The Forgotten Tudor Women: Jane Boleyn & Susanna Horenbout, by Sylvia Barbara Soberton

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

Hans Holbein’s sketch identified as “Lady Parker” is among the most enigmatic portraits in the Royal Collection.

For years, historians have believed that “The Lady Parker” depicted Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford—but, like much about Jane’s life, this identification remains controversial. 

Another possibility is that the sitter was one of Jane’s sisters-in-law, Grace or Elizabeth Parker. Most intriguing of all is the theory that Holbein’s “Lady Parker” portrays Susanna Horenbout, the gifted painter and miniaturist who worked at the Tudor court.

This volume—the fourth in the acclaimed Forgotten Tudor Women series—traces the intertwined lives of these remarkable women. Was Jane Boleyn truly the “wicked wife” who betrayed her husband, George Boleyn, and his sister, Queen Anne? 

What role did she play in the downfall of Henry VIII’s fifth queen, Katherine Howard? Was she evil or just misunderstood?

Susanna Horenbout, daughter and sister of royal painters, was a talented artist in her own right, yet her work has long been misattributed or overlooked. For the first time, this book brings her story—and the mystery of Holbein’s “Lady Parker”—to light for a wider audience.

# # #

About the Author

Sylvia Barbara Soberton is a writer and researcher specialising in the history of the Tudors. She is best known for The Forgotten Tudor Women book series, which concentrates on shifting the perspective from famous figures like Henry VIII’s six wives to the lesser-known, but no less influential, women of the Tudor court. Sylvia has written ten books to date, and her newest titles include The Forgotten Years of Anne Boleyn: The Habsburg & Valois Courts, Ladies-in-Waiting: Women Who Served Anne Boleyn and Medical Downfall of the Tudors: Sex, Reproduction & Succession. Her ground-breaking paper on Anne Boleyn and the accusation of witchcraft was published in the Royal Studies Journal in 2023.  You can find Sylvia on Facebook,  Goodreads, Twitter @SylviaBSo and Bluesky @sylviabso.bsky.social