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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Henry VIII is always portrayed as a malignant narcissist and this book does a nice job of explaining how he descended into that role. There are rumors that Katherine could be canonized as a saint- that’s interesting. Was she defiant because of the greater good? Or because of self-interest?
I received this book from Goodreads First Reads Giveaway Program.
This was a well researched and thought out book. Told from Katherine of Aragon's point of view definitely brought it alive. Everything about this book was written from historical accounts and read more like a non-fiction book than a historical fiction novel. Definitely recommend and look forward to reading the others in the series of Henry VIII's wives.
This was a well researched and thought out book. Told from Katherine of Aragon's point of view definitely brought it alive. Everything about this book was written from historical accounts and read more like a non-fiction book than a historical fiction novel. Definitely recommend and look forward to reading the others in the series of Henry VIII's wives.
This was an insteresting read, to be able to see the take on how Alison write her story. There was something about it which made it very intriguing, as it made me want to find out more as I read it. Seeing Alsion take on the characters and the spectacular writing in which held the characters made it very intriguing. And even though you know what the ending for Katherine were. I am glad that I have read this, as it’s an interesting take.
I have a lot of sympathy for Katherine of Aragon and this book only intensified that feeling. I also very much dislike Henry VIII. I will definitely be reading the next in the series and I’m sure I will enjoy it greatly.
Siempre he tenido cierta fascinación por esta etapa de la historia de Inglaterra, sobre todo por la figura de Catalina de Aragón. He leído cosas sobre ella y he visto documentales, pero este es el primer libro que trata la historia de Catalina y no se limita a hablar de su matrimonio con Henry. Esa es una de las principales razones que me llevaron a leer este libro.
La historia ya la conocía, pero nunca me canso de ella. Sí que es cierto que se siente más como un libro de historia que como una novela, lo cual a veces hace que la lectura sea menos fluida o parezca lenta.
Me interesa mucho leer el libro de Ana Bolena (y contrastarlo con la imagen que se da de ella en este libro) pero sobre todo de Jane Seymour, que se introduce de manera muy (a mi gusto) breve.
En general, lo recomiendo mucho si te interesa la historia de Catalina de Aragón, pero teniendo en cuenta que la autora prioriza lo histórico a lo novelístico!
(Ha sido el primer libro que he leído sobre Catalina pero desde luego no será el último!).
La historia ya la conocía, pero nunca me canso de ella. Sí que es cierto que se siente más como un libro de historia que como una novela, lo cual a veces hace que la lectura sea menos fluida o parezca lenta.
Me interesa mucho leer el libro de Ana Bolena (y contrastarlo con la imagen que se da de ella en este libro) pero sobre todo de Jane Seymour, que se introduce de manera muy (a mi gusto) breve.
En general, lo recomiendo mucho si te interesa la historia de Catalina de Aragón, pero teniendo en cuenta que la autora prioriza lo histórico a lo novelístico!
(Ha sido el primer libro que he leído sobre Catalina pero desde luego no será el último!).
I'm a huge Tudor historical fiction fan and am very excited that Weir is writing a novel about each of Henry VIII's wives. I enjoyed this book but thought it was a bit too long and dragged out in a few places. But other sections of the book, I couldn't stop reading! I definitely recommend this book to Tudor history fans.
About halfway through this book I turned to a friend and said "Oh no...I think I'm going to have to spend the next few months reading this entire series."
I'm one of those people who has had an on-and-off obsession with the Tudors since childhood - have read books, watched documentaries, watched the HBO series and all the movies I could get my hands on, etc. I can re-enter this era as many times over as you can imagine and still be enthralled each and every time.
Of course I knew Alison Weir's name just from her popularity in my library, but I believe this is the first time I've actually read one of her books. What I loved most about this one is that even though I'm so familiar with these stories already, Weir still managed to make me feel at times like I was reading it for the first time. I rejoiced with Katherine when Henry fell in love with her even though I knew how it would end. I hoped alongside her that he might come to his senses and be persuaded to take her back even though I know how history unfolded. I didn't realize I could still feel that depth of emotion over these stories that I've already gone over so many times.
I love how deeply inside Katherine's head it felt like Weir was able to get, and I'm extremely excited to start Anne Boleyn's story in the next book because I can't wait to see if she's able to do the same from the rival perspective. Weir did such an amazing job painting Anne as a monstrous villain from Katherine's view, I can't wait to see how she flips that from Anne's perspective in the next one.
I'm one of those people who has had an on-and-off obsession with the Tudors since childhood - have read books, watched documentaries, watched the HBO series and all the movies I could get my hands on, etc. I can re-enter this era as many times over as you can imagine and still be enthralled each and every time.
Of course I knew Alison Weir's name just from her popularity in my library, but I believe this is the first time I've actually read one of her books. What I loved most about this one is that even though I'm so familiar with these stories already, Weir still managed to make me feel at times like I was reading it for the first time. I rejoiced with Katherine when Henry fell in love with her even though I knew how it would end. I hoped alongside her that he might come to his senses and be persuaded to take her back even though I know how history unfolded. I didn't realize I could still feel that depth of emotion over these stories that I've already gone over so many times.
I love how deeply inside Katherine's head it felt like Weir was able to get, and I'm extremely excited to start Anne Boleyn's story in the next book because I can't wait to see if she's able to do the same from the rival perspective. Weir did such an amazing job painting Anne as a monstrous villain from Katherine's view, I can't wait to see how she flips that from Anne's perspective in the next one.
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I found this series as a suggestion on audible and was stunned to find that 5 of the 6 books were included with audible and with all the books being 16-22 hours and narrated by Rosalyn Landor (who also narrates the Bridgerton series) I could not recommend it as audiobook more. Alison Weir is also a historian so while this is definitely historic *fiction* and does not pretend otherwise I was occasionally surprised to look up something that seemed far fetched to find that there was evidence that it was possible and/or believed during the Tudor period. I feel like this book really helped best understand Catherine of Aragon's true languishing not just the seven years fighting the divorce and annulment but also the seven years between the death of her first husband Arthur (Henry's brother) and marrying Henry VIII. I feel like when you see the dates or read a summary of her life it can be easy to overlook exactly how long that really is but this allows you to follow her life the entire time. I will say that it does become a bit exasperating at times to listen to Catherine wax poetic about how much she still loved Henry and believed that the Pope would side in her favor and Henry would magically return to her even after years but... that is exactly what she espoused. I definitely have a lot of sympathy for Catherine as a member of the first wives club and also feel like she was the wife the most blindsided by Henry's personality especially since she was not even originally bethrothed to Henry when she arrived in England.