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Dear Henry: Confessions Of The Queens (2011)

by Judith Arnopp(Favorite Author)

3.13 of 5 Votes: 4

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Cledlyn Publications

review 1: This is a very short book which is a fictional account of the thoughts of the six wives of Henry VIII at the end of their time as his wife (or in Katherine of Aragon's case, when she died). From the title and the blurb I expected this to be in the form of letters written to Henry, but it didn't seem to work like that, and in fact there seemed to be very little actually to do with Henry in some of them.The portrayal of Katherine Howard didn't really go down well with me, it just doesn't seem in character, and barely even considers Thomas Culpepper, never mind her last words about rather having been his wife.In fact, none of the portrayals really struck me as particularly good, Katherine was predictably stuck in her views til the end, but not with the passion that I have see... moren in other books from 'her' point of view, Anne Boleyn didn't seem particularly witty or smart and Catherine Parr just came across as bitter, rather than caring as other books portray her. The only wife I even treacly believed part of was Anne of Cleves, and her joy at the annulment of her marriage.I'd say as a quick read it is good, but if you're looking for something to really immerse yourself in Tudor England then this is not the book for you.
review 2: Historical fiction does not normally attract me. I am ashamed to say I have finished only one such novel in my time - The Flowers of the Forest by Elizabeth Byrd which I loved and have re-read. However, I downloaded this very short book to my Kindle and was hooked by the immediacy of the writing. No talk of battles or hackneyed Lord and peasant girl relationships, this was an insight into the minds of the six wives of Henry 8th. I don't know how accurate it may or may not be - and I don't much care either. History and reality can be quite remote from each other as we well know. I have started The Forest Dwellers now by the same author. Who knows - I might even venture into science fiction one day, now that I've moved outwith my comfort zone (Mirren) less

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