Six Tudor Queens: Katherine of Aragon, The True Queen: Six Tudor Queens 1

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I enjoy her writing style and should I be asked to review further books in this series, it will be a pleasure.

Six Tudor Queens: Katharine Parr, The Sixth Wife by Alison

Renowned, bestselling historian Alison Weir reveals a warm, clever woman of great fortitude who rose boldly to every turn her life took. That said, there's a lot of detail here, taken from the sources with which Weir is clearly familiar, so we do get a greater sense of Katherine's political importance than is often the case from Tudor novels, and the political manipulations that surrounded her. Queen Jane must step out of the shadows cast by Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn, but, in doing so, can she expose a gentler side to the brutal King? Like many, I was failed by my history teachers, who I remember dismissed Katherine’s almost twenty-four year marriage in their haste to get on to the ‘interesting’ bits. Six weeks from home across treacherous seas, everything is different: the language, the food, the weather.

Her loss of so many children while being married to Henry, was so tragic and yet her Christian faith allowed her to continue on. but absolutely true are all the epistolary references that we find reported in the book, obviously leaving room for all that romanticized component that keeps the story of Catherine standing up. First betrothed at the age of three to Arthur, Prince of Wales, the young princess of Spain, Catalina, sails to England at sixteen years of age to marry. Fans of Philippa Gregory and Elizabeth Chadwick will delight in this mysterious tale, drawn together from fragments of history – and a good dose of speculation.

Katharine Parr - Six Tudor Queens

Arthur, the first Tudor prince, is raised to believe that he will inherit a kingdom destined to be his through an ancient royal bloodline. She has witnessed the danger and deceit that lie behind courtly play, and knows she must bear a son . This could bring new readers to historical fiction, in the way that, “The Other Boleyn Girl,” did when I first discovered the Tudors as a, much younger, reader. Even now, the Tudors seem larger than life; with Henry VIII the central character, circled by the six women he married. Remember how my coming was postponed for a year until he was ready to be married, and then it was postponed again?And every other woman that eventually shares Henry’s bed, including Anne, knows that their position is only as safe as their ability to conceive a male heir. While this is considered a piece of fiction, any reader who knows their history or has devoured much of Weir's past work will realise that it is steeped in reality. Because she is the daughter of the esteemed monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella, Catalina’s marriage to Arthur is designed to ensure an Anglo-Spanish alliance against France. Katherine had read the story in Boccaccio’s Decameron , and thought that this morality tale of a woman who endured much sorrow and humiliation at the hands of her husband, yet loved him in spite of it, would offer a good example to [the Princess]. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences and an Honorary Life Patron of Historic Royal Palaces, and is married with two adult children.

Six Tudor Queens: Jane Seymour, The Haunted Queen: Six Tudor Six Tudor Queens: Jane Seymour, The Haunted Queen: Six Tudor

Weir lays down a powerful narrative that flows effectively throughout Katherine's life and shows that while she was isolated from her Spanish parents, she held firm to protect herself and her daughter from Henry's self-centred approach to life. King Henry VIII has proven to be an especially compelling figure for historical authors who have gone to great pains to bring his lusts and desires to life through the lens of both fiction and nonfiction. Anne Boleyn will get her say in the next book; in this book, she is only the “night crow” or “that woman” or "the Lady. It was typical of Maria to have pulled off her cap and let her rippling long night-black hair blow free in the wind. Upon meeting her future husband, Katherine began to sense the awkwardness of the situation, for this was a man who did not show the raw attraction or curiosity she was told to expect.I was unsurprised although a little disappointed to see Henry VII is yet again portrayed as sinister and insensitive, although I appreciate way all the English lack manners and refinement through Katherine’s eyes.

Six Tudor Queens Series - Penguin Random House

Little does Margery know that she is already a pawn in a game of power, irrevocably bound to the fall of the lady she will come to love as her mistress, Queen and friend. In fact, even though Anne Boleyn’s beauty ultimately stole Henry’s love away from his first wife, it was Katherine’s inability to give him a male heir that first fractured their relationship. Or that Prince Arthur, Katherine of Aragon’s first husband, who is said to have loved her in fact cared so little for her that he willed his personal effects to his sister?Life at court is described very well, but it will never be the intrigues put at the heart of this book. During her exile, she shows fortitude and determination to preserve her status, although ultimately she is powerless to prevent Henry from divorcing her. Fans of Philippa Gregory and Elizabeth Chadwick will love this insight into the story of this illfated Tudor prince.