Scan barcode
A review by katefinityreads
Katharine Parr: The Sixth Wife by Alison Weir
dark
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I’m rating this book in two halves with the first half being 5 stars and the second being 3 stars, and I suspect that many people will feel the opposite! I was really eager to learn more about Katharine’s life before marrying Henry as I knew that she had been widowed before but didn’t know any more than that. While I understand Weir had to be more creative than historically accurate with this part due to the lack of material available, I enjoyed her approach and imagination (in the afterword she mentions that she used other contemporary sources to influence what some of these characters “could have” been like to reflect the times). I think other readers might find this part of the book to be boring as it is quite long, but I also think it’s important to illustrate why the second half of the book is puzzling to me.
It’s well-understood that Katharine wanted to marry Thomas Seymour and had to put that on hold due to Henry’s interest in her. I liked that Weir explored the theme of Katharine coming to terms with marrying Henry as her calling to help aid the cause of religious reform, something which becomes a clear arc for her character early on. As her dedication to reform ultimately lands her in a dangerous position with the King and the machinations of Gardiner, we see how clever she is deferring to Henry’s “superior intellect” in a move that likely saved her from being his next victim. It’s at this moment that we fully understand just how smart Katharine is.
So it’s especially surprising following Henry’s death how quickly Katharine turns into a goggle-eyed teen over Seymour. While I’m sure there’s something to be said for being “blinded by love,” we see Seymour make so many bad decisions it’s difficult to reconcile Katharine’s acceptance of his selfishness and egomania. At the very end we see some of her anger come forward at the point it can no longer have any consequence. I would have liked to see more introspection, more difficult conversations between Katharine and Seymour, how his actions hurt her, if she felt she’d made a mistake in marrying him. It’s not difficult to assume that she may have felt this way given the point that she was at in her life: she was finally able to marry for love, is this what she expected? Given that she was so intelligent, it must have been hard to watch him make terrible choices, but in this book we see that she often agrees with them and feeds his jealousy.
In the afterword Weir mentions that she hadn’t read about Katharine for almost 30 years and it made me wonder how this book might have been different if Katharine had maybe been her favorite of Henry’s wives. I’m sad that this series is over and I did enjoy reading this book even if I would have liked to see Katharine portrayed in a different way.
Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy!
It’s well-understood that Katharine wanted to marry Thomas Seymour and had to put that on hold due to Henry’s interest in her. I liked that Weir explored the theme of Katharine coming to terms with marrying Henry as her calling to help aid the cause of religious reform, something which becomes a clear arc for her character early on. As her dedication to reform ultimately lands her in a dangerous position with the King and the machinations of Gardiner, we see how clever she is deferring to Henry’s “superior intellect” in a move that likely saved her from being his next victim. It’s at this moment that we fully understand just how smart Katharine is.
So it’s especially surprising following Henry’s death how quickly Katharine turns into a goggle-eyed teen over Seymour. While I’m sure there’s something to be said for being “blinded by love,” we see Seymour make so many bad decisions it’s difficult to reconcile Katharine’s acceptance of his selfishness and egomania. At the very end we see some of her anger come forward at the point it can no longer have any consequence. I would have liked to see more introspection, more difficult conversations between Katharine and Seymour, how his actions hurt her, if she felt she’d made a mistake in marrying him. It’s not difficult to assume that she may have felt this way given the point that she was at in her life: she was finally able to marry for love, is this what she expected? Given that she was so intelligent, it must have been hard to watch him make terrible choices, but in this book we see that she often agrees with them and feeds his jealousy.
In the afterword Weir mentions that she hadn’t read about Katharine for almost 30 years and it made me wonder how this book might have been different if Katharine had maybe been her favorite of Henry’s wives. I’m sad that this series is over and I did enjoy reading this book even if I would have liked to see Katharine portrayed in a different way.
Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy!
Content Warnings
Minor: Domestic abuse