Out & About July 2017

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Very little is known about the life of
Mary Seymour. After the death of
Henry VIII, his sixth wife Katherine
Parr married Thomas Seymour, the
brother of Jane Seymour, Henry’s third wife.
Mary Seymour was their only child. There are
few historical references to her existence, and
all trace of her disappears very soon after she
was orphaned, barely a year old. She seems to
have vanished into thin air.
In Nicola Cornick’s fascinating book she
imagines what Mary’s life might have been
like, taking up her story as a young girl
bundled off to the Seymour family’s daunting
house, Wolf Hall, in the depths of the ghostly
Savernake Forest.
Wolf Hall had become a home for unwanted
and disgruntled relatives who could find no
place else to live.
Cornick’s novel moves between Wiltshire in the
present day and Tudor England.
It begins in the present, as Alison Banister is
browsing in an antiques shop in Marlborough
and comes across a portrait that everyone
considers to be Anne Boleyn, but Alison knows
for certain that it is Mary Seymour.
The painting holds clues to Mary’s past and
can help Alison to solve a compelling and
disturbing mystery that haunts her every
waking minute.
She embarks on a quest to find out more about
the painting and where it came from. This
leads her into dangerous territory, taking her
to places she thought she’d never see again,
and discovering in the process what became of
Mary Seymour.
Central to this novel is the idea of time travel.
Present-day Alison Bannister is actually Alison
Banestre, a distant relative and fellow inmate
of Mary’s, at Wolf Hall.
She has managed to escape her tragic life
at that desperate house by the magic of time
travel, but she must go back for Mary, and for
her own sanity.
This device works very well as a key to
unlocking the mysteries of Mary’s life.
“She knew at once she was in the wrong place,
in the wrong time…Time was no easy medium
to control”.
Of course the temptation for any time traveller
is to go back and meddle, right a wrong, settle
a grudge or even prevent a death.
Alison has good reason to do all these things.
When the time comes, and if the Phantom Tree
allows her back, can she resist the urge to
change her fate?
Set in many familiar local haunts, including
Wolf Hall, the Savernake Forest and Littlecote
House, this book contains delightful insights
into the area in Tudor times:
“I loved the market for the noise and colour…
the cobbles of Marlborough ran with blood from
the carcasses that hung on pegs on the stalls”.
Wolf Hall itself is already falling into disrepair,
“The rambling old manor was…run down”.
However, “The gardens…proved a delight”.
Mary enjoys a wild night at the Hungerford
Midsummer Fair, “…we danced to the music
of the lute and the recorders, and watched the
fire-eaters”.
There are many references to the Savernake,
which, with its ancient trees, including the
Phantom Tree, and its rumoured ghosts, make
it the ideal backdrop for this tale.
“The forest was full of pale light and misty
glades that morning”.
One of the forest’s most famous ghosts is the
Headless Rider; we discover first-hand the
origin of that grisly decapitation. At a picnic in
the forest, Mary and Alison witness a bolting
horse crashing through the trees, whose
rider’s head is “severed… as neatly as any
executioner”.
Stories about famous Tudor families are
usually full of wild romances, dashing heroes
and monstrous bounders; these are all present
in this book.
Alison and Mary find love and heartache in
equal measure.
For Alison there is the added complication of
loves in both past and present times. Mary,
rather ordinary-looking in contrast to Alison’s
beauty, nevertheless has her fair share of love
and loss, “…he took pleasure in looking at me,
plain little Mary Seymour”.
For anyone who enjoys historical fiction,
The Phantom Tree ticks all the boxes.
Cornick effortlessly weaves fact and fiction,
and time and place together, making it a
pleasure to read.
Told from two different perspectives – Mary’s
life in the 1560s and Alison’s in the present
– this epic tale of fantasy and history is
interwoven in a seamless and engaging way.
It is a poignant tale about a lonely girl of
famous parents whose story has been lost in
the sands of time, and a fitting tribute to what
was probably a short and difficult life.
When you next visit the Savernake Forest you
might think of Mary, and be reminded that even
now the bare remnants of Wolf Hall harbour
the ghosts of long ago.
The Phantom Tree is a skillfully written multi-
stranded mystery with thoughtful reflections on
two women’s quests for belonging.
Helen Sheehan and Lissa Gibbins are writers and owners of Aide Memoire, Great Bedwyn. Inspired by their passion for words,
they write memoirs, edit novels and documents and proofread for a wide range of clients.
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HELEN SHEEHAN and LISSA GIBBINS are drawn in by the time travel, historical figures
and intriguing mystery, which make for a compelling combination in The Phantom Tree
by Nicola Cornick
Ghostly goings on
Browsing antiques shops in Wiltshire, Alison Bannister stumbles across a delicate old portrait – supposedly of Anne Boleyn.
Except Alison knows better… The woman is Mary Seymour, the daughter of Katherine Parr, who was taken to Wolf Hall in 1557
as an unwanted orphan and presumed dead after going missing as a child. The painting is more than just a beautiful object
from Alison’s past – it holds the key to her future, unlocking the mystery surrounding Mary’s disappearance, and the enigma
of Alison’s son. But Alison’s quest soon takes a dark and foreboding turn, as a meeting place called the Phantom Tree
harbours secrets in its shadows…