Fantastic story. Katheryn Howard is the wife I know the least. I always considered her a frivolous, foolish child. My opinion has not changed, however, being a young woman (a child,really) she was at the mercy of her older, MALE, family members. Unfortunately , she attracted the attention of an aging man who happened to be the king. Imagine this happening today with the me too movement...king or not, Henry would be lynched. And rightly so.

This is a well written story, by a master storyteller. I have never read a book by Alison Weir that wasn’t fabulous. I highly recommend this book and look forward to the conclusion of this series. FYI, I have purchased a hardcover version of each book in this series. I don’t purchase many books these days, preferring ebooks, but this series is a keeper for my bookshelves.

I have read several of Alison Weir’s novels and find her to be an expert on all things Tudor-related. I have also read many fictional accounts of Henry and his wives, including Katherine Howard. Yet this story was not repetitive. I learned new things about Henry’s fifth queen and thoroughly enjoyed revisiting this time period. I look forward to Catherine Parr’s story next.

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for an ARC of this book! Release date - May 12, 2020

So. I am not a fan of Alison Weir. I am 5 books into her Six Tudor Queens series and I have only genuinely liked one of them. And yet, I stalked NetGalley until this was available to request and waited on the edge of my seat hoping I would be approved. I am a living contradiction.

I just think I always expect so much more from these books than Alison Weir actually delivers. I’m a HUGE fan of historical fiction and Tudor history in particular, so I think I just get really excited to read a new book about one of my favorite subjects. And you would think that having a respected historian start writing fiction would result in the most accurate and reliable historical fiction accounts. But I truly can tell that she’s not really a novelist. I know I know, sue me for being a Philippa Gregory fan. It’s up for debate how accurate her novels are, but there’s no question that they are entertaining. They read like fiction and totally suck you in. I think that’s what most people expect from historical fiction. I like it to be accurate too like the best of them, but Philippa Gregory keeps me way more entertained than Alison Weir. And honestly if Alison Weir was like 100% stick to the book as accurate as possible, I might be able to forgive her for being boring, but she’s thrown out some outlandish theories throughout this series. It goes to show that even historians can be biased. And to be totally honest, her fiction is making me distrust her nonfiction.

Anyway, first the positives. Finally, the books are getting shorter. One of my biggest complaint about all the previous books has been that they are FREAKISHLY long. Way way way too long to be enjoyable. This one is still long, 400+ pages, but it was really a manageable size and I read it pretty quickly. Then again, Katheryn Howard had the shortest life of all of Henry’s queens, so maybe Alison Weir had no choice.

(If the most positive thing I can say about a book is that it was short....)

I definitely don’t have nearly the complaints I had about Anne Boleyn: A King’s Obsession, but I still feel like some weird choices were made here. Although she states her reasons for making Katheryn’s age what it was, and her birth date is disputed, I still feel like she was likely younger than 16 when she became involved with her music teacher. I also think it was much more likely that he molested or at the very least took advantage of her lack of knowledge than that it was a consensual “love” relationship, as Alison Weir proposes here. For an author that was so quick to accuse Henry of raping Mary Boleyn in Anne Boleyn: A King’s Obsession, it’s almost laughable that she didn’t put forth that theory here when it’s MUCH more likely in this instance.

But I do think Katheryn’s frivolous and promiscuous personality was spot on, especially in her younger years. The relationship with Francis Dereham was spot on too in my opinion.

Now, on to the Thomas Culpeper/Jane Boleyn storyline. I know Jane’s motives for potentially helping Thomas and Katheryn have an affair are murky, but her actions were SO DUMB in this book. She wants Katheryn and Tom to be together, arranges for them to meet in secret in the middle of the night, stands guard to warn them....and then tells Katheryn you better not give yourself to him. Like what? It makes 0 sense. Not to bring up Philippa Gregory again (ok yes, she always has a special place in my heart), but in The Boleyn Inheritance her theory was at least logical, whether it was plausible or not (part of a plan by the Howard higher-ups to get Katheryn pregnant since they believed Henry was no longer fertile). Alison Weir presents a theory that is no theory at all. Jane helped...just cuz. She wanted to. But don’t get any ideas kids! Just TALK.

Of course, the whole affair is speculation to begin with, and I can see her reasons for thinking that they didn’t actually go all the way, since down to her dying day Katheryn said that they didn’t. I can accept that theory but I just think it was executed in an illogical way.

Anyway. I’m this far into the series now so I know I’ve got to read the last one on Catherine Parr. I might even look forward to it. I do think she was a really really interesting person so we’ll see how Alison Weir handles her portrayal.

I have loved this series by Alison Weir, and I was curious how she would handle this Catherine. So far, I have come to sympathize and admire each of Henry's wives, and it was no different here. Imagining the inner workings of her mind, the author brings us into the dazzling yet threatening life of wife number 5.

Katheryn Howard was the youngest, arguably the prettiest, certainly the flightiest and most clueless of Henry VIII's wife! Alison Weir's latest book, Katheryn Howard, The Scandalous Wife reads more like a bodice ripper than historical fiction, and yet it accurately portrays its subject. Young Katheryn, cousin to Anne Boleyn, was raised as an impoverished noble, until her step grandmother took her under her wing. But Grandam, as she called her, was hardly on top of what it takes to raise a virtuous young lady, and Katheryn had affairs at an early age that would come back to haunt her during her marriage to King Henry. Her choice in men wasn't the best, and she was very naive and trusting. If you are into historical fiction and know anything about Henry and his wives, you know how this book ends, and yet I was compelled to read every page, and the historical notes that Alison Weir thoughtfully provides. In the end it is simply the story of a young sensual woman who doesn't see the world as it really is, makes some truly stupid decisions and yet she ends up as Queen of England. You can't help but feel for her as she is abused by those she trusts, and trusts those she shouldn't. Overall a very good read!

This book was great!!! I loved reading about Kathryn's life both before and during her time at Lambeth. She was very well written as were Francis Dereham and Thomas Culpeper. I don't think I've ever read anything with Francis Dereham so prominent. I think this was a very interesting view of how things could have played out. This may be one of my favorites in the series.

First, thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. These are my honest opinions.

I'm torn in writing this review, as I normally love Alison Weir's work, but this title fell short for many reasons:
1. It seems terribly biased, presenting details in such a way as to MAKE the subtitle accurate. For example, in the author's note, Weir states that Katheryn could have been born as late as 1525, making her a child being preyed upon by adult males, nay family members and persons in authority. However, Weir chooses to make her approximately five years older, going with the earlier date of birth. Five years in that stage of life makes for a huge disparity in maturity. It also makes it easier to place the blame on Katheryn, as it enables Weir to develop her as a beguiling, sex-starved temptress, instead of a child left to fend for herself. There is so much gray between the two very black and white portraits.
2. The text, which Weir states she "modernized" to avoid Tudor English that would "sound out of place," frequently disrupted the continuity, preventing me from feeling as though I were in a medieval setting. Examples of the worst turns of phrase: "cheering their heads off," "kissing as if their lives depended on it" (that one also rated high on the trite cliche scale.) The worst, in terms of being out of place and just plain bad writing: "he entered her and rode her like a stallion. . ." Come on! That cheesy cliche brings me to my third reason: overly salacious scenes.
3. I felt like I was reading a Harlequin romance. The orgies at Lambeth were nothing but salacious. That part of the novel was full of gratuitous minutiae about Katheryn's alleged sex life. I say alleged because Weir didn't offer up any legitimate source for that time.
4. What was motivating Lady Rochford? Her actions are inexplicable, and her character is so flat, I felt like I missed something really important. The fact that Katheryn trusts Jane's strange behavior supports my belief that Katheryn was not just some wanton sexual being. (Her actions around Tom, another older man who preys on her, further underscore her immaturity.) She was a naive girl, forced to play a game without knowing the rules, dead as soon as she caught Henry's lecherous eye.

Overall, I'm left feeling rather outraged that this girl, a pawn for men, is, essentially, slut-shamed. King Henry is painted as the victim: poor, lecherous, manipulative, fornicating Henry, the man who broke up the established church, destroyed monasteries, and executed loyal followers because he wanted a fresh piece of tail in his bed. The man who then beheaded the woman he destroyed so many lives over because, let's face it, she was smarter than he. The man who divorced his third wife because she was not pleasing to look at.

I did not enjoy this book, I'm afraid. In fact, I grew so disgusted by the characters that I had to force myself to finish it, but was glad I did because Weir gave Katheryn a little dignity in death.

First of all, I have read everything that Alison Weir has ever written that I have been able to get my hands on. I love her work, I love her writing, I love the research she does and her attention to detail. With that said, I have also read each book in this series, leading up to KATHERYN HOWARD, THE SCANDALOUS QUEEN and I have adored each and every one. But this one?

This one tops them all.

In my love of the Tudor Era, I have happily studied each of King Henry VIII's queens. I will fully admit to only studying Katheryn Howard on the surface-level. She seemed young, immature, selfish and flighty to me. (Forgive me, Tudor lovers!) But all of that changed after I read this book. The author brought Katheryn Howard down to a relatable plane, introducing the reader to her on an intimate level. She brought out Katheryn's humanity; her hopes, her plans, her fears, her heart. I found myself rooting for her, grieving for her. And find myself even now, a bit empty now that she is "gone." A big 'thank you' to the author for caring about Queen Katheryn and for introducing her to those of us who hadn't given her a fair chance.

A definite recommend!

After Anne of Cleaves, Katherine Howard is my favorite of Henry VIII’s many wives. A young beautiful party girl who met a most darkly end at the hands of her paramour.

Going in to Alison Weir’s books, I always think I know all there is to know about Henry VIII (I have studied him and I’ve seen the HBO show THE TUDORS many times), and though I know this story is one of fiction mixed with fact, I always seem to learn something!




Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for this free ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Heaven knows I've devoured scores of books and documentaries about The Tudors, since they are a lifelong passion of mine. Even so, this historical fiction offering gave me a whole new perspective on the fifth wife of King Henry VIII. Whereas before I looked upon this wife as an unintelligent, wanton and reckless young woman, I now view her actions in the context of how she was raised. Katheryn's mother passed away during the birth of a younger sister. Afterwards, her father remarried and farmed out the children to other "titled" households to raise. Katheryn's father Lord Edmund Howard was foolish with money, squandering the small fortune his deceased wife brought to the union. This prompted him to disperse his children to other families in the British gentry in the hope that they would provide better opportunities for them.

Katheryn was sent to stay with Agnes Howard, the Dowager Duchess, widow of Katheryn's grandfather, the old Duke of Norfolk. She was provided with beautiful lodgings at Norfolk House, but still missed home. Katheryn soon realized that the Dowager's house matron Mrs. Emmet was very lax in watching over the young ladies placed in her care. Perhaps a dozen young girls lodged together in a large room lined with beds, but they were hosting parties in that room with leftover food they had snatched at dinner time, and also inviting men. What's more, these girls were having sexual encounters right in the same room with each other. Katheryn was initially shocked and horrified and preferred to sleep nights alone in her pristine room. However, eventually she was lured into attending these "parties" and was swept away by two handsome suitors. It was then that she bashfully asked one of the girls how they prevented pregnancy, and the answers were quite interesting to read 500 years later! It was easy to see how a once innocent girl was corrupted in this environment.

Katheryn was thrilled when she was informed by the Dowager Duchess that a place was made available to her at Court to serve Anne of Cleves, who was to be the 4th wife of King Henry VIII. Even though I had read the prior book about Queen Anne of Cleves in Alison Weir's "Six Wives" series, I quite enjoyed reading Katheryn's view of this Queen, in her own voice. As history recounts, King Henry VIII was quite displeased with the physical personage of Anne of Cleves, and found a mechanism to divorce her. In the wake of this, Katheryn's uncle the Duke of Norfolk mastermined a potential marriage of the King to his niece, Katheryn Howard. By the way, the Duke's other niece was the late Queen Anne Boleyn, who was King Henry VIII's second wife- and had been beheaded. Little did young Katheryn know that not too long into the future, she would also find herself beheaded for treason against the King, and be laid to rest next to her notorious cousin.

I have read this entire series and always look with bated breath for the next one to be released. I love what royal author Philippa Gregory did with her historical fiction series of King Henry VIII's Six Wives, where she let each Queen "speak" her story in the first person narrative. That's what legendary royalty author Alison Wier has done with this series, and she relies heavily on research that leads her to various speculations. She makes it really interesting and wont to think in perhaps a different way about these historical figures. I thought I knew everything about Katheryn Howard and didn't think very highly of her, but this tome provided some new insights. I now have more compassion and understanding for this young and misguided Queen. In fact, I was so inspired midway reading this that I fished out my DVD collection of "The Tudors" to re-visit this particular Queen. That's a good sign that I'm really liking a book, and I'll be looking out for Weir's final installment next year when she covers Katherine Parr...Henry's 6th (and final) wife!

Katheryn Howard was never my favorite of Henry VIII’s wives. I had never found her very interesting and chose to not look deeper. Alison Weir’s novel changed my perspective on this young queen. She was given humanity and became relatable in a way that other books had not portrayed her. Alison Weir never disappoints!

Alison Weir is remarkable. I've read so many of her books and I love each and every one for the way it captures a history long gone but still so alive though her words.

Katheryn Howard's story from her birth, to being sent away to live with a relative, to her rise to power, to even learning to love a king so much older than her, to finally losing her life...it's all so beautifully and realistically written. History has often written of Katheryn Howard as a waif that grew up with no rules and was a bit of a maneater at a young age, but this book brings so much empathy, sympathy and realism to the fact that she was a teenager who had far too much expectation put upon her and who history wasn't too kind to.

Alison Weir's book is a must read, especially if you love historical fiction. Loved this one and will continue to support her and her work with all future stories!

A fairly enjoyable romp, but not anything spectacular. Weir does an interesting job of characterizing Katheryn Howard, one of my personal favorite historical figures, but the plot was lacking in comparison to some of the earlier works in the series, and I found her Henry was a bit too one-dimensional. I definitely prefer Weir's work to Gregory's on the historical accuracy front, but I can't say I'd recommend this to any except the most hardcore Tudors fans.

I love all the books by Alison Wier and even though I have read a lot about Henry VIII I continue to be interested in understanding more about his bizarre behavior. Of all the wives Katheryn Howard is the saddest story because she was so young and so manipulated. The beginning of this book was difficult to get through with too much stilted dialogue and people coming and going in her life. It does get more interesting but of course knowing the outcome makes it difficult to see the path she is heading down. Not my favorite of the series so far, but overall a good book.

Weir does a wonderful job making Katherine relatable and sympathetic, despite the fact many historians and authors portray her as flighty and overly sexual. A great addition to the series, can't wait to read the next.

I love anything Alison Weir writes and this was no exception. By the time I finished this book I felt sorry for Katheryn Howard. She was nothing but a pawn to her family and she deserved a lot better. I am so looking forward to the next book.

I have always been a fan of historical fiction especially those set in Tudor England. When I heard Alison Weir was doing a series focusing on each wife of Henry Viii I was excited. While all of her books were very good, this novel of Katheryn Howard was the most surprising. While Weir does show how naive Howard was she also made sure to show us how circumstances beyond her control shaped her life. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing a book that didn't showcase Howard as just a flirtatious young women as she has been depicted in many other novels. Weir gives Howard purporse and I will highly recommend to my patrons.

As a fan of Alison Weir, I was thrilled to receive an advance copy of Katherine Howard, The Scandalous Queen, form NetGalley and Random House-Ballantine for review.
Katherine was a naive young girl when her family began pushing her into Henry the VIII's path as she served Queen Anna, Henry's fourth wife. Katherine's story is told from her point of view so you learn about her reasoning behind some of the choices she made and then her reluctance to make Henry fall for her. In her own way, she truly began to love and care for Henry but, her past came back to haunt her with tragic consequences. I love the author's detail and the notes she gives us on her research and where we can learn more about her subjects. I am looking forward to the next installment in this series and highly recommend Alison Weir's books to anyone interested in the Tudor Dynasty.

This is the fifth book in Weir's Tudor queens historical fiction series. I read the first three, then somehow missed out on the Anne of Cleves book but received an advance copy of this one about Catherine (Katheryn) Howard. As with the first three books, this one was too drawn out, especially since little is known about Katheryn (who died at about 20 or 21) and she wasn't at court to witness the classic Tudor drama surrounding the first three wives; in the first three books, the different perspectives of Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, and Jane Seymour made for interesting reading. In the author's note at the end of this installment, Weir says she wanted to write the book from Katheryn's point of view, incorporating only events she would have witnessed herself or possibly heard about from others. Unfortunately for readers that makes for a shallow story. The first third of the book is chapter after chapter of Katheryn hooking up with Henry Mannox and Francis Dereham, and when she finally gets to court the plot mostly revolves around whether or not Henry comes to her at night, the jewels she receives, and her fatal lust for Thomas Culpeper. The character of Katheryn in this book doesn't inspire much sympathy, which is a shame because her story was actually quite sad considering how she was used - even exploited - by men much older than her (after being pushed by her relatives to attract the king's attention, she married 49-year-old Henry when she was still only a teenager).

Four stars

I haven't read any of the other books in this series, though I am not unfamiliar with the topic. Having read this one I am definitely considering some of the others. Henry the VIII and his luckless wives are an interesting subject, though I haven't really read very much on Katheryn Howard specifically. That was one of the reasons I was particularly interested in reading this one.

It definitely lived up to my hopes. It is a history, and one I am familiar with so there is nothing really to be surprised about in the ending or the cast, but I found the portrayal of the characters to be both sensitive and interesting.

Katheryn Howard is such a sad figure. She was so young and largely at the mercy of the men around her, and she met such a tragic end. The book is written from her viewpoint in the third person, but that window into her thoughts gives all the happenings such immediacy. I hadn't fully understood how some of the situations in her life had come to pass, but Weir gives such a vivid picture of the lifestyle of that era and of Katheryn in particular that it made it easier for me to see how she had slipped as she did. Perhaps nothing else has ever made it so clear to me how very young and naive she likely was.

Henry himself is portrayed only through Katheryn's lens, so it was interesting to me to try to guess at what was really going on outside her view of him, to speculate what he might have thought and felt. But like Katheryn the reader is left to guess which makes for an immersive read.

Overall I very much enjoyed this book, though the topic is sad and hardly what one might call a cheerful read. Still it was intriguing at every turn to watch the situation unfold. I didn't find the book to drag at any point nor to be rushed anywhere. The writing was vivid and gave such a clear picture of the inner workings of Henry's court and the era. Katheryn herself was portrayed as a sympathetic figure, even if one is still left to wonder, how she could possibly have thought some of the choices she made could end any way but poorly.

I cannot think of any real negatives save those that are simply down to the history itself. The book was very well researched and I enjoyed the author's notes at the end that clarified her sources and the bits of history that were missing as well as her own suppositions. Overall for me this was a solid four stars of Tudor history and I will definitely consider picking up some of the earlier volumes soon as well.