Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
Katherine of Aragon- phew, if this is halfway accurate, she was The Woman. Talk about endurance. I like Gregory's take on her first marriage as very much consummated, and her second as driven by her belief that she was destined to be Queen of England.
Tell you what though, this book is great until it suddenly skips forward a decade and we see Katherine at her divorce hearing. Nice portrait of Katherine as Queen Militant, but really frustrating as a narrative. What happened in the missing ten years? Odd choice of structure by Gregory, IMO.
Tell you what though, this book is great until it suddenly skips forward a decade and we see Katherine at her divorce hearing. Nice portrait of Katherine as Queen Militant, but really frustrating as a narrative. What happened in the missing ten years? Odd choice of structure by Gregory, IMO.
In this set of novels Gregory presented one likable character, Katherine of Aragon, however, this novel remedies that which must have been an error on her part.
In most of the novels I have found that I do not like the main character at all and that I read it to see what happens to one or two of her support characters. This novel also remedied that fault. Gregory provided neither likable characters nor even a character that may have a redeeming trait trapped in a poor situation.
Unfortunately I have already purchased her novel, [b:The Virgin's Lover|16183|The Virgin's Lover|Philippa Gregory|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166719849s/16183.jpg|3459181] so I will finish that before I finish with Gregory forever.
In most of the novels I have found that I do not like the main character at all and that I read it to see what happens to one or two of her support characters. This novel also remedied that fault. Gregory provided neither likable characters nor even a character that may have a redeeming trait trapped in a poor situation.
Unfortunately I have already purchased her novel, [b:The Virgin's Lover|16183|The Virgin's Lover|Philippa Gregory|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166719849s/16183.jpg|3459181] so I will finish that before I finish with Gregory forever.
I felt it was repetitive in the writing and slow. I struggled to finish this. I was disappointed as The Other Boleyn Girl was so popular, I assumed this would be good as well.
I have read many of Philippa Gregory novels and have loved them. The Constant Princess was not one of my favorites and I felt it just dragged on too much.
I likes this story and the way it was written. Just wish there was more info at the end of the story, kinda left me hanging. But i heard her other books give u that. all in all a good read.
An interesting portrayal of Katharine of Aragon's younger years, when she first came to England, and how she came to be the famous first wife of Henry VIII. I found her to be a very conflicted character, steadfastly working in the belief that her ambition was ultimately in England's best interest. Based on this novel, it is hard to disagree with that outcome, but it is hard to root for someone with such calculated self-righteousness.
I enjoy historical fiction and really enjoyed this story. It's well written and full of lots of interested facts about Tudor England.
interesting to read of the earlier life of katherine of aragon in this book. the story of her marriage to arthur was very well set out along with after he died; the book felt a bit rushed towards the end. it might have been better to have just ended the book at the point when she and henry had married ?
well researched book with a useful bibliography at the end :)
well researched book with a useful bibliography at the end :)
The history was super interesting; I found myself googling a lot while reading this one. Some bits were super slow and others felt rushed. The dialogue was the human “spice” added to the history but felt a little disingenuous sometimes — just a little forced
I really enjoyed this book, although (spoiler alert) I wish Gregory had focused more on the relationship between Catalina and Arthur. I know they were only together for a short period of time, but the relationship they had and the bond that was formed clearly played a major role in everything she accomplished in her life afterwards. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of Gregory's books.