Last But Not Least: Linda's introduction to Katherine Parr for The Anne Boleyn Files
Four times a wife, caring stepmother, an avid patron of portrait painting and Venetian singers,celebrated author, the red-headed and feisty Katherine Parr was the most able and endearing of all the wives of Henry VIII. Set amidst the lusts, intrigue and violence of a turbulent age, Katherine the Queen paints a memorable portrait of a dramatic life.

Who indeed – for the real Katherine Parr was an attractive, passionate, ambitious and highly intelligent woman and her influence over Henry and his children, coupled with a keen interest in religious reform, helped shaped the future of England. She was only thirty years old at the time of her marriage to Henry in 1543 – younger than Anne Boleyn had been – and deeply in love with another man. A king, however, could not be refused, and the family and personal benefits of becoming queen of England were there for the taking.

Twice-widowed, held hostage in Yorkshire during the Pilgrimage of Grace, her life had been dramatic even before she became queen. It would remain so after the king’s death, when she hastily and secretly married her old flame, the rakish Sir Thomas Seymour.

The book reveals the truth about Katherine Parr, establishing her as a leading figure among the female rulers of her time.

 

Katherine Parr, the sixth and final consort of Henry VIII, was the wife who, in the old rhyme about Henry’s queens, “survived.” The general perception of her is that she was a matronly lady who appealed to the elderly monarch because of her nursing skills, experience as a stepmother and blameless past. Who better to succeed the teenaged strumpet, Katherine Howard, than this worthy provincial widow?

Reviews of Katherine Parr

 

In the UK it is Katherine The Queen: the Remarkable Life of Katherine Parr
In the US Linda's second book is titled Katherine the Queen: The Remarkable Life of Katherine Parr, the last Wife of Henry VIII.