4 out of 5 stars
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How I discovered this book: last book in a series of which I had read all the others.
In a Nutshell: The last part of the life of Anne of Cleves.
This book picks up the story of the English court shortly after the death of Catherine Howard. It follows the fortunes of Katherine Parr after she is chosen to become the last wife of Henry VIII, and the complicated web of manipulation, secrets and lies that follow his death, as the young Prince Edward takes the crown under the guidance of Edward Seymour and John Dudley, all from the point of view of Anne of Cleves.
In her role of first person narrator, Anne talks about the events taking place in her homeland, as well as international conflict and her thoughts on each player in the dramas taking place at home. She has a deep friendship with Katherine Willoughby, Duchess of Suffolk and widow of Charles Brandon, who relates details of events to her; much of the book is dialogue-driven.
I liked the inclusion of fictional detail in this book, for instance the visit of Princess Elizabeth to Hever Castle; not a great deal is known about Anne of Cleves, so much of this book comes from the author's imagination and research into other areas. Most interesting of all was the reign of Mary; I was thinking about her before I started reading this book, and it occurred to me that out of all Henry's offspring, Mary was possibly the one most like him, and that she took after him in personality more than she did Katherine of Aragon. Elizabeth was so much her mother's daughter, but the older Mary was pure Henry, at his worst. I very much liked the way Anne could see this happening, too; she had to deal with her own feelings about what her friend had become.
Compared with what happened not only to the other wives but to many women of nobility in those days, she was indeed fortunate.