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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I am a fan of Philippa Gregory novels and this one did not disappoint me.
Some people take issue with Gregory's portrayal of Henry VIII (for this book is as much about him as it is about Kateryn Parr) towards the end of his life however I feel she is very fair.
Here is a man who was once the darling of the Christian world, a star if you will reduced to a ulcerous, smelly, hugely obese shell of his former self. For any person that would be a huge adjustment to their lifestyle and mental health. For Henry this must have been especially miserable when Kings were judged on their looks, their war gains and their offspring.
We mustn't forget that Henry is not easily on his throne (it may seem so to modern readers with the benefit of hindsight) but his father Henry VII picked his crown up out of the mud on a battle field using pure grit, determination and popularity rather then supreme bloodline (something that most Kings in Christendom at the time could claim to). He was not secure. He was surrounded by people who could at any time decide that actually he wasn't their best bet any more. This would make anyone paranoid. Add this to Henry's reduced state (obese and unwell) and you have a recipe for someone who is going to behave like a monster.
Henry has nothing to show for his reign as the novel starts apart from 5 previous wives (4 dead, 1 a beloved sister) and 3 children (2 bastards and a young heir). He has won no conflicts (his father won his crown, Henry has tried unsuccessfully to take French land back). At Henry's age he should have several children who are in adulthood including a few boys and a few more girls to add to the European marriage market and bolster his position on the political stage. He has none of this. Older children would also be able to act as a screen for his deteriorating health. Mary would have been a prime candidate for this but because Henry has previously declared her a bastard no one can take her seriously any more.
He is hugely vulnerable not just in his own court but against the courts of the major players of the time (France and Spain). He has managed to seriously annoy both of these powerful monarchs and has no real family ties to sweeten any disagreements through marriage (he's killed most of the Pole family).
He sought to strengthen his crown with a larger family when he married Anne Boleyn and because he had no patience (he could have waited for Katherine to die) he seriously offended the Spanish with his treatment of Katherine his first wife and allowed an already very powerful family (The Howard's) even more power by allowing them to marry into the Royal family. No son came of the desired union but a whole crap storm happened instead (including winding up the Pope).
Jane his third wife (a Seymour bride this time) gave him the desired son but managed to die before he could find a reason to fault her grasping family.
So fourth time lucky, Anne of Cleves. She has the desired political connections but is not someone that Henry himself chose or could control (she's a royal princess look what happened when he annoyed Spain).
The fifth wife is young enough to be his daughter (another Howard) and behaves as such. At this point Henry is old and unwell. Her young flightiness just holds a mirror up to his infirmity and physical decline.
Enter our sixth and final Queen Kateryn Parr. Henry is hugely bad tempered and a shell of himself. He probably has diabetes and he definitely has the ulcers that match this diagnosis. He is grossly obese and hardly desirable to anyone. His courtiers can probably just about bear to be in the same room as him. I have smelt wounds that are infected and it is not pleasant, imagine having to live with that smell for years with no sign of a cure and in the full knowledge that no one would want to be anywhere near you if you were not the King. He doesn't even have a young adult family around him who he can hide himself behind. He is alone, on show. He is the face of his brand - monarchy.
So his answer to his decline? To ensure no one has the daring to go against him. He sets faction against faction, house against house and himself against his children and wife. No one knows what he is thinking, he doesn't even know what he wants (this might be due to a mental health issue also).
He has no friends, no allies and no supporters. This is at home as well as abroad. He is hugely vulnerable everywhere. Imagine the isolation. Imagine never having any friends just because you are you? Imagine that most if not all of your wives have married you not because they care for you but because they cannot decline, their families have pushed them into your way or the future would be bleak without the marriage. Not much of a boost to your self esteem. Couple that with the fact that he can no longer do the things he most enjoyed (hunting, tennis, jousting) and you have someone who is not pleasant to be around.
So he slips into a completely monstrous state. He has to be like this because it is his very survival that is at stake. Do I think that he was emotionally unstable - absolutely. But he also orchestrated his fall from the Golden Prince that he was.
Now onto Kateryn. I find her a really fascinating women in history, someone who somehow managed to outwit a complete lunatic. How amazing that she was also the first woman to write in recognisable English under her own name. That is some serious girl power.
I think Gregory treads exactly the right paths between Kateryn the step mother, writer, philosopher, Queen and wife. I really liked Kateryn and completely could imagine the abject terror she must have lived in day to day. Anyone who thinks she was carefree during this time I think is hugely delusional. Here was a woman who had been married twice before so she knew about marriage and husbands. She would have also heard about the other wives. She must have been terrified, I know I would have been and no amount of shoes or crown jewels would have taken away from that feeling. Add to the mix the probable fact that she was in love with someone else and you have a truly unimaginable existence.
Anyone who has written Gregory off I encourage them to read this book. There is less about curses (the fictional part of her previous novels, lets face it she does write historical fiction) and more about thoughts and feelings that I can well imagine were felt at the time.
I am actually very sad that this book came to an end. It really got me to think about Henry and to analyse the reasoning's behind some of his madder ideas in his later life. It also got me thinking about women and women's rights across the ages.
My verdict: here is a man who was alone (no one wants to be around him unless its to gain something from him and his wife and children are afraid of him), depressed (there was no mental health care then and it is seen as a weakness something no King can be associated with), seriously unwell (diabetes is a serious daily condition that needs careful monitoring and medication), smelly (he must have grossed himself out let alone everyone else and the pain must have been unbearable at times) and after all that he was only ever the second son.
Any of the above would make even the best of people into a crazy lunatic!
Some people take issue with Gregory's portrayal of Henry VIII (for this book is as much about him as it is about Kateryn Parr) towards the end of his life however I feel she is very fair.
Here is a man who was once the darling of the Christian world, a star if you will reduced to a ulcerous, smelly, hugely obese shell of his former self. For any person that would be a huge adjustment to their lifestyle and mental health. For Henry this must have been especially miserable when Kings were judged on their looks, their war gains and their offspring.
We mustn't forget that Henry is not easily on his throne (it may seem so to modern readers with the benefit of hindsight) but his father Henry VII picked his crown up out of the mud on a battle field using pure grit, determination and popularity rather then supreme bloodline (something that most Kings in Christendom at the time could claim to). He was not secure. He was surrounded by people who could at any time decide that actually he wasn't their best bet any more. This would make anyone paranoid. Add this to Henry's reduced state (obese and unwell) and you have a recipe for someone who is going to behave like a monster.
Henry has nothing to show for his reign as the novel starts apart from 5 previous wives (4 dead, 1 a beloved sister) and 3 children (2 bastards and a young heir). He has won no conflicts (his father won his crown, Henry has tried unsuccessfully to take French land back). At Henry's age he should have several children who are in adulthood including a few boys and a few more girls to add to the European marriage market and bolster his position on the political stage. He has none of this. Older children would also be able to act as a screen for his deteriorating health. Mary would have been a prime candidate for this but because Henry has previously declared her a bastard no one can take her seriously any more.
He is hugely vulnerable not just in his own court but against the courts of the major players of the time (France and Spain). He has managed to seriously annoy both of these powerful monarchs and has no real family ties to sweeten any disagreements through marriage (he's killed most of the Pole family).
He sought to strengthen his crown with a larger family when he married Anne Boleyn and because he had no patience (he could have waited for Katherine to die) he seriously offended the Spanish with his treatment of Katherine his first wife and allowed an already very powerful family (The Howard's) even more power by allowing them to marry into the Royal family. No son came of the desired union but a whole crap storm happened instead (including winding up the Pope).
Jane his third wife (a Seymour bride this time) gave him the desired son but managed to die before he could find a reason to fault her grasping family.
So fourth time lucky, Anne of Cleves. She has the desired political connections but is not someone that Henry himself chose or could control (she's a royal princess look what happened when he annoyed Spain).
The fifth wife is young enough to be his daughter (another Howard) and behaves as such. At this point Henry is old and unwell. Her young flightiness just holds a mirror up to his infirmity and physical decline.
Enter our sixth and final Queen Kateryn Parr. Henry is hugely bad tempered and a shell of himself. He probably has diabetes and he definitely has the ulcers that match this diagnosis. He is grossly obese and hardly desirable to anyone. His courtiers can probably just about bear to be in the same room as him. I have smelt wounds that are infected and it is not pleasant, imagine having to live with that smell for years with no sign of a cure and in the full knowledge that no one would want to be anywhere near you if you were not the King. He doesn't even have a young adult family around him who he can hide himself behind. He is alone, on show. He is the face of his brand - monarchy.
So his answer to his decline? To ensure no one has the daring to go against him. He sets faction against faction, house against house and himself against his children and wife. No one knows what he is thinking, he doesn't even know what he wants (this might be due to a mental health issue also).
He has no friends, no allies and no supporters. This is at home as well as abroad. He is hugely vulnerable everywhere. Imagine the isolation. Imagine never having any friends just because you are you? Imagine that most if not all of your wives have married you not because they care for you but because they cannot decline, their families have pushed them into your way or the future would be bleak without the marriage. Not much of a boost to your self esteem. Couple that with the fact that he can no longer do the things he most enjoyed (hunting, tennis, jousting) and you have someone who is not pleasant to be around.
So he slips into a completely monstrous state. He has to be like this because it is his very survival that is at stake. Do I think that he was emotionally unstable - absolutely. But he also orchestrated his fall from the Golden Prince that he was.
Now onto Kateryn. I find her a really fascinating women in history, someone who somehow managed to outwit a complete lunatic. How amazing that she was also the first woman to write in recognisable English under her own name. That is some serious girl power.
I think Gregory treads exactly the right paths between Kateryn the step mother, writer, philosopher, Queen and wife. I really liked Kateryn and completely could imagine the abject terror she must have lived in day to day. Anyone who thinks she was carefree during this time I think is hugely delusional. Here was a woman who had been married twice before so she knew about marriage and husbands. She would have also heard about the other wives. She must have been terrified, I know I would have been and no amount of shoes or crown jewels would have taken away from that feeling. Add to the mix the probable fact that she was in love with someone else and you have a truly unimaginable existence.
Anyone who has written Gregory off I encourage them to read this book. There is less about curses (the fictional part of her previous novels, lets face it she does write historical fiction) and more about thoughts and feelings that I can well imagine were felt at the time.
I am actually very sad that this book came to an end. It really got me to think about Henry and to analyse the reasoning's behind some of his madder ideas in his later life. It also got me thinking about women and women's rights across the ages.
My verdict: here is a man who was alone (no one wants to be around him unless its to gain something from him and his wife and children are afraid of him), depressed (there was no mental health care then and it is seen as a weakness something no King can be associated with), seriously unwell (diabetes is a serious daily condition that needs careful monitoring and medication), smelly (he must have grossed himself out let alone everyone else and the pain must have been unbearable at times) and after all that he was only ever the second son.
Any of the above would make even the best of people into a crazy lunatic!
dark
emotional
informative
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
I would really like to give this 2.5 stars. I can't say I enjoyed it, but PG does not flinch from a vivid (and disgusting) portrayal of what it must have been like to be married to Henry VIII by the end.
informative
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I love Philippa Gregory and her books are amazing, but I felt this one fell a little flat. Still a good read though.
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Not my favourite, but we have finially made it to the last of Henry VIII's wives. Lots of good info into the fight around religion and how his wives and children came into this. An extra jumping off point, and quite entertaining.
Having read all of Philippa's previous tudor books I was really looking forward to this new one and it didnt disappoint. I think its one of her strongest actually. Like I think many people I knew very little about the last wife of Henry VII, but now I am curious to know more she was a fascinating woman and Philippas portrayal of her is compelling and intriguing. She seemed to be an brave and intelligent women. Philippa's book brings the tudor court and the tyranny of HenryVII to life vividly. Would highly recommend this book to readers of Philippas other books and new readers alike.