Ah, King Henry VIII. When I was a much younger nerd in history class, I did a report on this infamous king and his legacy for a report and since then the king and his six wives have always been a source of fascination for me. So when I found this recent treasure, a book written by seven different authors in the voices of Henry and the wives, I just had to dive in. Let's see what we found.
This is a collection of stories told from the points of view of the six wives of King Henry VIII. Hear their sides of the stories and understand where they're coming from as they're passed over and as they fight to keep their throne...and their lives. From the devout Catherine of Aragon, scheming Anne Boleyn, meek Jane Seymour, neglected Anne of Cleves, lusty Catherine Howard, and learned Catherine Parr tell their tales with interludes from the great King himself as he recalls his life and goals.
Having a different author as the voice of each character in this book is pretty clever and works greatly to this books advantage. Each one shares their own views and uses their own unique voices to really capture the character they are writing for. Even the set ups of each section are different from each other. Parr's story is the only one that uses chapter headings, Boleyn's uses poetry, Aragon and Cleves's stories is mostly told in flashback, and so on and so forth. The parts from the perspectives of Henry VIII himself are also very well done, making a misogynistic, philandering, pompous jerk seems almost (almost) sympathetic but at the very least understandable. The guy reads like the arrogant douche he really was, but you see how he was raised to be and how each wife, each death, and each divorce had an effect on him. You see just how miserable a life he lived alongside those of his wives and you do feel for him...kinda...sorta...just a bit...just barely. Kudos the the writer for that one.
Going into nitpick mode, the only thing that really bothered me was that changed the spelling on the names of some of the Queens to avoid there being confusion. Now, I understand why they did, it makes sense to me with three Catherines, two Annes and one Jane to work with. Still the grammar nazi in me just couldn't really get over seeing the changes to the names. The biggest grievance was probably the spelling of Catherine Parr's name as Kateryn. What kind of crazy, millenial spelling is that? Still, it served its purpose in trying to avoid confusion, but I just wish there was another way.
It's clear a lot of time and energy went into making these as nice and accurate as they could. Slipping in creative license from time to time but also keeping the timelines right and the events as they were. This is historical fiction done right. Keeping the real events as they are while expanding on the exciting details and using time gaps to come up with interesting filler. It keeps the book entertaining and educational, and difficult combo but perfectly possible if handled with care, and this book was handed with such care.
Final Verdict
I really liked this one and anyone with an interest in the life and loves of this most well known monarch will probably like it too. If this sound like something up your alley, then it's got my approval as being worth your money at your local bookstore!
Have you read the book? What did you think? Comment below and share your thoughts. Please make sure to Follow Midnight Readings for instant updates. Have a book you'd like me to read or would like to make a recommendation? Contact me on goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/65448711-michelle-beer
Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Powerless-Shelley-Miller/dp/1543482546/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1519062043&sr=8-1&keywords=powerless+by+shelley+miller
Xlibris: https://www.xlibris.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-001175242
Next Time: An executioner preventing an execution...sold!
No comments:
Post a Comment