“Why would a woman marry a serial killer?
“Because she cannot refuse…
“Kateryn Parr, a 30-year-old widow in a secret affair with a
new lover, has no choice when a man old enough to be her father, who has buried
four wives – King Henry VIII – commands her to marry him.
“Kateryn has no doubt about the danger she faces: the previous queen lasted 16 months, the one
before barely half a year. But Henry
adores his new bride, and Kateryn’s trust in him grows as she unites the royal
family, creates a radical study circle at the heart of the court, and rules the
kingdom as regent.
“But is this enough to keep her safe? A leader of religious reform and the first
woman to publish in English, Kateryn stands out as an independent woman with a
mind of her own. But she cannot save the
Protestants, under threat for their faith, and Henry’s dangerous gaze turns on
her. The traditional churchmen and
rivals for power accuse her of heresy – the punishment is death by fire, and
the king’s own name is on the warrant…
“From an author who has described all of Henry’s queens
comes a deeply intimate portrayal of the last:
a woman who longed for passion, power, and education at the court of a
medieval killer.”
I have obviously been on a bit of a Philippa Gregory kick,
haven’t I? I just love the Tudor era so
much that it makes it easy for me to pick up yet another book set in this time
period. Gregory’s easy writing and
captivating characters are, once again, at the heart of this book; however, I
will say that I struggled with the amount of religion in this book. I am so impressed that Kateryn was the first
woman to publish in English (I believe it was a book of prayers or psalms, if
memory serves me), but the sheer amount of theological discussion and preaching
was, at times, enough to make my eyes glaze over. Granted, this could just be because I,
personally, can only deal with a certain amount of religion in a work of
fiction before I can’t take it anymore.
This could be completely different for another reader with different
interests. I am fully aware that so much
of Henry VIII’s reign revolved around religious doctrine, practices, laws,
teachings, etc. (I’ve written papers on it and done my share of reading
non-fiction materials on the subject), so I understand the importance of Gregory
including this in the book, but it sometimes slowed down the story and the
pacing. While I thoroughly enjoyed
Kateryn as a character and sympathized with her struggles and her lost love,
this story was my second least-favorite in this series (one step above The Constant Princess). The most memorable moment was the revelation
of the official portrait used on the cover of the book. I recall reading about the portrait
somewhere, but I had long-since forgotten.
To have it revealed in the book was gut-wrenching and very interesting –
I don’t want to give anything away! I
also loved how hard Kateryn worked to bring Henry’s children together.
Overall, I did like the book, but the weightiness of the
religious aspect sometimes bogged down the story. I understand what was trying to be
accomplished, but it felt a bit religion-heavy for a historical fiction. I think the point could have gotten across
with a bit less of the details or sermons.
I will say that I did some research on Kateryn after finishing the book
(she is probably the queen I knew the least about) and her story is very
interesting, her life reached far past the date of her death, as did the
consequences of her marriages (yes, that is plural – you’ll have to read for
yourself to find out!). She was an
admirably strong, determined woman. I
hope I don’t give too much away when I say that I’m sorry her “happy ending”
was not all that she hoped it would be.
I recommend this book as a necessary installation in this series, but –
like I said – it was not my favorite. It was probably the most suspenseful in the series, which is something to be said.
No comments:
Post a Comment