Jo Harkin’s The Pretender is the latest entry into the genre of the pseudo-historical fiction novel, taking up the mantle of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy. Harkin’s novel begins in England in 1483, with a farm boy named John Collan, whose days are filled with simple pleasures and work, before he is plucked from the landscape by a mysterious benefactor, who tells John that he is actually the son of King Richard’s dead brother, and was snuck away to the farm as an infant to avoid detection from his conniving father’s enemies. The nobleman tells him that his true name is actually Edward Plantagenet and he is the rightful heir to the English throne once Richard is dead.
Thus begins Edward’s adventures: starting in Oxford where he’s tutored in Latin, then living with his aunt, the the wise and intelligent Duchess of Burgundy. He then departs for Ireland, where he stays at the court of the Earl of Kildare, and befriends his young daughters. In Ireland is where he comes into contact with Joan, the wily and tempestuous daughter of the Earl, who quickly catches Edward’s eye with her sharp with and striking appearance. All the while Edward is avoiding various plots to ensnare him and his relatives, and coming to terms with his role in the rebellion against the Tudor monarchy. He eventually makes his way to King Henry’s court where he becomes embroiled in the political machinations of the paranoid monarch.
The novel is not only a piece of historical fiction but also an intimate character study. Very few of us experience the fluidity of identity that Edward does—changing names, social statuses, circumstances, and manners by the months. Harkin asks the reader what it means to have a selfhood when the facts of one’s own nature are hidden from the self, and the true nature of the people around one are never clear, as everyone has their own secret desires and motivations.
In an interview with NPR, Harkin said of the lack of details in the true historical record around Edward’s life after he made it to Henry’s court, “that left me with just this huge space to kind of create a second act for him. And I think that’s sort of what interested me about his story almost as much as the known facts, which are pretty crazy – but the idea that he could then go on to have this a second existence where, possibly, he has a little more agency than the first time around.”
The novel utilizes traditional historical fiction conventions and quest narrative framework to explore this interesting entry in the history of Tudor England. The semi-fictional exploration of the emotional turmoil experienced by a young man with a fluid identity is a fascinating addition to the historical fiction canon. Harkin’s novel is a sympathetic portrayal of this little-known figure, that gets into the deeper themes of identity, class, family, and inheritance.