Fantastic conclusion

All six books in this series have been amazing to listen to. Thank you Alison. can we now have a similar book for Edward VI and Mary I.

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excellent addition to the brilliant series.

can it really be the end of this series?
I've listened to them all many times and enjoy them every time.
thank you to Alison Weir for the many hours of pleasure and company xx

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Wonderful

Another great book. Sad to have completed this series. Loved it. I’m going to try the rest of her books.

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Let down by the narration

Loved the story, well crafted and researched as all the other books in the series, but I felt let down by the narration. Far too many unnecessary gaps in the speech that left the narration stilted and rather breathy. The other books in the series have been extremely well narrated, but this particular reader was a disappointment with her stop-start speech.

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Wonderful book and well chosen narrator!

This book is not just about the marriage, but Katharine's life. When the novel begins, Katharine is just a young child; Henry is happily married to his first wife. Therefore, as Katharine grows older, Henry's marital issues are in the background. Only when it is Katharine's 'turn' at being Henry's wife, do we really get an insight into this infamous King.

You do not need to have read the other books to be able to enjoy this one. It's a very interesting book and the extent of Weir's research is incredible.

The narration was perfect.

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Brilliant novel by Alison Weir

Well written novel. It was great to read about life after Henry VIII. Alison Weir manages to keep Thomas Seymour’s negative characteristics while seeing them through Katherine Parr’s loving eyes.

Good narrative, easy, slow paced and calming.

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Fabulous

Very engaging and reminds us there is nothing new under the sun regarding political intrigue, human behaviour and love. For me a fascinating dip into our rich English heritage and history. Well worth a guided visit to Sudeley Castle

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A Worthy End To A Magnificent Series

Catherine Parr is perhaps one of the most forgotten about queens of Henry VIII. Probably because she outlived him and not being divorced from him as Anna of Cleaves was. History has appeared to focus more on the other queens and so it was with anticipation I awaited the release of this final book in the Six Tudor Queen series. This series as a whole has to be one of Alison Weir's finest works, a masterpiece of story telling and has, for me, been a rich tapestry of the period covered.

Alison Weir, being an esteemed historian, has a solid knowledge of known facts to work with, but what perhaps is her strength is her ability to weave a convincing narrative around those facts that really fleshes out the bones of history. These fictionalized treatments of history fill in the gaps that the text books cannot provide. however, Weir doesn't indulge in flights of fancy and comes up with highly plausible fictionalized sections that cover periods little known about as well as connecting specific events that may have little by way of historical documentation.

All the books in this series achieve this seamlessly with the known facts. Reading these stories really gives one a sense of the personalities, their lives and how they fit into history far more so than a dry history book.

One such example of how Weir is able to draw together known traits, behaviours and likely reasons for the way people act is the famous scene where the young Elizabeth, future queen of England, has her clothes cut to shreds. Now, to be honest, I am not sure if history tells us what the precise rationale was for this and, more importantly, why Catherine seemingly tolerated it by holding Elizabeth while her husband cut her clothes off, but if not, then Weir does a good job of explaining Catherine's behaviour that day.

I imagine that the early life of Catherine left Weir having to create a back story as I would imagine there is little source material from which to work with. This has probably been the case to varying degrees for other books in this series where Weir has to work harder to produce a believable history that fits with the known facts. If I had any criticism, it would be that those early years are rather a slow preface to the main events. I do understand, though, why Weir had to do this, so I'm not marking the book down for this, it's just my only minor niggle.

Narration is handled by Beth Eyre, whom I previously had no experience of. She is a competent narrator, but I did feel that in the earlier part of the book that she read rather quietly, as if reading a story to a child in bed. It wasn't until much later into the book that she appears to become a little more confident. I did note that she pronounced the word ;uncle' rather oddly, as if the word began with an 'O', sounding more like Oncle.

Having now completed this epic series, it would be interesting if Weir turned her considerable abilities to writing fictionalized books on some of the men in this pivotal period of English history. Weir has, for the most part, focused her efforts on the women of the period and done an amazing job of it. However, I'd love to see her also write about the key men that surrounded and influenced Henry VIII. Men such as Thomas Woolsey, Thomas Cromwell, Thomas Cranmer. Thomas Moore and Stephen Gardiner all spring to mind. Perhaps Weir might create a series to do just that. It might be called 'The kings Men' :)

In addition, Weir might write books focusing on the Seymour brothers, Edward and Thomas who feature in this book. They both suffer ignominious downfalls soon after the events of this book. Catherine's husband, Thomas Seymour, only lived a scant six months or so after the birth of their daughter and the story behind his and his brother's fall from grace must be a rich source from which to draw from.

This is a worthy conclusion to this magnificent series from Weir and I look forward to what she may have next in the works.

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1 person found this helpful

A story about an amazing woman!

What a wonderful story about an extremely brave, courageous and intelligent woman. I didn't have much knowledge about Katherine's life before she became Queen but this book gave me a lot more detail.

It details her life from the age of five when her mother dies, to her first marriage with Sir Edward Burgh and her second with Baron Latimer and of course her third with Henry the Eighth and finally her fourth with Thomas Seymour.

Make no mistake however, this was not a woman defined by her husbands alone. Katherine actually published three books in her lifetime and was the first woman to publish under her own name in English.

This was a book very thoughtfully told and gave Katherine a patient, sensible and pleasing personality. I was utterly heartbroken by the inevitable ending.

It was Katherine's story told very differently from previous accounts I have read and indicated how highly Henry esteemed his last wife. I was a bit disappointed by the title of the Sixth Wife as it seems a bit anticlimactic but after reading the book I understand the reasons why.

It is sad to be ending this wonderful series, I think the effort that Alison Weir put into this series is evident to anyone who reads it.

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Immersive and revelatory

Expertly and expressively read by Beth Eyre, this is a gripping and immersive account of the vicissitudes of the life of Henry Tudor's last wife. Her gradual transition from Catholic orthodoxy to reformed Christianity is sensitively and convincingly handled. A superb listening experience.

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