Book Review: Katheryn Howard: The Scandalous Queen

Alison Weir’s new novel paints Henry VIII’s fifth wife in a surprisingly positive light.

I have to admit to a bit of trepidation when I saw that noted historian and royal biographer Alison Weir was publishing a series of six novels, each of which would focus on one of Henry VIII’s wives. Was it really necessary, I thought, to have yet another set of books about the Tudors? Looking back on it, I suppose that was a stupid question, since I of all people should know that the Tudors are endlessly fascinating. And, of course, the minute I started reading the first book in the series, I found myself completely swept away. The same thing happened with each subsequent book; I was particularly impressed with the depiction of Anna of Kleve.

Now, we have at last arrived at Katheryn Howard, Henry’s penultimate wife. She’s always been something of an enigma for me, though slightly less so than her immediate predecessor Anna of Kleve. Weir describes most of her short life, beginning with her time with her impoverished and foolish father and then her time with her step-grandmother at Lambeth, where she engages in sexual relations with one Francis Dereham. It then follows her to the moment when, manipulated by her grandmother and the Duke of Norfolk, she is basically thrown into Henry’s bed…