Kathryn Howard The Scandalous Queen

Kathryn Howard out of all the wives of Henry the 8^th I feel sorry for the most. Don’t get me wrong, all of them suffered in one way or another, but Kathryn Howard was used as a pawn to try to influence the King and she was seventeen when she married a fifty year old fat king. Kathryn was too young, not very bright and too immature for the job as Queen. If Kathryn learned anything from her cousin Anne Boelyn she would learn court was deadly and one wrong move meant you’re finished.

Pros & Cons

Alison Weir once again does a great job of remaining historically accurate while fictionalizing stuff no one knows for sure. Out of 3 of the books I read about some of the Tudor Queens though, the one about Jane Seymour was my favorite. Kathryn’s book I found more interesting than Anne of Kleve’s. I liked that we glimpsed into Kathryn’s childhood which wasn’t too happy. Kathryn was neglected so she joined in with others living with her grandmother in being promiscuous. Some of the descriptions of the sex wasn’t necessary but it didn’t take up the whole novel. Thomas Howard, Kathryn’s uncle pushed her into being with the King so they could influence him especially since they were Catholic they could try to influence the King to bring England back to the Catholic faith. Unfortunately we know those plans didn’t work out.

Lady Rochford who was a sister in law to Anne Boelyn was a bit odd she wanted Kathryn and Thomas Culpepper together so much. It made me wonder if Lady Rochford was in love with Thomas herself or if she wanted to join in a threesome or get excited helping them with their affair. It brings me back to the t.v. show the Tudors where she watches them have sex through a peephole door. The pacing of the book seemed slow and there wasn’t too much happening at times, but then again Alison had to drag the story out since Kathryn lived a short life and eventually was beheaded.  

Overall

Overall I enjoyed the book. There wasn’t much I disliked about it except for the pacing and some of the sex descriptions was a bit much. It was fun to read. Its such a shame that Kathryn lived such a short life and the worst part is her family pushed her into being queen. Henry was filled with lust and wanted more male heirs.