Katharine of Aragon

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.

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 show more 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. show less

By far my favorite book on Katharine of Aragon. This is actually three books combined into one and was a page turner. I have read many books on Queen Katharine but I feel I came to know her the best through Jean Plaidy's wonderful novel.

Another magnificent nail-biting page turner that is very hard to put down. Ms. Plaidy certainly has a way of putting her reader right into the heart of all the action. And, again, you will laugh with the characters, and cry with the characters and go through all things with them. Everyone is so real and alive through the masterful writing that you can't help but feel as though you truly know these characters.

I loved the book but I think the first part (The Virgin Widow) had too much Juana and Ferdinand in it.