Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived.
This is the mnemonic I use to remember the basic history of Henry VIII’s marriages more than 500 years ago.
For this year’s January hibernation, I found The King’s Pleasure A Novel of Henry VIII by Alison Weir. Apparently Wier has already written a book on each of the wives/queens perspectives, and this new book (published in 2023) is from the perspective of Henry.
Henry’s perspective, not surprisingly, does not make him more likeable.
I did thoroughly enjoy Weir’s story even though it contained too many political and religious details for my preference – I’m just here for the romance and marriages! It has me thinking back to the other interpretations of this story I have indulged in over the years.
For me, it all started with Phillipa Gregory’s The Other Boleyn Girl and the other books in that series, which focus on the wives and related drama.
And I just thoroughly enjoyed reading my old post about The White Princess.
But my favorite interpretation is actually a TV series, The Tudors. This is still on Amazon Prime, and remains one of my favorite TV shows ever. I’ve watched its four seasons in entirety twice and now am craving it again. While reading Weir’s book, I was still picturing these characters. Racy and intriguing drama at its best!
I am looking forward to indulging in the rest of Weir’s books to see how she handles the wives perspectives. Apparently I just can’t get enough of the Tudors!