Katheryn Howard, The Scandalous Queen: A Novel (Six Tudor Queens)

Katheryn Howard, The Scandalous Queen as she would come to be known, was the fifth wife of King Henry the VIII. Only nineteen when she meets the king, he is immediately taken with her and her family does everything in their power to pursue the match. Even though he is still married to his fourth wife, Anna of Cleves, Henry pursues an annulment with her in order to marry Katheryn. Katheryn learns very quickly the politics involved in the court. Her scandalous past cannot stay buried and she knows it is only a matter of time before she faces a similar fate as her cousin Anne Boleyn.

Out of the six books of the six Tudor queens, this was my second and I think I liked it a bit better than the first. It is a little bit hard to relate to Katheryn, but at the same time, you can’t help but feel sorry for her. I can’t imagine the stress of trying to seem perfect and virtuous all the time as well as knowing your only worth is in producing an heir. At the same time, it’s hard to understand why she made the choices she did when the threat of a beheading was always hanging over her. I don’t doubt Ms. Weir does her research, but I was pretty shocked at how scandalous most of the women were in the book for that time period. Overall, an entertaining look at another poorly chosen wife of Henry the VIII.