England, 1541. King Henry receives an anonymous letter suggesting that his fifth wife, the young Katherine Howard, whom he had called a rose without a thorn, may have led an unchaste life before they were married.
In the rose gardens of Hampton Court Palace, Henry feels the illusion of youth and virility slip away; he faces an uncertain future. Must he dispatch yet another wife? Old, overweight and increasingly infirm, could he find love and marry again to further secure the Tudor line?
Written through the eyes of various key characters of the time, including Henry himself, this work reimagines events from the catastrophic end of Henry’s marriage to Katherine Howard, his subsequent marriage to Katherine Parr and ending with his death in 1547.
Thomas Crockett strikes an excellent balance in his portrayal of Henry as an incredibly learned, eloquent, articulate man whilst at the same time revealing the flawed, angry disenchanted man ruminating on his past and those that had both delighted and disappointed him. These include his former ministers, his wives and his children.
The book is written in three parts. Part one sets out the beginning of the end of Henry’s marriage to Katherine Howard, the investigation in to her past and her subsequent death. The reader is taken through this turbulent time from various perspectives. Through Henry, Cramner and Katherine’s own roles in the unfolding drama. Thomas Crockett is convincing in his portrayal of a young, terrified Katherine Howard. Queen of England but powerless in a world dominated by ruthless and powerful men. Her end is depicted as swift and brutal.
The story opens just after Henry has been made aware of Queen Katherine Howard’s ‘disreputable’ upbringing by Archbishop Cramner’s letter and recounts their first face to face confrontation. This exchange is a skilfully written blend of fury, denial, wit and emotion. Cranmer navigating a fine path through the torrent of emotions Henry vents and holding his nerve and wits throughout.
Part two begins with a rumination of Henry’s previous marriages and his marriage to Katherine Parr. Here Henry’s children are introduced to the story. Through Mary’s eyes the reader sees her burgeoning relationship with Queen Katherine. We witness her reminiscing on her own childhood, from the profound loss of her own mother to her downgraded status following Henry’s marriage to Anne Boleyn and subsequent birth of Elizabeth. The story captures Mary’s feelings towards Anne and the complex relationship she developed with Elizabeth as the daughter of a woman she despised but a little girl she ultimately loved and cared for, who also became motherless due to the actions of their own father.
Part three recounts the fall of Anne Askew, the siege of Boulogne and Stephen Gardiner’s attempts to take Katherine down all set against the backdrop of Henry’s failing health. Whilst Henry lays gravely ill, his mind moves to the past and he ruminates on his part in the downfall of others. He recounts to a dead Thomas Wolsey all that has happened in his life since his passing and talks to a dead Katharine of Aragon, all the time assured that in all things, he took the right path. He implores her to be fair and reasonable as she died with her head. That, even though she ‘failed in the most important measure of being a wife’ he afforded her that dignity.
There is a great deal taking place historically throughout the course of the book and Thomas Crockett manages to weave these events in, balancing their effect on the characters in the tale without detracting from the main story. His portrayal of Henry is incredibly believable, confident in his actions throughout his reign and unrepentant to the very end. He is able to point to the shockwaves that Henry’s pursuit for a son and heir would have had on those around him and especially emotive is his imagining of how his daughter Mary would had fared emotionally and physically during her life and as a result her complicated feelings for Henry as a father.
This novel is a finely crafted blend of history and fiction and whilst it covers some very emotive subject matter, the characters are not overly sentimentalised. This makes the interactions of the characters throughout the story believable and ultimately in some cases their demise, all the more brutal.
Reviewed by Kate Hope
Latest Comments