A review by vampar
Katharine, the Virgin Widow by Jean Plaidy

3.0

Another look at the troubled life of Katherine of Aragon. Plaidy breaks up the story of Katherine into three books and this one focuses on the period of betrothal, doomed marriage, and endless forgotten waiting the young woman was subjected to. To pad the story, she focuses on the trials of Katherine's family, specifically her father Ferdinand and sister Juana, the "mad" queen. While this is all interesting and relevant to what happened to Katherine, it was an unexpected detour in the story for me. There are other side stories regarding some of Katherine's household members and reveal the motives behind their actions. Again, while interesting it was unexpected. For me these side stories made me impatient to get back to Katherine. It makes me reluctant to continue on with the trilogy despite the quality of the writing and my interest in the topic.