Wednesday 23 September 2015

The Taming of the Queen by Philippa Gregory



The Taming of the Queen is the best work of Philippa Gregory's that I've read for a very long time.  It is a gripping depiction of the marriage of Katherine Parr to Henry the Eighth – she was his last wife and the only one to survive him.

The author's note makes it clear that it is mostly based closely on the history with the exception of one important incident between Katherine and Henry (which relates to the book title) which is fictional.  And in fact that was the only part of the book that didn't ring quite true for me.

The famous painting of the King, Queen and his 3 children is dealt with magnificently.  I had forgotten that the Queen sat for the portrait unaware until it was unveiled that the face of Jane Seymour was painted instead of her own!

I highly recommend this one.

5 comments:

  1. Interesting review. I've read several of Gregory's books and enjoyed them and this period of history is among my favorite periods to read about, so I think I'll be adding this one to my TBR list!

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  2. I listened to an interview on the radio with PG - waiting for the book to arrive in my local library!

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  3. 'Sounds like a great read! -Marci @ Stone Cottage Adventures

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  4. I've been considering this book for my next read! Thanks for the review :)

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