Katharine Parr: The Sixth Wife is the final novel in Alison Weir’s Six Tudor Queens series. Ms. Weir is truly an amazing historical fiction author - she is definitely one of my favorites. She is able to bring her characters to life and still maintain the historical accuracy of the time period. She has a gift for bringing the Tudor Court to life.
Katharine Parr was Henry XIII’s sixth and final wife. She wasn’t young like his first wives and had previously been married twice before Henry. She never had any children; so it surprised me that Henry would want her for a wife when she seemed to be barren. I assumed that the story would only be about her time as Henry’s wife but this covers the story of Katharine from her childhood through to her marrying the love of her life, Tom Seymour, after Henry’s death. She is only 1 of 2 wives that outlived Henry VIII and saw his son crowned as King.
In this final story, we see the decline of Henry and the growing tensions between the Catholics and the Protestants. We also get to see a few glimpses of Henry’s daughters, Mary and Elizabeth and how the different events of the time shaped their perspectives as daughters and future Queens of England.
The novel is long and very detailed, as are most of Ms. Weir’s novels. If you enjoy Tudor history and historical fiction this is well worth the time. I highly recommend. You do not have to have read all of the other books in the series to enjoy this one. It helps to know the history but the book can also be a great stand-alone novel. I completely enjoyed the entire series and would recommend all six books to anyone who loves the genre.
Availability: Book; eBook & eAudiobook in cloudLibrary Rating: **** Stars (I liked it) Reviewer: Laura, Library Director
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GENRE: Biographical Fiction; Historical Fiction
THEME: Court Intrigue (What's better than power? More power. In the halls of the mighty, any cup might be poisoned and any friend may be foe.)
TONE: High-Drama
WRITING STYLE: Engaging; Richly Detailed
LOCATION: Great Britain
SUBJECT: Ambition; Courts and Courtiers; Heirs and Heiresses; Intrigue; Royal Houses; House of Tudor; Widows; Women Rulers
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