I'm a huge fan of Alison Weir and I was thrilled to read a book on Katheryn Howard, King Henry VIII's fifth queen. She was barely out of childhood when married to King Henry. She was one of the lesser written about queens, possibly due to the length of her reign Told from Katheryn’s point of view, the story picks up in 1528 shortly before her mother’s death when she was 7 years old. It recounts her various romances through young adulthood and her ultimate ascension to her short-held role as Queen.
The book is wonderfully written other than parts that read like poorly written soft porn, tis the reason I gave it 4* instead of 5*

I have been reading about the Tudor women since my teenage years. You think I would be sick of them. But no! I devour the books written about them and this one was no exception. Somehow in all my years of reading I knew almost nothing about Henry’s fifth wife. This book absolutely solved this for me. I learned about Katheryn and truly loved the book. Just the right thing to keep these long days from being boring. I was given the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers.

DNF despite getting an ARC from publisher.

All I can do is echo the sentiments of others that this is poorly-written, historically inaccurate, soft-core porn.

Alison Weir has once again woven a compelling tale combining historical facts and fiction.

The magical storytelling takes us from Katheryn Howard’s unsettled and rather sad childhood through her marriage to King Henry the VIII. It paints a picture of a kind hearted but opportunistic girl who was a mere pawn in her family’s social climbing.

I felt too much time was spent on her ”dalliances” with her tutor and Dereham, both of them being much older and in positions of responsibility in the household. The thought of a pre teen/very young teen being taken advantage of by men of certain power is unsettling.

Keeping in mind this is a work of historical fiction, Ms. Weir stays close to the facts as they are recorded. And fleshes out gaps with probable scenarios and dialogue. I especially enjoy the afterword in her books. The historical notations provide information helpful to further research the subjects.

Katheryn Howard, The Scandalous Queen is a well researched and welcome addition to the Six Tudor Queens series. I am eagerly awaiting the sixth and final book.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

My Two Cents: Historical fiction is a favorite genre, but I have always had a special interest in Henry VIII and his many wives. That time in British Courts seems so fraught with mystery and espionage, it’s hard not to get wrapped up in it! For the most part, I have mostly read about his first wife Katherine and the ever-popular Boleyn sisters and of course Jane Seymour by extension so I was intrigued to find out more about Katheryn Howard and how she came to be Henry VIII’s fifth wife.

Right off the bat, Katheryn was a fairly normal girl with a high-powered family name. I think in many ways she was “lucky” and happened to have the right blend of being age-appropriate (as was considered at that time) and being somewhat lost in the world (having no dowry or even parents, it was easy for her uncle and grandmother to decide her future). Being beautiful and charming was just the added bonus the family needed to capture the king’s attention. Her lack of virtue throughout her early teen years showed how lost she must have felt at not having any solid prospects or a plan for the future.

I appreciated Katheryn’s voice throughout the book – how quickly she went from depressed and heartbroken to excited and ambitious was so realistic for such a young woman still figuring out who she was. It was also engaging how Katheryn went from being disgusted at the prospect of bedding an aging, diseased and malodorous king to loving him in so many ways. Alison Weird did a wonderful job of capturing the range of emotions that Katheryn must have gone through as she courted and wed King Henry VIII.

I was extremely surprised that considering Katheryn’s very open indiscretions when she was younger, she was able to make it as far as charming the king in the first place. So many people knew about her early relationships with Harry and Francis that it seems highly unlikely that no one would utter a word to King Henry in the entire time they courted and early years of their marriage – especially when there are always other families vying to undermine others.

Overall, I enjoyed Katheryn Howard, The Scandalous Queen, and had fun going back in time with Alison Weir to Henry VIII’s court.

An easy to read fictional account of Henry VIII's fifth wife Katheryn Howard written by an author who has written TONS of nonfiction about the Tudors. (I have read Alison Weir's nonfiction off and on for at least 20 years.)

It is sad to know that it is mostly due to the fact that she was naive in her youth, manipulated and sexually exploited by men of power over her that Katheryn Howard was condemned to death. Sure she made some disastrous choices after she was married, but considering she was only between the ages of 17 and 21 when she died (thus 15-19 when she married the 50 year old king) it is sad to what it came to. Imagine if we could all be tried for things we did between the ages of 11 to 14.

I appreciate that in the author's note Alison Weir details which parts of the story are fabrication, which parts are built from testimonies given at the time, and which parts are taken from primary resourses and thus factual.

This book was fascinating. Katheryn Howard's life from the time she was eight years old until her demise at twenty-one is truly a tragic story as she was let down and set up by so many of those relatives who should have carefully watched out for her. She was naive and impulsive and although aware of the consequences of many of her activities, she basically ignored them. I was unable to put this book down as I was eager to see what would happen next. I was particularly impressed with the author's notes about her research at the end of the story. I highly recommend Katheryn Howard, The Scandalous Queen!

I have always been a big fan of Alison Weir and I have been enjoying this series about the six wives of Henry VIII. Katheryn Howard is probably the wife I knew the least about, perhaps not much was known about her. She seems young, immature and easily swayed by money, power, clothes and sex. it seems like she was very much a pawn of her family and she had little say in her life’s choices. I think the author used a voice that reflected Katheryn’s young and flighty personality.

I really thought this book had so much potential. Alison Weir just repeated the same story of Henry the VIII’s 5th wife Katheryn Howard. She also seemed to change her age so that Katheryn was able to consent to the men that surrounded her in youth. This book was shameful. I rarely ever feel this way.

My eldest daughter has a fascination with Tudor history and is a huge fan of author Alison Weir. After reading Katheryn Howard: The Scandalous Queen, I understand why!
The fifth in a series of books on the wives of King Henry VIII, this story holds true to what is known of the time period, reflecting Weir’s extensive research. As I became immersed in this book, I felt like I was stepping back in time into this intriguing historical era.
Weir paints Katheryn in a somewhat different light than many other authors. Katheryn was very young, but in this author’s viewpoint, she wasn’t just a flirtatious party girl seeking wealth and fame but seemingly came to her fate largely as a pawn of her family as they sought to advance their own ambitions. In many situations, she did not really have a choice, and some of her other poor decisions were made largely out of naivete.
Told through Katheryn’s perspective, this story picks up in 1528 shortly before her mother’s death when she was just 7 years old. It recounts her various romances through young adulthood and her ultimate ascension to her short-held role as Queen.
The daughter of Sir Edmund Howard and Joyce Culpepper and niece of the scheming Duke of Norfolk, Katheryn was a cousin of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII, who tragically shared her same fate.
Many thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy. I was under no obligation to write a positive review; the views I have expressed are entirely my own.
If you enjoy reading historical fiction or have an interest in the royal family through the ages, I highly recommend this book. I am looking forward to reading more works by this talented author.

Alison Weir never disappoints. I always enjoy her novels and this is no exception. If you are a historical fiction fan, you have to read this book. If you are a Phillipa Gregory fan and have read Alison Weir, you are missing out! If you have a fascination with Henry VIII or the Tudor dynasty, you have to pick up this series. I've read every installment and each one I learn so much more and I love how authentic her writing is. I also respect that she elaborates on where she's taken liberty with the story and most of it is only dialogue. That's very commendable. The audiobooks of these series are phenomenal. So no matter what format you prefer, please, do yourself a favor, and pick up this series!

Katheryn Howard, The Scandalous Queen: Review by Samantha Yorke

From the publisher: Bestselling author and acclaimed historian Alison Weir tells the tragic story of Henry VIII’s fifth wife, a nineteen-year-old beauty with a hidden past, in this fifth novel in the sweeping Six Tudor Queens series.

In the spring of 1540, Henry VIII, desperate to be rid of his queen, Anna of Kleve, first sets eyes on the enchanting Katheryn Howard. Although the king is now an ailing forty-nine-year-old measuring fifty-four inches around his waist, his amorous gaze lights upon the pretty teenager. Seated near him intentionally by her ambitious Catholic family, Katheryn readily succumbs to the courtship.

Henry is besotted with his bride. He tells the world she is a rose without a thorn, and extols her beauty and her virtue. Katherine delights in the pleasures of being queen and the power she has to do good to others. She comes to love the ailing, obese king and tolerate his nightly attentions. If she can bear him a son, her triumph will be complete. But Katheryn has a past of which Henry knows nothing, and which comes back increasingly to haunt her–even as she courts danger yet again.

*****

There can be little doubt that Alison Weir has made an indelible mark on the public’s fascination with Tudor History. I was hesitant to take this ARC copy at first because I generally find the author’s fiction to be difficult to read. However, there are many good points to be taken from this fictional story of Katheryn Howard.

The book begins are the death of Katheryn Howard’s mother. From there we are taken on the journey of her short, tragic life. Ms. Weir shows us a young girl who is overlooked and passed first from relative to relative, then from man to man, all the while she merely yearns for a home and a place to be loved and belong.

She catches the eye of King Henry VIII. The reader will feel the anxiety that the young queen experiences, afraid that her past lovers will come to light. We share her joy as the King spoils her and she finally appears to delight in being cherished and adored.

Then, just as quickly as she ascended, Katheryn Howard is doomed by the shadows and whispers of her past. Weir vividly paints a sympathetic, doomed young girl trapped and caged in the trappings that she has grown to love as she finally felt secure in the world the King created for her.

Weaving a novel length story about a life that we know so little takes a great amount of skill and talent.

This book is not as long as most of Ms. Weir’s fiction, which will be a bonus for some readers who may find her rambling, extensive stories tedious. The book opens with brief family trees of the Tudors, Howards, Culpepers, and Derehams-which is impressive. Her devoted following will love this book, and I believe she will garner new appreciation for the sheer volume of research she did on the life and story of this poor pawn in the machinations of a tyrannical king. This is also an ideal book to get lost in for a few days. Due to these factors, I’m giving the book four stars.

*****

Special thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair review. Release date is May 12, 2020.

You may purchase the book here.

Amazing. If you haven't read this series- and I hadn't- you're in for a treat, especially since you have now found a new set of novels to dive into. Katheryn Howard was just a teen when she married Henry VIII. She had a dreadful upbringing and, like a teen would be, is willing to bet on her ability to bear the King an heir. No matter how repulsive he might be, he's better than how she's been living and it's a chance. Keep in mind that this is written from her perspective so it might seem a tad simplistic in spots. It's not. This is meticulously researched but it is also compulsively readable. I learned a lot (and spent some time googling) while thoroughly enjoying the novel. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A great read for fans of historical fiction.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Each of the Six Wives has stereotypes about them, and over the course of the series, Weir seems to demonstrate, despite her reputation for accuracy, that she’s not immune to bias. So while this book was yet another chance for her to take shots at the Boleyns on passing, otherwise, Katheryn Howard: The Scandalous Queen is a compassionate portrayal of the wife often considered to be a dumb or oversexed, to put it mildly, showing she is at most naive and underprepared for the cutthroat political scheming going on around her.

I love how the falls of others, from her cousin Anne Boleyn to the Countess of Salisbury are portrayed through Kathryn’s eyes to foreshadow her own fate, and while, with hindsight, we can say that she might have saved herself if she’d told the truth earlier (and Weir does state this is the case), I can still understand why she didn’t, given her background and what she had been instructed to do by those she thought knew better.

I also enjoyed seeing her dynamic with King Henry, as while the romantic love is not returned on her side, it was yet another example of how changeable he could be when he felt betrayed by someone.

This is a truly epic book about the rise and fall of a largely misunderstood Tudor Queen. I recommend it to fans of historical fiction, especially if you love the Tudors.

I know Henry's fourth wife is not as well known as Anne Boleyn, but this book was just... lacking. The beginning of the book was good, you really got to know Katheryn. The middle of the book was never ending. It was one long list of castles and cities that all blended together. I wish there was more story and character building during the progress. Unlike the other books in this series, I really didn't care about Tom, Katheryn, Jane or Henry. The end was boring because we weren't shown what was going on with the trial. Even though the book was told from Katheryn's perspective and she was kept in the dark, I wish the reader could have been given hints about what was going on. To keep the reader in the dark just made it really boring - watching Katheryn have panic attacks and pace in the nunnery.

Katheryn drove me nuts. She made some terrible decisions in her youth and blamed it on not being supervised well enough. As a woman of noble birth in that time period she KNEW that her virtue was the only thing going for her without a dowry. The blame goes through the whole book. It's Tom's fault for wanting to see her, it's Henry's fault for not feeling well and giving her Tom as a companion, it's Jane's fault for carrying messages. I'm not a historian and I'm sure the book was well researched, but the fictional portion of the book just bugged me. Especially with what happened to her cousin Anne Boleyn, she knew she was committing treason with Tom. She played with fire her whole life and then was surprised when she was burned. It's not until the end that she FINALLY admits it was her own lust that was her undoing.

This is the fifth book in the author’s Six Tudor Queen’s series. I love Alison Weir, both her fiction and non-fiction. There aren’t many of her books that I haven’t read or don’t own, and I have been waiting for this book to come available on NetGalley. I was pretty disappointed in the last book in this series, so I was kind of skeptical going into this one. I’m glad I was surprised by how much I liked it. Yes, there were several times at the beginning that I rolled my eyes and thought “did she really just write that?” hence the 4 stars. But it is a very solid 4 stars leaning toward 5 without those few cringy moments during Part 1. This book brought back what most of her other novels have shown, that Weir is the leading historian of this time period. She gives enough real details regarding dress and food of the time period without bogging the book down. However, I think her trying to stay true to the time period did lead to the most cringeworthy part of the whole book.

This book shows Katheryn Howard in a different light than most historical fiction books about her do. You really get a sense of how her upbringing factored into her decisions throughout her short life. It shows she was more than just a silly, boy crazy teenager that managed to ensnare the king. Her time in the Dowager Duchess’s care is usually glossed over as a bunch of young girls left to run wild. Weir really brought this to life & showed it was more than just lax guardianship on the Duchess’s part. It also shows the Duke of Norfolk to be just as ruthless as he seemed regarding Anne Boleyn. It seems clear that Katheryn was more of a pawn than Anne. Her relationship with Thomas Culpeper was also real and not just a fling. History has not been kind to Katheryn Howard and this book uses the sources to show how it really might have been. Its easy to see that Katheryn probably did come to care for the king, just not in the way he cared for her and wasn’t just out for the riches and status being Queen brought her. Katheryn is shown to be more of a pawn to her family than the wanton history has made her out to be.

Weir has again written a work of fiction that stands up to her nonfiction. I’m glad this book went back to her roots. It showed that she is the go-to when it comes to historical fiction based on fact. Thank you to NetGalley, Random House/Ballantine Publishing and Alison Weir for the electronic ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Anyone who knows me well enough knows that I'm a history whore and rather obsessed with the Tudors and all things revolving around them. So, this was my cup of tea, floated my S.S. Georgie, and all that jazz. It took me down a pleasing and worthwhile rabbit-hole of further investigation and learning and the like (I ended up adoring Anna of Cleves). This was my first Weir novel and I enjoyed both it and her style enough to read more of her work. The pace was adequate, the language was engaging, the romance/sex scenes tasteful, and the characters intriguing, irritating, heartbreaking, so on and so forth. If you're a historical fiction buff, I recommend this.

As you know, I'm a great fan of Alison's and am always eager to read her next book. I cherish a little hope that she'll bounce back to the Plantagenet era after she's done with...EGADS! Mistress Parr's book doesn't have a title yet! Well, anyway, I'd like to read her historical fiction take on Elizabeth Woodville, so I hope she'll consider it.

Catherine Howard (I will not call her Kitty...that's a weird nickname) is the last of what I call the "Shadow Queens"—not much is known about her, Jane Seymour and Anna la Marck because all the focus seems to be on Catalina Trastámara, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Parr. In fact, until this book, I didn't know anything about Catherine before her marriage, other than the fact that she was a wild child at Lambeth and she was pushed into Henry's path. To see her fleshed out more deeply and to learn about her family was fascinating, even if it was hard to keep track of all the character names because the Howards have as many members as...well, maybe the Kennedys are the appropriate American equivalent, at least in terms of size!

My only surprise was of one little line, which I'm not going to spoiler because I don't think it ruins the rest of the story: according to Alison, "I may die a queen, but I'd rather die the wife of Culpepper" is the Renaissance equivalent of "let them eat cake".

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I understand the skepticism, since she states the quote's source doesn't have many dates and seems to mess things up.

But she also said that the author of...I think she called it "The Spanish Chronicles" or some such...appeared to work closely with Ambassador Chapuys. Which means that the odds are good that he knew a lot, either firsthand or via Chapuys. Which also makes it hard to completely discount the book.

I find it hard to believe that with Catherine's mercurial moods and changing loves that she didn't harbor the hope of marrying Thomas Culpepper if she could outlive Henry. Do I think she said her famous line on the block? Probably not. Do I think she might have said something like it during one of her breakdowns; perhaps leaving out the queen bit, since she already knew her title had been stripped? Absolutely. People say crazy things when they're freaked out.

Overall, ⭐⭐⭐½—and an itch to know the title of the next book, naturally!

We’re five books into a six book series. And, despite the title of this one, I honestly didn’t think it could get more scandalous than Anne Boleyn. But that’s only because I didn’t know all that much about Katheryn Howard. If you like historical drama, you’ve come to the right place.

The thing I love most about this series is that Alison Weir truly makes each queen the protagonist of her own story. You read about Katherine of Aragon and hate Anne Boleyn, but then read Anne’s story and completely understand where she’s coming from. With Katheryn’s story, this was especially evident. Because she definitely did some pretty scandalous things for her time, but, reading this, I kept thinking “I get it”. Because what sixteen-year-old hasn’t done some pretty stupid things? And tell me your eyes (and hands) wouldn’t wander if you were married to a fifty-year-old Henry VIII when you were a teenager and stuck in a palace with all the handsome knights. The only problem? When you’re married to a king who is still upset about his four previous wives, that might be considered treason. You think Katheryn would have learned her lesson from family history. Yup, that’s right, Anne Boleyn and Katheryn Howard – the two wives Henry had beheaded – were first cousins. History is funny like that sometimes.

Honestly, part of the reason I love reading these books is the drama. The Tudor court was… a lot. And it’s fun to read. But with this one, I also really felt for Katheryn. She was stuck between her family’s ambition and being able to follow her heart. Sure, she had her own ambitions when it came to becoming queen (who wouldn’t?) but that was completely irrelevant in a world entirely controlled by men. If this series has made one thing clear to me, most of these women were caught in a world controlled by men and things didn’t end well when they tried to live their own lives, or another pretty girl walked past the king. And I think Alison Weir does a brilliant job of illustrating that, of making these women seem human in a way modern readers can relate to. And I really enjoy reading it.

Ah! My Tudor era obsessed heart immediately clicked request as soon as I saw this become available on Netgalley!

I have been fascinated by the Tudor era since middle school, and have in fact been a fan of Alison Weir’s work for just as long, as it was one of her non-fiction books on the Tudor era that helped start my obsession with all things Tudor related back in the day, so naturally, I have been eagerly devouring each and every one of the books in her ‘Six Queens’ series as each installment has come out. No matter how often I delve into the world of the Tudors, I never grow tired of reading about that period in time, especially Henry VIII and his reign in particular. I especially have a fascination with Anne Boleyn, but i’ve also always found myself wanting to know more about Katheryn Howard.

Katheryn Howard was a cousin to Anne Boleyn, and eerily, both women shared similar sad and tragic fates, that ended with their executions at the command of Henry VIII. Katheryn’s circumstances and tragic fate was perhaps even sadder than Anne’s though, for the simple fact that she was so very young when she was used as a pawn by her family in their scheme to get her closer to the king and the throne.

Needless to say, I was very much looking forward to reading Alison Weir’s take on Katheryn Howard’s story, perhaps more so than any of the other queens. I very much enjoyed Philippa Gregory’s perspective on Katheryn in her novel “The Boleyn Inheritance” which is also one of my favorite Tudor fiction books, so I was curious to see how Weir’s take would be in comparison.

I found that I really enjoyed this novel, and so far, its probably my favorite of the ‘Six Queens’ novels yet.

Weir’s writing was spectacular as always, and as I delved into the story, I felt my surroundings melting away and I was transported into the pages and the world of Tudor England.

Alison Weir is gifted in the way of breathing Tudor England to life, and making you feel as if you have traveled back in time and are right there amongst these hundreds of years past historical characters that we history lovers all wonder about and marvel over.

The way in which she penned this story was compelling, so even though it was long, there was never a dull moment, as I was completely drawn into the story of Katheryn’s life, as well as immersed in the politics and political intrigue of the time.

The book starts early in Katheryn’s childhood, and follows her through her romantic relationships with a series of men, before she becomes the Queen of England, a couple of whom will come back to haunt her after she’s married to the king and caught up in a dangerous scandal.

The action of the story really picks up when Katheryn and King Henry are married, and she finds herself entangled in an affair with a former lover, Thomas Culpepper. To anyone who is familiar with Katheryn’s story and scandalous affair with the infamous Thomas Culpepper, it comes as no surprise that the discovery of this affair is what ultimately leads to her downfall and demise.

At times while reading, its almost difficult to remember just how young Katheryn was, and I almost found myself wanting to scold her through the pages for being so naive and foolish enough to think she could get away with having a lover on the side while married to the King of England. And not just any king for that matter-the king who already had a well known reputation for not only being cruel, but discarding wives with a simple command, whether it be through divorce or death.

The fact that she was so young made the story of her brief life that much more difficult to read, and my heart broke for this young girl who was forced into circumstances in which she had absolutely no control or say in the matter whatsoever.

Despite the fact that this was a fictionalized account of Katheryn’s life, this book gave me a deeper understanding of Katheryn Howard, and no matter what the truth is, my heart bleeds for this young girl from so long ago who never stood a chance in determining her own fate.

Alison Weir once again painted a detailed, compelling portrait of life in the Tudor world and what it may have been like to be one of the ill fated queens of Henry VIII.

Alison Weir has a gift for bringing history to life and making history fascinating to read about.

I will continue to read her novels, and I am more than excited for the next and final installment in her ‘Six Queens’ series!

Highly recommend for fellow Tudor fanatics!