The first time ever I saw your face

Did you see that news story about scientists claiming to have discovered the ‘real’ face of Anne Boleyn?

Now that would be some feat, because her real face would have been on the head cut off by a French swordsman in 1536 at the behest of the corrupt court sycophants surrounding Henry VIII.

She was executed for adultery, incest and treason – charges which paved the way for Henry to dump rather than divorce Anne and make room for wife number three, Jane Seymour, and the potential for a male heir.

It was typical of this tyrant king.

No, this ‘real’ face is a previously unknown sketch by Hans Holbein the Younger in the Royal Collection.

The finding is the work of a computer science team from the University of Bradford, which used modern facial recognition techiniques to come up with the controversial theory.

They believe another sketch below in The Royal Collection was mislabelled and is more likely to be of Anne’s mother, Elizabeth (nee Howard).

It doesn’t really fit with the description we have of Anne with a long and slender neck and dark hair.

There is a fascinating blog about the various portraits of Anne here, which was written in 2020 and is still relevant now, even with this new ‘discovery’ which may or may not be what it seems.

Up until now, the painting below, from The National Portrait Gallery, is the one that has informed the modern world what the doomed queen might have looked like. It’s not contemporary, it’s Elizabethan, but it’s the one we all know.

So are we any closer to the truth? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder – as we know from the famous Holbein painting of a sweet Anne of Cleves. We are told Henry was rather taken with the portrait but, apparently, when he saw the lady in real life, his reaction was that she was the spitting image of a “Flanders Mare”.

And looking at this image now again, could the ‘discovered’ portrait be, in fact, a sketch of Anne of Cleves?

What do you think?

In a galaxy far, far away…

We were sitting there, out in a French garden last Friday, listening to the sound of a midwife toad (look them up, they’re incredible).

(The noise they make is more like a scops owl, but it doesn’t show up on the Merlin bird app on my phone for the obvious reason that a toad is not a bird.)

Anyway, Mr Grigg began regaling the barbecue guests with a story about a very low aeroplane we’d watched in the sky one afternoon earlier in the week.

It went into a cloud and we had followed its trajectory, the two of us fully expecting it to come out the other side.

But it didn’t, which led me to suggest a Bermuda Triangle-type theory in which the plane used the cloud as a time and space portal to disappear into a different world.

I relayed this to the others, who were a bit non-plussed by this explanation, with one of them even humming the tune to The X-Files and another doing an impression of a cuckoo.

So I zoned out and gazed up at the night sky, which is my wont, while they discussed UFOs and other dimensions. In my own head, the theme music for Stranger Things was playing loudly, drowning out their scorn.

And that’s when I saw it, a long line of lights moving slowly towards the little full moon, which was about to appear above a tree.

I savoured the moment for a few milliseconds and then said calmly: ‘What’s that up there?’

All eyes turned to the sky. We watched this strange phenomenon for a minute or two as it traversed its night stage, seemingly on some otherwordly mission above our heads. We were transfixed.

By the time I took out my camera from my jeans pocket, the sight was dimming and so were my photography skills because I was so excited.

After the thing left our field of vision, silence ensued, followed by a feverish conversation about what we’d just witnessed.

It took me another five minutes to retrieve something from the back of my mind and to declare the thing we’d just seen was the Starlink satellite train. I’d heard about it once on the radio and had always wanted to see it, and now I had.

It’s operated by SpaceX, whose driving force is a strange man I do not like. I refuse to name him so my blog doesn’t get launched in to the outer atmosphere but just think of Batman gone bad and you’ll know who I mean.

That aside, we all rely on the internet these days, so the Starlink satellites have a job to do and, when you read up on it, you realise that there is so much in this world we do not understand.

And why am I telling you this? Because you need to know.

Also, the thing in the sky looked very like a Star Wars lightsaber moving gracefully across the universe. And as today is May the Fourth and I always put down my religion as Jedi on the census, I felt I needed to share that with you.

Have a great week.

Love, Maddie x

May Day felicitations

You must wake and call me early, call me early mother dear;
To-morrow’ll be the the happiest time of all the glad new-year,
Of all the glad new-year, mother, the maddest, merriest day;
For I’m to be Queen o’ the May, mother I’m to be Queen o’ the May.

The opening words of The May Queen by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892), who was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom for much of Queen Victoria’s reign, seem apt on this May Day morning.

I don’t know about you, but I wasn’t up early. Some, I know, were dancing up on Dorset’s Cerne Giant as the sun rose. And possibly bathing in the morning dew in the quest for eternal youth.

I’m usually an early riser during the week, but not today. It’s a Bank Holiday here in France and life is even quieter in this village than usual. So I’ve taken the day off.

Whatever you’re doing over the next few days, here’s to a peaceful, happy May Day weekend.

Incidentally, the pictures come from a brilliant article on the British Newspaper Archive’s blog tracing the traditions behind the May Queen ritual. It’s an absolutely fascinating read and can be found here.

Born & Bred: the movie

Last year I was involved in a project in my Dorset village.

This is the film that goes with it. It’s just been uploaded to YouTube and I thought you might like to see it.

This is the link to the accompanying article on the Windrose Rural Media Trust website that tells you all about it.

It was a privilege to lead this project, which combined oral history, creative arts and community participation to explore rural life and identity.

My cohort of local people were a joy to work with, and the film by my colleague Simone Einfalt brings tears to my eyes.

Of course we should listen to locals who are born and bred in a place. Not to do so is arrogant folly.

New projects with Windrose are on the horizon, if I can find the funding to implement them.

Please get in touch if you’re in Dorset, Somerset or Wiltshire if you think our creative paths could converge.

April book reviews

Three novels this month, one of which I actually bought myself rather than relying on my usual free NetGalley source.

A mixed bag in subject matter and tone but all excellent. I’ve enjoyed these books very much.

Some taut thrillers to look forward to next month, along with some highfalutin literary offerings, among them There Are Rivers In The Sky by Elif Shafak, which has been recommended by a friend.

The News From Dublin by Colm Tobin *****

(Literary fiction, short stories – 304 pages. First published 31 March 2026)

A collection of short stories of varying lengths from Colm Tobin is worth several hours of anyone’s time.

He writes so beautifully about life, love and families in a way that few authors can manage to pull off – no obvious plot, with beginning, middle and end, just a very satisfying insight into the lives and worlds of the people he inhabits.

Thoughtful, nuanced and unputdownable. It felt like I was eavesdropping on private conversations, getting to know more and more about the main character and those around them as I read on.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a copy of this lovely book.

Kendal Acts Up by Ros Huxley ****

(Romcom – 341 pages. Published July 2025)

Forty-something orphan Kendal Tudge, down on her luck and out of sync with working life in London, inherits a flat by the sea in Dorset.

Could a move down to the Jurassic Coast be the answer to all her (many) prayers? It could be – but there’s one big problem. Her late Uncle Clem’s home is a warden-controlled flat and residents have to be over sixty to live there.

So when she decides to lie about her age, Kendal’s transformative journey begins. Can she shed her irresponsible, intolerant and hedonistic skin to become a better person and live in contentment alongside her older peers?

Or will she be found out and castigated for her deceit?

Throw in a good looking warden by the name of Gary, some eccentric neighbours and new-found friends, this rom-com will have you laughing out loud and rooting for Kendal all the way.

I’m a bit biased, because I know the author, but this debut novel deserves to be read more widely. Heck, it could even become a great little television series, with Kendal Tudge as the unlikely heroine.

A well-written and ingeniously plotted debut. Let’s hope there’s much more to come.

The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout *****

(Literary fiction – 224 pages. Expected publication 5 May 2026)

I am hugely in love with Elizabeth Strout and her style of writing. I adored Olive Kitteridge and Olive Again although I was not so keen on Lucy Barton until the pandemic when along came Lucy By The Sea.

Her latest novel, The Things We Never Say, introuces us to Artie Dam, a thoughful, kind and decent history teacher in his late fifties. Artie is married with one-grown up son. He is popular (in the main) with his students but finds himself increasingly out of step with a baffling world and the people around him.

Artie makes a devastating, personal discovery, having already felt, intuitively, that things are off with his life.

Set against a backdrop of divisive and an unbelievable direction in US politics, The Things We Never Say is bang up-to-date, with fears for the future and bafflement at how the world has got to where it is.

Strout writes quietly, yet beautifully, about melancholic situations which often lie beneath the veneer of ordinary, everday life in a small town.

The Things We Never Say reminded me of Stoner, the 1965 novel by John Williams – deep and impactful and with a quiet, unassuming teacher at its heart.

For me, this is Strout’s best novel yet.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advance review copy of this novel. It will stay with me for a long time.