Publisher: 12th May 2020 by Hachette - Headline
Pages: 480 pages
How I Read It: ARC book
Genre: historical fiction, women’s fiction, Tudor
My Rating: 4 crowns
Synopsis:
Bestselling author and acclaimed historian Alison Weir tells the tragic story of Henry VIII's fifth wife, a nineteen-year-old beauty with a hidden past, in this fifth novel in the sweeping Six Tudor Queens series.
In the spring of 1540, Henry VIII, desperate to be rid of his queen, Anna of Kleve, first sets eyes on the enchanting Katheryn Howard. Although the king is now an ailing forty-nine-year-old measuring fifty-four inches around his waist, his amorous gaze lights upon the pretty teenager. Seated near him intentionally by her ambitious Catholic family, Katheryn readily succumbs to the courtship.
Henry is besotted with his bride. He tells the world she is a rose without a thorn, and extols her beauty and her virtue. Katherine delights in the pleasures of being queen and the power she has to do good to others. She comes to love the ailing, obese king and tolerate his nightly attentions. If she can bear him a son, her triumph will be complete. But Katheryn has a past of which Henry knows nothing, and which comes back increasingly to haunt her--even as she courts danger yet again.
My Thoughts
Being a fan of Tudor history, I was looking forward to reading another from Alison Weir’s Tudor Queen series. Each can be read as a standalone. The amount of detail that is provided will seamlessly transport you back to Tudor England and on this occasion, into the life of Henry’s youngest wife.
Acknowledgement must be given to Alison and the amount of research undertaken - it is an absolute credit to her that she produces such an easy to follow reenactment with the amount of cross checking of historical detail that she must have gone to. Her Author’s Note is once again, a tale within itself that I find just as interesting to read as the novel itself. Such a detailed account of her research, notes and interpretations that it opens up new and refreshing windows on this much written about Tudor period.
The youngest and reportedly silliest of Henry’s wives, Katheryn is just 19 when she becomes his fifth wife and beheaded by the age of 21. What I did appreciate about this book was the time dedicated to her life before becoming queen and how childhood events may have impacted upon her character. Following a similar style as previous books in the series, this one has more of a focus on Katheryn’s ‘indiscretions’ and many readers are divided over this stronger focus. Despite all of this, I feel Alison does a good job of making Katheryn likeable despite her flaws and you wonder how things might have been different.
Therefore, if you’re a Tudor fan, you will be intrigued by this interpretation into the life of this lesser known ‘scandalous’ queen. However, there is plenty here to entice any lover of historical fiction.
This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.
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