Book: The Last Wife Of Henry VIII by Carolly Erickson

Publishing Info: Published by St. Martin’s Press; 326 pages in hardcover

The Last Wife Of Henry VIII is about Catherine Parr, Henry’s 6th, and last, wife.

It’s an interesting novel, but I feel like it could have been a little longer.  Erickson pretty much glossed over different events from Catherine’s life, and it went by far too quickly.  I would have liked more of her marriage to Henry, since it is titled The Last Wife Of Henry VIII, but no such luck.

I love the people and all, and Tudor England is one of my favorite historical periods ever, but I couldn’t get into it.  However, it was interesting to see the court and Henry’s other wives through the eyes of Catherine.  It just wasn’t as interesting as I thought it would be, given she was one of two wives (the other being Anne of Cleves) to survive Henry relatively unscathed.  Erickson’s version was a tad boring for me, but she is free to write her as she sees fit.

There certainly was not a lot of detail about clothing or food or what the different castles and homes looked like.  It would have made the book feel more real and give the book some life.

Overall, it gets a 3 out of 5.  While not bad or amazing, it was a good, enjoyable read.