lit_terary 's review for:

The Taming of the Queen by Philippa Gregory

3.0

---

A rather enjoyable read that centres around the last years of the reign of Henry VIII and follows his last - usually overlooked - wife, Catherine Parr. Prior to reading the book, I was not familiar with Catherin Parr, and I was pleasantly surprised by her character in the story. After being practically forced to marry the king, who at that point was already infamous for either divorcing or killing off his wives, Catherine takes it upon herself to be the best wife and queen possible in a time where opposing religious forces are disrupting the country. Catherine is the perfect counterweight for the now unstable, paranoid, madding King Henry VIII; she is balanced, kind, pious, driven and caring, but she also has a thirst for knowledge and books that she shares with her dames. I found her to be a very captivating and endearing character you can only root for when everything starts to collapse on her, and she realizes that she has to find ways to survive a sickening husband that has killed many before her.
The personal story of Catherine Parr perfectly intertwines with the historical happenings of that era, which, unfortunately, unravels quite slowly and plainly. It's definitely not a super exciting story, and it does get quite boring at times, but I would still say that it's a rather enjoyable one.
After this little taste, I'll probably pick up a couple more popular books from Philippa Gregory, that's for sure.