wider influence on these events.

Personally I am trying to expand my reading of the Tudor period outside of the nuclear family of the Tudor Dynasty to obtain a better understanding of the period. Thorns, Lust, and Glory highlights why doing so is important for a more comprehensive understanding of the main players.

Anne's time in France is often discussed as formative, so much so that when she returned to England she was often mistaken for a Frenchwoman, but very few details about these events are highlighted in works about her. Thankfully this appears to be changing. Paranque's use of deductive reasoning to outline how well travelled Anne actually was enlightened and added depth to my understanding of Anne as a person.

I also really enjoyed Paranque's analysis of Anne's relationships with Claude, Queen of France and Margaruet de Angouleme. Even though these events happened 500 years ago the few pieces that remain in the existing sources help to provide a broad outline of how these women interacted and felt about one another.

I do wish that this book had a few more chapters (I would take a second volume) to explore the fall out of Anne's execution in France. The way in which the French withdrawal of support from Anne contributed to her downfall sort of fell away in the last few chapters. However, the epilogue highlighted how Anne was still highly spoken of within the French court, as Catherine de Medici makes note of this later on to Elizabeth I. Was this just grandstanding on Catherine's part or is there more to the story? Also, I know that Anne's executioner is not know, but I was curious about the logistics of getting an executioner from France. Was the government and/or Francis I aware that an executioner had been sent for? If so were they aware for what purpose?

While the main focus of this book was on Anne's diplomatic and personal relationships with the French another thing that I did find interesting about this book was the perspective on Henry VIII. Paranque's analysis of the love affair between Henry and Anne made me think about their relationship in an entirely new way, while highlighting new aspects of Henry as a ruler. The duplicity of Henry's state craft is often highlighted in works about him, particularly with relation to his dealings with France. However, this book really showed how unwilling Henry was to play the political game in order to maintain his position of power as a mediator between France and Spain. Obviously, Francis I, Charles V, and Henry VIII were all looking out for their own interests, but Henry very clearly damages Anglo-French relations with regards to "The Great Matter". Then Henry tries to gaslight everyone that the break down in relations is Francis' fault not his. Paranque's analysis of these events really highlighted for me that Henry VIII was not a political animal. He had intelligence in many respects, but his blind narcissism always seems to have gotten in the way of a pragmatic choice. A point that is further driven home buy Paranque's use of diplomatic correspondence from French ambassadors working with Henry during this time.

I would highly recommend this book. You will not view the key figures in the same way and it will make you hungry to learn more about everyone involved. Furthermore, this book demonstrates how much political power Anne had at her disposal as she rose to power.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Child death and Infertility

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

Although not graphically described details of Anne's execution by a French swordsman and the five men accused with her by ax are discussed

I, of course, knew who Anne Boleyn was [Henry the 8th's wife], and I absolutely knew HOW she died [OFF with her head;-) ], BUT, as I read this excellent bok, I found that was ALL I knew and that the full story was WAY more dramatic, filled with details, small and lurid, and intrigue [such as could be found amongst the almost always warring Royals] such as I had not even imagined and it left me just gobsmacked at the lengths everyone to satisfy their own whims [with little regard for others, even those they profess to love]. And I found, that while she had a very tragic end, Anne Boleyn is not QUITE the innocent figure that history tries to make her out to be [funny how time tempers history eh?].

Expertly researched and impeccably written, this book is a must read for any history buff and an absolute must for those who love this particular era and Royals. I am very much looking forward to reading the author's other books!!

Thank you to NetGalley, Estelle Paranque, and Hachette Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was an interesting book! There aren't many books that focus on Anne's time before she was involved with the king so it was interesting to read about her younger life and how it all tied together with her days as Queen. She was definitely an interesting woman. You really get to see a side of her that you didn't know and the author does a wonderful job of giving the readers a better understanding of her personality. If you enjoy books about Anne Boleyn and are interested in learning a little more about her you should give this one a try!

Estelle Paranque presents the iconic figure of Anne Boleyn from a new perspective: her relationship to and within the world of French politics. Having spent a good portion of her youth in France, she forged with royalty as well as administrative court members which ultimately played a significant role in her relationship with King Henry VIII.
When Anne and Henry were fighting hard to legitimize their relationship, they had the support of King Francis I of France. But that support would ultimately end when Francis I proved unwilling to break away from the Roman Catholic Church, something Anne and Henry gladly did to get what they wanted: Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon and their (Henry and Anne) marriage.
Paranque's main point is that the breakdown in French support for Anne was a betrayal on the part of France, embodied by Francis I. This is driven home by the lack of help from Francis when Anne's downfall and death are engineered by Thomas Cromwell, both of which had the full support of Henry VIII (so much for love).
This fascinating, engaging book is closed out by Paranque with the following mash-up of quotes I put together:
"Anne's tragic end has inspired many authors to imagine and re-imagine her life, but also the words she said. She sparked interest
and fascination to the point where, even today, she continues to be remembered and adored by 'fans' all around the world....She
will always be an intriguing royal icon....[and her] legacy [lived] on through her daughter, Queen Elizabeth I...."

I thoroughly enjoyed this different take on Anne Boleyn, as it shows her as a whole person rather than a femme fatale turned shrewish wife who failed at giving Henry a son. She made mistakes along the way in her relationship, but none that warranted her execution. I appreciate Paranque for doing her best to demonstrate that. For an avid Tudor history fan, this is definitely a five-star, must-read book.i highly recommend it.
Thanks to NetGalley ad Hachette Books for this arc, which I voluntarily read and reviewed.

Thorns, Lust, and Glory is an interesting account of Anne Boleyn's rise and death. It details how her background enabled her to work her way up in the English court and eventually become Henry VIII's second wife. Quotes from letters to and from Anne and other contemporary correspondence detail everything that led to Anne's elevation and her quick placement as Henry VIII's second wife.

I preface this with the disclaimer that I have read a lot of books about Anne Boleyn, so I am really familiar with the history. That makes it difficult to find anything new in recently published books. This one is fine. It is well written but gets bogged down in strangely irrelevant details. It feels as if the author was trying really hard to find a new angle to the story. Not the best or most complete Anne Boleyn history but a decent addition to the canon. Digital ARC was received via NetGalley.

In Thorns, Lust, and Glory: The Betrayal of Anne Boleyn, Estelle Paranque promises readers a new perspective on the life of Anne Boleyn, the queen who changed English history forever. That France betrayed the highly intelligent and spirited woman forms the book's framing narrative.

Paranque first grounds her argument through a thorough exploration of Anne's time in France as a young girl, a topic oft skimmed over by other authors. Anne's time in France left an indelible mark on her, and Paranque argues she left a reciprocal impression on France.

The author then traces the relationship between Henry, Anne, and Francis I of France as the royal pair's relationship developed from courtship to queenship. Francis's support of the couple waxed and waned through the 1520s and early-1530s, ultimately leading to what Paranque argues is a betrayal as Francis chased his own ambitions. This betrayal contributed to Anne's execution in May 1536.

Though intriguing in theory, the delivery wasn't as strong for me as a reader due to a number of factors: the inclusion of dialogue, numerous suppositions, and some tenuous claims.

The addition of dialogue, even if taken directly from the source material, broke my immersion as the book's flow effectively switched from non-fiction to historical fiction. This is arguably a personal opinion and does not reflect on Paranque's ability to write engaging prose, something she does well.

Throughout the book, the author surmises the emotions or feelings of the historical actors at play. In some cases, this relies on contemporary evidence. Others, however, seem superfluous.

Finally, two claims feel tenuous at best: that Anne was, in effect, an alternative French princess, and the overarching narrative that France's betrayal contributed to her downfall. Though Paranque pulls from a wide variety of sources, I think her arguments could benefit from further exploration in Anne Boleyn's historiography.

Thank you to the author and publisher for a copy of this book via NetGalley!

Thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Books for an Advanced Reader Copy - pub date 11/12/2024. Anyone who knows me, knows that my favorite HVIII wife is Anne Boleyn so, of course, I snagged this book with glee. First off, it is very, very deep dive. It is all about Anne, taking us straight from what little is known of her childhood all the way through to the final tragic but dignified day at the block. However, it is also very all about the political climate and the scheming and the powerful men who held final sway over Anne's fate - King Henry VIII, King Francis I, Emperor Charles, and two popes. For all of her intelligence and charm, there is only so much one person can do against certain forces. Paranque makes sure we never see Anne as a complete victim, despite the situation, and awards her the agency and brains that the records of the time indicate. Perhaps too much agency at that time and too many brains and too much forcefulness - leading to the convenient and constant smearing of her name in the years following her death.

What did surprise me was the direction and focus Paranque placed on Anne's time and ties to France and how the politics influenced her fate. I can't say I ever thought outside of England when pondering Anne Boleyn. Sure, I knew she spent time in Francis' court and was refined and continental but I didn't stop to think about how close she was to the power players in the French court. The book features incredibly detailed research. While a lot of Anne's reactions and words are lost to history thanks to destruction of her letters and a deliberate erasure of her presence (Henry, you shit) so those areas had a level of educated estimation, Paranque based her theories on as much factual info as she could find. By widening the scope past England's borders, you get a better idea of who was for and who was against Ann, how those alliances shifted, etc. It was a much more nuanced and dangerous situation than it seemed.

At times, the book was try and there were A LOT of names and places to keep track of. However, it was all written clearly and as in-line as possible while still striving to let the reader understand the world at large, Anne's part in it, and how things could have gone another way... but it was almost inevitable that they didn't.

Over the last 15 years, we’ve seen a surge of enthusiasm among non-academic audiences for Tudor-era bios and histories, not to mention works of historical imagination like Hilary Mantel’s Man Booker Prize-winning Wolf Hall (2009), which arguably ignited the trend. No surprise: The period — straddled at one end by the gargantuan Henry VIII and at the other by his cagey daughter, Elizabeth I — abounds in dazzling personalities. In Thorns, Lust, and Glory, Estelle Paranque zeroes in on one of the most controversial and fascinating of these somebodies, Anne Boleyn, Henry’s storied mistress and ill-fated second wife.

Paranque has given us an energetically researched — if somewhat narrowly conceived — take on Anne’s two-decade climb into the spotlight. The story begins with her sojourns as teenage lady-in-waiting to two queens of France and then, in the same role, with the English queen whom we know as the Spanish-born Catherine of Aragon. It’s here at Henry’s court, c. 1526, that Anne catches the king’s eye, and his pursuit of her kicks into gear. According to Paranque, the cosmopolitan Anne, her gaze fixed on a crown, holds the king chastely (or mostly so) at bay for seven years. And then, fully satisfied with his promise that the old queen will be set aside and Anne crowned, she yields:

“It has been rumored that the couple consummated their carnal relationship [in November 1532]…although no contemporary evidence exists to support this theory. It is certainly likely that Anne would have waited this long to consummate their relationship, because becoming queen was her goal, and she could not have afforded to give him an illegitimate child.”

That’s what Paranque claims, a bit too clairvoyantly perhaps, given the absence of “contemporary evidence.” Still, she’s not alone among scholars. Anne’s skill at deflecting the advances of the notoriously concupiscent Henry, it would seem, owed much of its success to the cultural vise grip of the Courtly Love craze (and Anne’s canny manipulation of its reluctant mistress convention) that pervaded Henry’s court. The king, otherwise used to the instant satisfaction of his every wishful urge, supposedly falls swooningly in line, inspired, or stupefied, by the spurned-but-ever-hopeful suitor role that Courtly Love assigned him. (Not all historians buy this view of the protracted non-consummation of the affair, but that’s a matter beyond the scope of this review.)

Nonetheless, Anne might indeed have played the long game brilliantly. She’d seen Henry’s mistresses come and go, her own married sister, Mary, among them. Plus, the resolution of “the King’s great matter” (i.e., a divorce from Queen Catherine) was anything but a sure bet, despite the assurances of Henry and his advisors.

The diplomatic tug-of-war over the divorce would drag on for years, embroiling European big-power relations: France on one side, Spain on the other. Pope Clement, meanwhile, the supposed decision-maker on the annulment, was playing for time, knocked off balance by the blooming Reformation to the north. What’s more, he was leery of alienating Henry, even as he (the pope) was under extreme pressure from — and briefly imprisoned by — the Spanish king (Queen Catherine’s nephew).

Long story short, by June of 1533, the more private tussle between Anne and Henry had certainly been settled. Six months pregnant, she marries Henry and, amid much pageantry, is crowned queen. Within a month, the pope abruptly annuls their marriage and excommunicates them both. In September, Anne gives birth to the daughter who will, 23 years later, become Elizabeth I. The child’s gender is a disappointment to Henry, who is banking on a son for dynastic reasons. Even so, this results in a period of marital calm, with Henry focused on consummating his lukewarm reformation by stripping his kingdom’s Catholic monasteries of their riches.

By 1536, Anne is pregnant again, but she suffers a miscarriage. This is too much for the king; Anne goes off to execution, tarred with trumped-up charges of adultery. She’s the first of two Henrician queens to suffer capital punishment for alleged adultery.

Sadly, Paranque’s perspective throughout is an almost exclusively diplomatic one. She’s thoroughly versed in the letters and related communications of a small handful of contemporary foreign observers, markedly the French and Spanish envoys to Henry’s court. These envoys report faithfully (though with opposing prejudices) on Anne’s rise and fall. Paranque provides context on the shifting-sands backdrop of the major powers’ rivalries for European dominance and, not insignificantly — given the religious circumstances and realpolitik of the era — their competition for papal favor.

And so, we’re left with a pretty narrow stab at Anne’s life and impact. Paranque, for all her fervency to court a gender-specific audience (note her book’s title), holds back potentially dramatic and narrative-enriching details. Notable among these is her failure to provide more than cursory detail about the plot to convict Anne of adultery with no fewer than five denizens at court, including her own brother and a royal musician.

There’s much lacking in Thorns, Lust, and Glory, but it’s an adequate introduction to Anne Boleyn’s life. Still, after reading it, you’re cheating yourself if you don’t follow up with any of the more substantial biographies.

Thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Books for the digital copy of this book; I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Okay, this wasn’t the worst book I’ve read on Tudor England, nor was it the best. One of the reasons is because I have this loathing that modern historians recreate dialogue and settings with fictional prose. Paranque relies on these constructs to advance the narrative, and that always makes it hard to me to read a book objectively. If she made up conversations, what else did she make up?

Secondly, since much of Anne Boleyn’s correspondence was destroyed, there’s a whole lot of supposition going on. I understand that for historians to draw conclusions based upon source material is common, yet the way the book was written, the times when it’s said “she must have felt” have no basis or corroborating references to facts.

It’s not that this is a terrible book. I’m all for modern historians to reframe the scorned women of history, a history written mostly by men, and bring forth a more sympathetic look. Let’s face it–Anne got the shaft, and everyone knows it. This book reflects that fact and shapes it in a way that modern sensibilities can digest. For that, I would still give this book three out of five stars.

A young woman catches the attention of a king already married to a princess from a faraway kingdom. The king desires the young lady and divorces his wife to marry her. However, there is a catch. The young lady spent some time in the French court of Francis I and Claude of France, whereas the king’s wife was the daughter of the Spanish King and Queen as well as the aunt of the Holy Roman Emperor. The Great Matter of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, and Catherine of Aragon is considered one of the messiest divorces in English history and rightfully so when you consider the diplomatic consequences that this divorce would have across Europe. Estelle Paranque highlights the connection between Anne Boleyn and the French court in her latest book, “Thorns, Lust, and Glory: The Betrayal of Anne Boleyn.”

I want to thank Hachette Books and Net Galley for sending me a copy of this book. I heard that Estelle Paranque was writing a new book about the 16th century, but when I heard that it dealt with Anne Boleyn’s connections with the French court, I jumped at the chance to read it. While I do know quite a bit about the rise and fall of Anne Boleyn, it is her connection with the French court that I have never really explored in depth.

Paranque begins her book by examining the meeting between King Henry VIII and King Francis I with Anne Boleyn at Calais between October 25th and 27th, 1532. This was a significant meeting as it was right before Henry and Anne married in secret and they desired that Francis would support their side in the Great Matter. But how did they get to this meeting in Calais? This is where this book shines as Paranque takes the time to show her audience what life was like for Anne in the French court and the connections that she forged with women like Louise of Savoy, Claude of France, and Marguerite of Angouleme Queen of Navarre. It was fascinating to see how the Boleyns were able to use their connections to forge alliances with the French court that would prove useful in the future.

Possibly my favorite part of this book was seeing how the diplomatic channels across Europe interacted with one another during the Great Matter, the queenship of Anne Boleyn, and the fall of the Boleyns. I think we so often overlook that there were diplomats who were working on the sidelines to convey messages between kings and emperors to form or strengthen alliances. While many might consider the way Paranque wrote the correspondence and dialogue between diplomats and the monarchy as hard to get used to because she does insert emotions, I believe it adds depth to the story because they were human beings not in a vacuum. They had feelings about what was happening around them, passionate feelings in fact, and that should be displayed to readers.

While the actual events of this book were not new to me, the way that Paranque was able to present the information and show the men behind the scenes was fascinating. It presents the relationship between Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn in a different more complex light. If you want a different angle to the rise and fall of Anne Boleyn, I recommend you read, “Thorns, Lust, and Glory: The Betrayal of Anne Boleyn” by Estelle Paranque.

This was my first book by Estelle Paranque and I learned so much, not only about Anne Boleyn, but the politics of Europe at the time which eventually caused the Church of England to be formed. This wasn't as much of a biography as I thought it would be but it was a very decisive look at the formidable years that shaped the future wife of Henry VIII. Her time in the French court heavily influenced how she would take England by storm.

The timing of this book is perfect in that BBC has produced TV series about this time in history, Wolf Hall, that although focused on Thomas Cromwell, highlights Anne's rise and fall.

I do wish the author had included historical pictures of many of the main characters, just to give the readers a better idea of power players they had never heard of. Additionally, a timeline would have been useful. Overall though, I would recommend this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Books for an eARC

This book re-examines Anne Boleyn’s life, tracing her formative years at the French court and revealing how her experiences there shaped her destiny and ultimately led to her tragic downfall in England.

I haven’t read an Anne Boleyn bio before that highlighted how Anne’s French sympathies helped counterbalance Catherine of Aragon’s connections to Spain and the Holy Roman Empire. It’s an interesting perspective.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

Another book about Anne Boleyn? Yep, I'm in. This is shorter than many other books about her and her relationship with Henry VIII, so it's a good option if you're new to her story. If you're more familiar with this time period, I wouldn't necessarily recommend - it doesn't add a lot to the existing literature out there, and I felt that it didn't quite live up to its promise of giving her a voice. I realize there's a lot of context that is needed to understand her role in history, but I did expect a bit more from her perspective.

Thorns, Lust, and Glory: The Betrayal of Anne Boleyn by Estelle Paranque is a biography. Boleyn was the second wife of Henry VIII. I have always wanted to know more about Anne Boleyn, so I was happy when I got approved to read this book.

Paranque tells the reader in the introduction that she has taken the liberty to write what she thinks Anne Boleyn thought about certain things. Anne Boleyn's papers have been destroyed or lost. I had a problem with Paranque writing what she thought Anne Boleyn thought. How can anyone know what someone else is thinking or thought? Maybe, because Paranque has written a lot of history books, she thinks she has enough experience and knowledge to be able to write what Boleyn thought.

Paranque wanted to show that Anne was betrayed by France. Anne Boleyn spent her younger years at the French court. Francis I was a friend of hers that she and Henry VIII wanted his help with getting their marriage recognized by the church. He tried to help, but ultimately, politics came into play.

I think Anne Boleyn caused a lot of her own problems. She wanted to be Queen of England so badly that she didn't care what it took to get it. She was conceited. Anne enticed (for a better word) Henry VIII from Queen Catherine. Did she actually think that Henry VIII wouldn't leave her for another woman? She opened the door for him to figure out ways to get rid of his queens when they weren't giving him a male heir.

Tentative Publication Date:
November 12, 2024

Thanks to Netgalley and Hatchette Books for the E-ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

#Netgalley #HatchetteBooks #EstelleParanque #ThornsLustandGlory
#ARC #Readaway2024

I loathe and despise recreated dialogue in non-fiction - it’s like nails on a chalkboard to me. Nor am I fond of supposition in history books. Admittedly, Anne Boleyn didn’t leave much for historians to work with and what little she did leave has been obscured throughout the years… but still. I stand by my opinion that, if it can’t be backed up by evidence, it doesn’t belong in a history book. If Paranque wanted to make up dialogue and theories, she should just have written a novel.

I grew up in a family with a sort of Tudor Monarchs hobby. We watched documentaries together. We sought out trivia and anecdotes. Tensions in the air? Teetering on the edge of an outburst? The Tudors were a safe topic, one that could have us speaking civilly again. Given that, is it any wonder that I was eager to get my hands on a review copy of an upcoming Anne Boleyn biography?

What makes Thorns, Lust, and Glory different from so many other Tudor titles is that it really focuses on Anne. Given the historical material available, Estelle Paranque has done an effective job of helping us to see Anne as Anne and not as wife number two, the first one to be beheaded.

Paranque occasionally oversteps when she presents material she's inferred as fact, describing emotions as Anne's when really they're just her own best guess. But readers can forgive this in exchange for a narrative that's truly Anne-centric.

If you're interested in the Tudors, particularly the six women whose lives get summed up in the rhyme "divorced, beheaded, died/divorced, beheaded, survived," you'll find Thorns. Lust, and Glory an compelling read.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.

This was definitely an interesting read for anyone interested in Tudor history. Paranque makes some interesting inferences about Anne Boleyn being a "French princess" and that she was betrayed by France despite acting in French interests. I'm not necessarily sure where the author derives this particular motive-- but it is interesting nonetheless!

Unfortunately after her execution, traces of Anne Boleyn were wiped out-- leaving much to speculation of what she felt/thought during her life. I commend Paranque for continuing to give our voiceless Boleyn the spotlight. For further reading, I highly recommend The Creation of Anne Boleyn by Susan Bardo-- which heavily touches on her erasure from history and how she was portrayed throughout history after her death.