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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
medium-paced
Catalina is the youngest daughter of two powerful Spanish monarchs. Educated, mannered and devout, Catalina has been raised to make an advantageous marriage and at age fifteen she is sent to England to become the bride of Prince Arthur, heir to the throne. Katherine, as she is now known, is concerned that Arthur is ill and, when he dies only five months later, her world collapses. Salvation comes in marriage to Arthur's younger brother Henry and the couple rule for many years, the only blight on their life is the lack of a male heir. After Katherine goes through the menopause, her paranoid husband starts to worry about the lack of an heir and when he falls for a clever woman at court her decides to divorce Katherine. To Katherine this is unthinkable and her battle for what she feels is right drives her husband to schism with the Church and the rest of Europe.
Essentially this is a fictionalised biography of Katherine of Aragon but it is of excellent quality. Alison Weir is an outstanding historian and this comes across in her historical fiction. Anyone who has read about Katherine of Aragon will recognise descriptions and direct quotes from contemporary sources as they go through this book. Weir avoids the clichés of historical fiction in the main, there is little overt romanticism but by contextualising the story some points become clearer to the modern reader. By looking at the everyday life of a noble Catholic woman in the 16th Century the nature of Katherine's devotion to her cause is more understandable. I look forward to the rest of the series.
Essentially this is a fictionalised biography of Katherine of Aragon but it is of excellent quality. Alison Weir is an outstanding historian and this comes across in her historical fiction. Anyone who has read about Katherine of Aragon will recognise descriptions and direct quotes from contemporary sources as they go through this book. Weir avoids the clichés of historical fiction in the main, there is little overt romanticism but by contextualising the story some points become clearer to the modern reader. By looking at the everyday life of a noble Catholic woman in the 16th Century the nature of Katherine's devotion to her cause is more understandable. I look forward to the rest of the series.
Never have I read a 600 page book as quickly as I did this one, Alison Weir has a true talent for humanizing and portraying those that history has been unkind to.
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book fell so flat and was so boring. I was excited to read about the life of Katherine of Aragon, having read similar historical fiction books of the era. I was sorely disappointed as the characterizations of all the characters, Katherine in particular, fell so flat I could barely get through it. Every sentence and thought felt like it was taken from historical documents and I learned nothing about the character that I couldn't find in history books. What I crave from historical fiction is the thoughts and feelings that drive a historical character, even if that is maybe "not how it happened". It takes a very inventive author who is willing to dive deeper into a character and explore personal motivations and through processes which I felt Weir did not do. I want to get excited about the history and the events and instead, I just felt myself counting the pages until I was done.