Review Detail

This is a collection of short stories told from the point of view of the wives of King Henry VIII. Each wife shares her take of what it was like to live with King Henry VIII from the beginning to the very end. Intriguing insight in the royal life with the famous Tudor king. Each story is told by an YA author. The stories are engaging and also tragic.

What worked: I'm a huge fan of the Tudors! What's really amazing about this collection is how readers get glimpses of the wives' lives from the beginning and what led up to their demise--like Anne Boleyn right before she's beheaded, Katharine of Aragon's heartbreaking tale of unrequited love; Anna of Cleves outsmarting the King and living to tell it; Jane Seymour's sad story of being the only queen to have a son, how Catherine Howard's past comes back with terrible results, and Kateryn Parr adapting and putting aside her own love of learning so she might live.

After each tale is Henry VIII's take of the wife. Some he truly loved and others he felt had betrayed him. This addition really gave strength to an already amazing story.

Fascinating insight into the wives' of King Henry VIII. A must read for fans of historical fiction and for those who love anything on the Tudors of Great Britain.