Reviews of Katherine Parr

The Times Literary Supplement - March 4, 2011

Wife and Widow

"Katherine's life is undoubtedly a fascinating one, and Porter tells it with relish. The book is as fast-moving and plot-driven as a novel"

- Sasha Garwood The full review

LITERARY REVIEW - April 2010

"Porter provides a reliable synthesis of the best historical research on Katherine's life and times, while periodically going beyond it to offer original contributions."

- Peter Marshall The full review

READER'S DIGEST - March 2010

"Stalin, Bill Clinton, Tiger Woods - who would you say was the worst husband in history? At least five of Henry VIII's wives would surely have nominated their old man. Number six was Katherine Parr, who at least managed to outlive the old brute.

Katherine is probably the least-known of the six. Yet even after Henry's death, she had an immense influence on the future Queen Elizabeth I, protecting her from the attentions of Thomas Seymour (Katherine's own husband by then) and endowing her with a sound Protestant education which would have far-reaching consequences.

Linda Porter has done a marvellous job in bringing Katherine Parr to life. In so doing, she evokes the whole terrifying and exciting world of the Tudor courts, packed with intrigue and danger."

- A. N. Wilson

NEW YORK POST - December 5 2010

Required Reading

"Missing 'The Tudors' TV show? The story continues in this biography of Henry VIII's sixth wife, Katherine Parr, who soon after the king's death entered another marriage - her fourth. Historian Porter chronicles Parr's life before, during and after her reign as Henry's queen, including the scandalous flirtation between Husband No. 4, Thomas Seymour, and Katherine's stepdaughter, the future Queen Elizabeth I.

- Billy Heller