THE LAST WIFE OF HENRY VIII

by Carolly Erickson



The Last Wife of Henry VIII is the story of Catherine Parr, from girlhood to her death. There is a lot of time covered, but the book is just a bit more than 300 pages and goes quickly as only the "highlights" are told in any detail, and fairly large chunks of time are skipped over between them.

This book had the bad, bad luck of being read right on the heels of Innocent Traitor. There are some of the same characters and events, but they are not as deeply or convincingly explored in Erickson's book. After Innocent Traitor, this was like "Tudor Cliff Notes". You get the general idea, but you know there's more to the story. I had the same feeling when I read The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette. I liked the book, but I had a lot of questions about parts of the story that were skimmed over or not told at all. All in all, The Last Wife of Henry VIII is a good, light read, but if you're looking for something meatier, I'd stick with Philippa Gregory or Alison Weir.

The covers of Erickson's books are gorgeous though, aren't they? I'd almost buy them just for that! :-)

Lezlie


Other fiction by Carolly Erickson:



The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette
The Secret Life of Josephine: Napoleon's Bird of Paradise