Anne of Cleves: Henry's Luckiest Wife

Oh, how I loved this! From all of the other Tudor-related books that I've read, the historical content does seem to be very accurate. In reading and film, we rarely ever hear about Anne of Cleves; it's usually either Mary, Elizabeth, or the infamous Anne Boleyn. With that being said, I was extremely fascinated to find out more about this not-so-talked about royal member. After reading this book, it is my humble opinion that she does not get the recognition that she deserves. Anyone who could stomach Henry after being granted a divorce from him deserves kudos, so to speak. To the author: please write more books!

I just finished reading Anne Of Cleves: Henry's Luckiest Wife. It is written by D. Lawrence-Young. It is about King Henry The VIII's fourth wife. It talks somewhat about her life before marrying the king. Her marriage to him. How she was treated after his marriage. It also talks about his third, fifth, and sixth wives.

I can honestly and whole heartedly say that I loved this book. I have never been a history fanatic, but this book definitely got me into this particular story in history. I feel like I know a little bit more about King Henry The VIII and some of his wives. I feel I understand it better than I did when I was in school. I especially loved how it intrigued me to want to know and learn more about what was going on.

I didn't show more really see any problems with this book at all. It was well written and its sources were well documented. It was very easy to read and understand. I'm sure there were some typing and spelling errors, but I didn't really find any.

I fully recommend this book to everybody. I especially recommend it to people who love the subject of history. I fully recommend everybody give it a try. I promise that you wont regret it. I am truly honored that I got the privilege to read it and review it. show less

Anne has had a bit of a rough time at the hands of chroniclers and writers, being described as being most unpleasant in appearance and personal charm, folksy and uncultured, the Flanders Mare; and yet she also comes across as smart, personable and even pleasant of appearance, and certainly shrewd enough to make a financially beneficial “divorce” from Henry which set her up for the rest of her life in England. Even today, Anne remains an enigma.

This retelling of Anne’s life is initially told to us in the first person by Anne herself, as she reflects upon her life and the events leading up to her marriage to Henry VIII, King of England. Anne’s recollections are interspersed with a more standard retelling of events as they occurred show more before, during and after her marriage. We find Anne adjusting to court life around her and to her change of status once the divorce was made formal. We are then taken through the events that took place from the death of Henry VIII to Anne’s own demise.

I read this as an e-book back in April - and the above is a snippet of my review which you can read in full at "Melisende's Library" - http://melisendeslibrary.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/anne-of-cleves-henrys-luckiest-.... show less

This was a very interesting read, as I didn't know much about this particular wife of Henry VIII and she gives a nice perspective on all the action of the time period from her close but not too close relation to the action. That said, the book is not without flaws.
My biggest problem was where the book started. Part of the title is Henry's Fourth Wife. All of the drama about whom he may choose, the painting of her portrait, and whether or not she's actually going to marry him, fell a bit flat. We know they get married, it's not really all that suspenseful.
The dialogue can be stilted at times. It might be that way because it's supposed to be just like they would have spoken back then, and it's possible that that really is exactly how they show more spoke, but it was very hard to read without being taken out of the book.
In the first 50 pages or so, it kinda felt like the author wanted to get a lot of info across all at once when he probably would have been better served working it into the later chapters. There's also a lot of exposition, a lot of telling instead of showing. I appreciate how hard it is to work in relevant detail in a historical book, but sometimes I thought that could have been left out.
There's an error early on that startled me: in the info dump about Anne's life, she says she was born in 1515 and her sister was born in 1512, so that makes her 5 years older. Am I missing something, or is that 3 years?
In general, I feel the book would have benefited from having a few more eyes give it a critical read, so the author might prune back a bit of the beginning fluff. Also, there are a few typos and the like, which may have been caught by a few good editors. If I can catch them, I'm surprised no one else did.
But all in all, not a bad read. I may be feeling overly critical today. It can be said that once you get past the beginning, it all really picks up and gets better. show less

This eBook was given to me through Library Thing Member Giveaways in exchange for an honest review.

I have never been an avid reader of Historical Fiction, although, I have read some really fine novels that utilized excellent historical research, with carefully crafted fictional story-lines. Anne of Cleves: Henry's Luckiest Wife is packed with accurate historical information, and I give the author an A for that. That said, while I found this novel to be interesting, and quite enjoyable, the story-line, in my view, was nothing spectacular. Particularly, the first person narration by Anne of Cleves herself, was a bit strange in some areas, especially in the end, when she narrates her own death. My question is why? This is not to say that show more this was not a good read, because it actually was enjoyable; I just wish the last couple of chapters, particularly the ending were fleshed out as bit more. The first person narrative works in other areas better, most notably where Anne's special viewpoint in relation to historical events is concerned- it just adds a bit more depth in this way.
Overall, this was an entertaining read, and I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in British Royal History, or more specifically, the history of King Henry the VIII. show less

This was a very light study of Anne of Cleves and I enjoyed it very much. Told from the first person it begins when Anne is living with her Brother, the Duke of Cleves and Hans Holbein comes to paint her picture. This is an easy and enjoyable read and in except for Catherine Howard, I have read a book on all of Henry VIII's wives.

Very interesting study. The author is a teacher and scholar, and even though this is historical fiction, it adheres very closely to known reality of the time. Anne of Cleves is nowhere near as well-known as some of Henry's other wives, and she seems not only luckier but smarter than the rest. Her eventual annulment deal allowed her to live out a full life (at the time, around 50 years). The author gives an absorbing account of women's lot at that time. I'm looking up his other books.