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Fiction. Suspense. Historical Fiction. HTML:By the #1 New York Times bestselling author, a novel of passion and power at the court of a medieval killer, a riveting new Tudor tale featuring King Henry VIII's sixth wife Kateryn Parr. Kateryn Parr, a thirty-year-old widow in a secret affair with a new lover, has no choice when a man old enough to be her father who has buried four wives�??King Henry VIII�??commands her to marry him. Kateryn has no doubt about the danger she faces: the previous queen lasted sixteen months, the one before barely half a year. But Henry adores his new bride and Kateryn's trust in him grows as she unites the royal family, creates a radical study circle at the heart of the court, and rules the kingdom as Regent. But is this enough to keep her safe? A leader of religious reform and the first woman to publish in English, Kateryn stands out as an independent woman with a mind of her own. But she cannot save the Protestants, under threat for their faith, and Henry's dangerous gaze turns on her. The traditional churchmen and rivals for power accuse her of heresy�??the punishment is death by fire and the king's name is on the warrant... From the bestselling author who has illuminated all of Henry's queens comes a deeply intimate portrayal of the last: a woman who longed for passion, power, and education at the court of a medieva… (more)
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Twice widowed, the last time to a much older man, Katherine was a woman of poise, of confidence, of her own lands and wealth. Deeply in love with Thomas Seymour, brother of Jane, the only wife who bore him a child, Katherine was exceedingly hesitant when Henry picked her for his bride.
Of protestant faith and the new ways of religious thought, knowing the ever changing back and forth edicts of Henry regarding catholic and protestant faith, she was careful not to disclose her thoughts regarding her beliefs.
Older, more mature than some of the other wives, she was not besotted with the elderly Henry. She was chosen when Henry had lost his youth and was indeed a gargantuan, 54 inch waist, barely walking with a gross, stinking suppurating leg wound. Her predecessors were either divorced, beheaded, dead from complications of childbirth, deemed ugly and primitive or, like Catherine Howard, a young, careless, feckless doe who lost her head shortly after marriage.
When the king set eyes on her, she cringed. The author does an excellent job of portraying the never- nding fear at the King's court. A sociopathic, ever changing, game playing murderer, Katherine knew that when he tired of her, she would be killed. She watched Henry as he spun out of control, while the blood of friends, confidants, family or anyone he deemed unnecessary, ran freely.
When Henry tried to snare her in a trap, she outfoxed him. Unlike others, regarding Henry, she made decisions with her intellect and learned how to survive.
Alas, she outlived Henry and was able to marry the love of her life, but that's another story and another book waiting to be written.
I have to admit that this book gave me a new look at Henry VIII. While he did kill off his wives and demand submission, I don’t recall other books mentioning that he was abusive physically. He whips Kateryn Parr to “make her behave” and teach her a lesson. I wonder if there is any documentation that this really occurred? It makes for an interesting story though.
Kateryn Parr was Henry’s 6th wife and barely survived the court’s plots and counterplots, Henry’s murderous
Kateryn was very scholarly and dared to write “original material in English for publication and put her own name on the title page.” She served as regent for a time when Henry went to war in France and she was very motherly to Henry’s three (largely) ignored children.
Ms. Gregory’s writing is excellent. Her research is excellent. The book includes an author’s note and an extensive bibliography. There is also a ‘reading group’ guide.
Ms. Gregory has opened up a whole new world of historical fiction with her ‘Cousins’ War’ and ‘Tudor Court’ series. I am a big fan.
In a short note at the end of this novel, the
In this tremendously satisfying portrait of the queen, her bravery as well as her quick mind are portrayed as the only things that kept her alive; when the king was advised by those around him to arrest her for treason, he too quickly agreed. It was only Kateryn's understanding of how this man thought that saved her life. Throughout the four years of her marriage to Henry, Kateryn learned how to sometimes lead him to her own way of thinking, but also to never contradict his egomaniacal views of himself. Kateryn was instrumental in pushing for the reforms of the church in England, and dared to stand firm in regard to the Bible being made available to even the common people, and in English!
The narrative read by Bianca Amato helped enhance this story, and contributed to keeping me spellbound. I want to read more of the author's novels on the Tudors and their reign in England.
This fictionalized account of Katheryn Parr's story portrayed the queen as a rather unhappy figure. From a brief fling with Thomas Seymour at the outset, she doted on his career and memories of their liaison throughout the book, trying hard to steal moments while never giving reason for Henry to become murderously suspicious. In the epilogue, Gregory explains Parr and Seymour did marry shortly after Henry's death, but their marriage was not a happy one. Perhaps Parr was just a miserable person.
As a historical novel goes, Gregory gets it mostly right and explains in the end some of the notable things created out of whole cloth. Nearly all of Parr's private dialogue is fictionalized, of course; and if Gregory got her personality right, then the queen led a life to be pitied, not admired.
I really enjoyed this. I listened to the audio and it was done well: I didn't lose interest. Katherine is one of Henry's wives who I've not read very much about, so this was interesting. Of course, it was fiction, so liberties were taken, but Gregory does provide a historical note at the end. Katherine was a very smart woman and later (after Henry died) published a book under her own name.
I have read previous novels about this queen so there was little in this that was new. This was just a more thorough telling, especially of her writings and endeavors on transcribing many of the Latin psalms and teaching into English for all to enjoy. Her treatment of the King's children was also portrayed in depth, she made a little family of them all, they learned from her and she learned from them.
So this was a very good atmospheric read. Just not too much new here for me, but to a new reader of this queen, I am sure they will love this and be captivated by this most intelligent queen who managed to outlive the notorious Henry.
ARC from NetGalley.
Henry trusted her to rule in his absence, and so I would have
In some cases Henry seems to trust Kateryn and allows her to act as regent in England while he's in France. She was instrumental in bringing all three of his children together for the first time and he seemed to appreciate that. He enjoyed setting people on each other and he did that to Kateryn as well, one moment encouraging her to freely speak and then turning on her and requiring complete submission. She knew failure to meet his expectations will lead to a one-way trip to the Tower.
I found this a very interesting book but I was much more interested in the court happenings than I was with some of the repetitive focus on religious reform. The author did a first rate job of capturing the fear and uncertainty that Kateryn must have felt. While not my favorite Philippa Gregory book, I enjoyed it very much.
By the time Kateryn Parr wed King Henry in 1543, Henry was grossly obese and had a leg wound that would not heal. He had three children from his first three wives but only one male heir, Edward, who was six years old. Although Henry had reformed the Church of England in order to get a divorce from Katherine of Aragon, he had never fully accepted the Protestant church as espoused by Martin Luther. Kateryn came from a family of reformers and they had hopes that she would be able to convince the king to bring about more reforms. At first Henry indulged Kateryn and she was instrumental in translating some prayers and psalms into English so the common person could understand them. Later, as Henry's mercurial temper turned away from reform, Kateryn was endangered by her reformist views. Henry's Catholic advisors convinced him that Kateryn was plotting treason and he authorized a warrant for her arrest. Kateryn was warned about this and she managed to abase herself before Henry to convince him to withdraw the warrant. The title refers to this occasion which Henry called "The Taming of the Queen". The threat of arrest was always present in their relationship thereafter but fortunately Henry succumbed to one of his maladies and died. What a relief that must have been for the Queen.
Gregory paints a distasteful picture of King Henry at this time in his life. He was a violent, boastful man who loved to play people off against each other. Even his closest friends and advisors were likely to fall out of favour and end up in the Tower or on the gibbet.
This is a fictional account of Kathrine Parr the surviving Queen and last wife of Henry VIII....
I found it to be overly long with unnecessary fictitious dialog, but certainly interesting..... I'll tell you the more I read about Henry VIII, the more I dislike him and the more I'm convinced that he
The book highlighted her love of intellectual pursuits and church reform, her dedication to England as regent, her undying love for Thomas Seymour, and her insistence that Henry's children be raised together as a family.
It also highlighted was Henry's skills of spiteful manipulation pitting people/factions against each other so to insure their fear& loyalty to him as well as keeping them all insecure in their never-ending quest for power.
What I didn't know was that the painting of Henry, Edward, , the Queen (Katherine), Mary, & Elizabeth was painted with Jane Seymour's face, while Katherine was the Queen sitting for the portrait!
For those of you who don't know, "The Taming of the Queen" is a very good book featuring the last wife of King Henry VIII.
I felt sorry for Kateryn and her household because women were targeted for heresy, treason, and any other crime that they could pin on them. The pressures of the day were insurmountable. I also felt sorry for the Princesses Mary and Elizabeth and Prince Edward because they had a rotten example of a father and king. But they had a great step-mom who did appear to genuinely care for their physical, mental, and spiritual welfare.
If you love English history, you will likely enjoy this book. This is not a "quick-read" by any means. Do give yourself time to pace yourself so you will enjoy it.
Because she cannot refuse...
Kateryn Parr, a thirty-year-old widow in a secret affair with a new lover, has no choice when a man old enough to be her father who has buried four wives – King Henry VIII – commands her to marry him.
Kateryn has no doubt about
But is this enough to keep her safe? A leader of religious reform and a published author, Kateryn stands out as an independent woman with a mind of her own. But she cannot save the Protestants, under threat for their faith, and Henry's dangerous gaze turns on her.The traditional churchmen and rivals for power accuse her of heresy - the punishment is death by fire and the king's name is on the warrant...
From an author who has described all of Henry's queens comes a deeply intimate portrayal of the last: a woman who longed for passion, power and education at the court of a medieval kille