Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII (SOME SPOILERS) in Back entries: 2013 - 2015

Author: David Starkey

Pages: 852, including Notes and Index

Publisher: Perennial

Genre: Biography

Thoughts: This is supposed to be a book dedicated to the six very different women that married Henry VIII over the course of his reign. The way that Starkey wrote this book meant that each wife was dedicated a different amount of pages, based on how long they were married to the king. So, Catherine of Aragon got a lot of air time - after all, she was married to Henry the longest. The problem, however, came when dealing with Queens such as Jane Seymour. Far too little “air time”. It would have been nice if Seymour is given a bit more than a 24 page chapter.

This next bit may be considered a “spoiler” but I feel I need to mention it. Catherine Parr, the last of Henry VIII’s queens, became his widow. I did feel a little bit cheated on the fact that what happened to Catherine next was a mere three and a bit paragraphs. Starkey did mention in his introduction that he has “already told the end of Catherine’s story in my Elizabeth”. (page xxvi of the introduction). Part of me would have felt better reading what happens to Catherine after her marriage to Henry ended in this book. She was, after all, married to Henry. I would have liked to have read more of Anne of Cleves after her marriage to Henry VIII failed as well.

So, I’m a little disappointed with this book…other authors have captured the six women so much better. I would recommend reading Antonia Frasier or Alison Weir over Starkey’s effort.

Last updated January 01, 2015