Katharine Parr: The Sixth Wife by Alison Weir
“As the wise Cicero said, “If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”
Katharine Parr: The Sixth Wife is the last installment in her Six Queens series. One pleasure of this series has been seeing the Queen’s life before their marriage. With Katharine, this is particularly fascinating as she was widowed twice before becoming Queen and remarried after Henry’s death. There is a large cast, and Katharine’s interactions with her family, friends, and stepdaughters are all a highlight. The parts detailing Katharine’s first two marriages were fascinating. Her first marriage’s unhappiness is a good contrast to her second, where we witness her growing interest in religion reformation and independence. Her experience during the Pilgrimage of Grace is well-used and must have been harrowing. Katharine became queen at a volatile time. Her mercurial husband, whom she does come to love, is surrounded by vying factions that almost unseat her. Desperate for a child, she takes active steps to build a family, and we see a lot of Mary and Elizabeth. Weir helps explain the complex myriad of religious beliefs and the Henrician Court and Europe. The scenes are detailed and believable and do “bring history to life.” Katharine emerges as a robust and well-developed character, and at the end of the series, it is thus quite sad but satisfying.
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