Jean Plaidy is amongst the nobility of historical fiction authors. Her research, particularly for the time, is amazing. This is primarily the story of Katherine, but we also get a good chunk of the story of her sister Juana, and the rise and fall of Cardinal Wolsey. It is clear that Anne Boleyn will have her own time to shine, as in this book she is a shadow in the background and never in the forefront. You can't help but feel sympathy for the position of Katherine. ( )

This book is actually three novels in one and is the second in the Tudor series: Katherine, the Virgin Widow; The Shadow of the Pomengranate; and The King's Secret Matter. In the first, Katherine comes to England as the daughter of the great Ferdinand and Isabel of Spain to marry the Prince of Wales, Arthur. Arthur dies before the marriage to be consummated, leaving Katherine in a precarious situation. But, Prince Henry wants to save her and marries her. In the second novel, the story of the marriage is told. In the beginning, the couple is happy, sharing in everything. But, as time goes on, and Katherine is incapable of giving birth to a living child, save their daughter Mary, Henry becomes more and more disenchanted. In the final novel, the story of the King's Secret Matter and Anne Boleyn is told, with Katherine desperately clinging to her faith.

Katherine is a sad character of history, but should be admired for her tenacity and her faith. ( )

I really enjoyed this book and I liked that it was a little more historically accurate than some other historical fictions I have read. This was a time period of continual alliances and various political plots. Tudor England was very political and relationships were always on the political stage and this book really shows that. ( )

This book is actually an omnibus of Plaidy's three Katharine of Aragon novels: Katharine, the Virgin Widow, The Shadow of the Pomegranate, and The King's Secret Matter. Each of these books would have seemed really light if I'd read them on their own, but put together it's a massive undertaking to get through all of them. It never felt like I was making progress getting through this book, and it was very, very sluggish in parts. I generally prefer historical fiction to straight-up history, and while this book might be factually accurate (although some family trees and maybe a timeline would have helped), there wasn't enough fiction, enough drama, enough life to break up the continual plots and alliances and politics that got a little dry by halfway through. Sure, we get to hear the fictionalized thoughts of the characters, but that's not enough when those thoughts are repeated chapter after chapter for 600 pages. Not bad, but not enough to support its own weight. ( )