by Violet Woolf reads a comedy novel between older texts
I generally read things published rather longer ago than Henry Is Back, so it says something that I finished this in two sittings and thought about it for a third.
The novel’s trick, reincarnating Henry VIII as a modern stand-up comedian, could have been a thin joke stretched too far. Instead the book treats him with the same seriousness a period novel treats its subject, letting his voice, his blind spots, and his genuine confusion about the modern world carry real weight alongside the comedy. That balance is difficult and the book manages it consistently.
There’s a chapter where he encounters a book club discussing his own historical reputation that is, frankly, one of the sharper pieces of comic writing I’ve read this year, in any genre.
It is funny in the way good satire is funny, by being accurate first and outrageous second.
The ongoing material this grew from is at Henry VIII’s comeback diary, and the novel rewards a proper unhurried read.
