Fatal Throne: The Wives of Henry VIII Tell All by various authors - OPTIONAL

Fatal Throne: The Wives of Henry VIII Tell All by Various Authors, 386 pages.  Schwartz and Wade (Random House), 2018.  

Content: Language: PG (5 swears); Mature Content: R; Violence: PG-13.  

BUYING ADVISORY: HS – OPTIONAL  

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH  

The six wives of Henry VIII are all given a voice in this fantastic historical fiction.  Katharine of Aragon was from Spain and out of seven childbirths, had only one living heir-Princess Mary.  Henry, in his desperation for a male heir and his lust for women other than his wife, moved onto Anne Boleyn whom he tired of quickly, but she did give him Princess Elizabeth.  After Anne Boleyn was beheaded, Henry fell in love with his proclaimed one true love, Jane Seymour.  After giving Henry a son, Jane died of a blood disease.  In an act to make alliances with Germany, Henry married Anne of Cleves, but was repulsed by her, so he divorced her.  His lecherous heart lead him to the young Catherine Howard, but she had her own lustful ways and was caught sleeping with men other than Henry, for which she lost her head.  To top off the wife list is Kateryn Parr who used her brains to outsmart Henry’s advisors when they tried to use her religion as a reason to get rid of her.  

This book was fascinating and so well done. I loved how the authors made you feel empathy for each of the women and also let you see the predicament the queens were in at court.  In between each wife, Henry had a small insert.  Each wife and Henry were written by different popular young adult authors including: M.T. Anderson, Jennifer Donnelly, Candace Fleming, Stephanie Hemphill, Deborah Hopkinson, Linda Sue Park and Lisa Ann Sandell.  This book was essential except for the sexual content which was crass and included on page sex.  There is violence (executions).  

C. Peterson