After languishing in England for several years following the untimely death of her husband Arthur, Katharine of Aragon is married to Henry VIII. She has been a pawn in the games of kings for years, and she sees her marriage as a new beginning. She is queen of England now. But little does Katharine know....once a pawn, always a pawn. Everything rides on her producing a son...a healthy baby....a Tudor heir. Henry showers her with love and affection, and Katharine does her best to be a good wife and queen...but there is always the implied threat. Produce an heir....or else.

Or else what?

The Shadow of the Pomegranate is the second book about Katharine by Jean Plaidy, and the 3rd book in her Tudor Saga. It follows Katharine's life from the time of her marriage to Henry until the birth of her daughter, Mary. Katharine learns that the Queen of England can wield some power within court and the kingdom, but she is nothing when it comes to Henry's will. He wants a son....it is Katharine's duty to give him a healthy son. Henry tries to be a good husband and king, but as the years progress with miscarriages, babies who only live a short time, and a healthy daughter....he starts to obsess. No heir. That must be his wife's fault, right? What a precarious position Katharine found herself in! I can only imagine the stress, sorrow and fear that touched her life during those years. The pain of knowing that Henry was turning to mistresses.....that a mistress had given him a son but she could not..... I can't even imagine. Katharine's life runs the full spectrum -- incredibly happy, joyous and powerful to completely sad, abandoned and powerless. Producing baby after baby without the desired result and seeing her husband begin to resent and even dislike her must have been incredibly difficult.

I have been collecting Plaidy's books for years. I am a completist and don't like to read a series until I have all the books on my shelf. That's a bit hard with writers like Plaidy (a pen-name for author Eleanor Hibbert. She also wrote under other names including Victoria Holt and Philippa Carr) because some of her books are long out of print. It finally dawned on me that it is ridiculous to collect an author's works for a decade, and not read any of them! So, with the help of 3 library cards (one metro, two small regional), online resources and buying a few titles still missing, I am finally diving into my Plaidy collection with gusto! I started with the Tudor Saga. I know the history, but I'm enjoying Plaidy's take on events. She takes the historical facts and fills in details -- conversations, thoughts, emotions, intrigue, drama....she puts the humanity and its faults in place. I wish I had started reading much sooner! These books are wonderful!

Plaidy does NOT write historical romance. These books are historical fiction. There is a difference. Plaidy weaves the tale of history, adding in what might have taken place between key figures. The main portion of the story is not romance, sex, etc.....the crux of the story is the history. What happened? Why? What was the result? How did the historical figures involved feel about it? Sure, there is some sex, emotions, relationships, drama....because we are dealing with kings, marriages, politics, and human lives. Readers who want a bit of history but more kingly bedroom antics need to turn to a romance writer's books. Those who are looking for history with just a tiny touch of sex and sin will enjoy Plaidy's works. It's all about the history, baby. Not Henry VIII's naughty bits. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with naughty bits.....just don't want readers to be disappointed that there are no heaving bosoms and passionate embraces in these books. Naughty bits are implied, but never dangle freely, if you know what I mean.

Awesome book! I pause before moving on to the next book, The King's Secret Matter. We all know what happens next.....and I'm not sure I'm ready to read Plaidy's account of the King's treatment of his first wife. I need to watch some Disney channel and read a couple middle grade books to clear my head before I delve into the last years of Katharine's life. Henry was a bit of a wanker.....and Katharine paid the price for disappointing him. Such a sad story....

Wonderful book!! I'm loving this series! ( )

The Tudor series is not a string of novels written one after the other; they were written at different stages during the author's life. The first book was the last to be written. This subsequent three follow on from the Daughters of Spain series.

As with all Plaidy novels, “The Shadow of the Pomegranate” features a lot of repeated info and dry facts. The main reason why her works are so dry is because there’s far too much *telling*, as opposed to *showing*. The reader is often told what happened in a few sentences, when the author could’ve dramatized scenes to show what happened.

Something else Plaidy’s guilty of is her continuous use of the passive voice. It’s always, “The anger of the King,” as opposed to the active voice: “The king’s anger”.

Passive voice = passive prose.

Something about Jean Plaidy’s books keep me coming back for more. Perhaps it’s her obvious love for English history, which I share, that draws me back. I wish she’d focused less on turning out as greater quantity of novels as possible and concentrated more on quality writing.

Some of her novels do hit the mark. “The Shadow of the Pomegranate” is one of the better ones, with a brisk pace that helped keep my interest. Even so, it would’ve benefited from ten or more redrafts, followed by a meticulous inspection by a copy-editor. ( )

Historical novel about Katherine of Aragon, first wife of Henry the Eighth. I abandoned it after 25 pages -- I think it's well written, and I would probably have enjoyed it a lot when I was a teenager, but it simply didn't hold my interest enough to keep reading it when I have a two year TBR mountain.

http://bookwormchronicles14.blogspot.com/2012/01/shadow-of-pomegranate-jean-plai... ( )

Whilst the young King Henry VIII basks in the pageants and games of the glittering court, his doting queen’s health and fortunes fade. Henry’s affection for his older wife soon strays, and the neglected Katherine decides to use her power as queen to a dangerous foreign advantage.

Overseas battles play on Henry’s volatile temper and whilst many his power, rumours of his fruitful affairs are notorious. With no legitimate heir yet born, Katherine once agin begins to fear for her future.

My Thoughts:

This is the third in the tudor saga by Miss Plaidy. The story takes up with Henry still married to his first wife Katherine. King Henry still shows a lot of affection for his queen but they are still child and heir less. This isnot for the want of trying but Katherine has several failed pregnancies and still born babies. During his time in france Henry does eventually stray but katherine learns to turn a blind eye. Then along comes Bessie Blount who does give Henry what he wants, a son .

As with all Jean Plaidy books they are well researched and full of historical detail. I did get a little bored with Henry’s time in France and with the constant battles. I much prefered the story when it revolved around Katherine and Henry. I did learn from this book that Henry was madly in love in with Bessie Blount and had a fairly long affair with her. I always thought that his time with Bessie was very short lived as with all his mistresses. I do have another book TBR about Henry and Bessie called The Queen’s Rival by Diane Haeger which I shall look forward to reading.

Overall for me this was a good read and I enjoyed it more than the previous book and I do know that in the next instalment I shall meet Anne Boleyn. I have only dropped a star because I did feel that it was a little bland compared to todays historical novels and was a little boring during the battle sections.

I would recommend this book to anybody who enjoys tudor history or to anyone who wants to read about the tudors but I would say to read them in order to get a fuller picture ( )