Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.

The Last Wife of Henry VIII

A Novel

Audiobook
0 of 1 copy available
Wait time: About 2 weeks
0 of 1 copy available
Wait time: About 2 weeks

From the luxuries of court to the last gory years of the outsize King Henry when heads rolled and England trembled, Catherine bestrode her destiny and survived to marry her true love. She was the least known of Henry VIII's six wives, but was the cleverest of them all.
Alluring, witty and resourceful, she attracted the king's lust and, though in love with the handsome Thomas Seymour, was thrown into the snakepit of the royal court. While victims of the king's wrath suffered torture and execution, Catherine withstood the onslaught, even when Henry sought to replace her with a seventh wife. She survived her royal husband, and found happiness with Seymour—but it was shadowed by rivalry with the young Princess Elizabeth, whose affection Seymour coveted. Catherine won the contest, but at great cost.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Awards

  • Release date

  • Formats

  • Languages

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Catherine Parr was a young child when she met the dashing, handsome King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, the queen for whom she was named. Throughout her life, Henry was a friend, an enemy, a confidant, an admirer, a supporter, and finally her husband. From Catherine's point of view, we see Henry's marriages, a large part of Tudor history, and her own life. Terry Donnelly keeps all this straight and the story flowing in an elegant reading that also expresses Catherine's noble background. As Donnelly takes us through each phase of Cat's life, her precise and crisp reading accents Cat's intelligent thoughtfulness. Her voice rises strongly at points to show Catherine's more passionate side. S.W. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      May 29, 2006
      Erickson, known best for her lively and popular histories (nearly 20 of them, including The Girl from Botany Bay
      and Bonnie Prince Charlie
      ) engages with this fictionalized, first-person life of Catherine Parr, who actually survived marriage to the dangerous and mercurial Henry Tudor (famously, of the six wives), and who is arguably his most interesting bride (not least because she had four husbands). Cultured, well-educated and beautiful, "Cat" catches Henry's eye as a young girl and variously benefits and suffers from his favor all her life. Often married to others when Henry is single, she is both attracted to and repelled by him, but understands him, she feels, better than most. The factional court tightrope Catherine walks is familiar, as is the religious one; her observations cast Princess Elizabeth (soon to be Elizabeth I) and Baron Thomas Seymour (a husband of Catherine's who wanted to marry Elizabeth) in a less-than-positive light, and the Church of England priests come off as corrupt as the Catholics they replaced. Catherine surprises and delights as her own woman, one who, in the end, gets everything she wants.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

Languages

  • English

Loading