Martha Jean Johnson joins us this week to discuss her debut historical novel, The Queen’s Musician
Author Name: Martha Jean Johnson
Book Title: The Queen’s Musician
Book Genre: Historical Fiction
Release Date: May 27, 2025
Publisher: SparkPress
Welcome, Martha! How would you describe The Queen’s Musician?
The merciless plot against Anne Boleyn destroyed five innocent men, beginning with a young musician.
What sparked the idea for this book?
I admit it—a whole slew of TV shows and films: The Six Wives of Henry VIII, A Man for All Seasons, The Tudors, The Other Boleyn Girl, Wolf Hall. The Tudor era has mesmerized me for decades. Then I began thinking about the men who died in the scheme to take down Anne Boleyn. It was a bloodbath, and many readers don’t know their stories. I focused on Mark Smeaton because I love music, and he was a musician.
What drew you to writing historical fiction?
I was lucky enough to have several history teachers who were great enthusiasts and amazing storytellers. They made the past fascinating. But they did more than describe times gone by. They raised questions: What can we learn from the past? What does it tell us about human nature and what we face today? The Tudor period in particular offers so much drama and intrigue. Henry VIII married six women and had two of them executed. Anne Boleyn lost her life because she “failed” to give birth to a male child. To us, it seems incomprehensible, but it happened.
What do you hope readers will take away from this story?
The novel is a cautionary tale about all-powerful leaders who decide that their ends justify any means and that some human beings are expendable. It’s also a tragedy about a talented young person who often appears as a footnote to history. I hope readers will remember Mark Smeaton.
What have you read recently? What did you think of it?
I read Paul Theroux’s Burma Sahib not long ago. The novel chronicles George Orwell’s years as a colonial policeman—he was in his late teens and early twenties at the time. Eager to fit in and please his superiors, he becomes a bully who mistreats and intimidates the local people. Yet over time, he begins to see himself. He is ashamed and returns to England. The book is an utterly compelling portrait of an ordinary person sliding into brutality. It’s also an extraordinary and important depiction of how humans can grow and change. In this case, an impressionable, unthinking young man turns into George Orwell, one of literature’s most powerful voices against tyranny and oppression.
Where can readers find you?
Readers can find The Queen’s Musician in all the usual places. Please visit my web site, www.marthajeanjohnson.com, for more information about the novel and for book club questions. Feel free to contact me through the site. I also write a biweekly Substack called Historical Magic. It’s my chance to discuss historical fiction and indulge my own love of reading and writing.
Thank you, Martha! The Queen’s Musician is out TODAY.
The Queen’s Musician
For fans of Philippa Gregory, Alison Weir and Elizabeth Fremantle, an untold story about how the plot against Anne Boleyn entrapped a gifted young musician.
A glamorous queen, a volatile king, a gifted musician concealing a forbidden romance. Everyone knows Anne Boleyn’s story. No one knows Mark Smeaton’s.
On May 17, 1536, a young court musician was executed, accused of adultery and treason with the queen. Most historians believe both he and Anne Boleyn were innocent—victims of Henry VIII’s rage.
Mark Smeaton was a talented performer who rose from poverty to become a royal favorite. He played for the king in private and entertained at sumptuous feasts. He witnessed Anne Boleyn’s astonishing rise and fall—her reign of a thousand days. History tells us little about him, other than noting his confession and execution. The Queen’s Musician imagines his story, as seen from his perspective and that of the young woman who loves him. It all takes place amid the spectacle and danger of the Tudor court.
Author Bio:
Based in Jersey City, NJ, Martha Jean Johnson has published four books on politics and public opinion and just released her debut novel, The Queen’s Musician. She also comments on trends and quandaries in historical fiction in Historical Magic on Substack.