Reviews of Linda's Katherine Parr biography
THE TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT March 4 2011
[ reviews of ] Giles Tremlett and Linda Porter for the TLS.
"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"
". . . This is a really great book to choose if you’re interested in and enjoy historical fiction, but haven’t quite taken the plunge into history. Porter’s writing style is engaging, and the material is never dry or slow. I highly recommend this book to anyone who’s interested in the subject - I only hope Porter writes another book soon.
The complete Katherine Parr review by Sasha Garwood
THE POST AND COURIER (Charleston, SC) February 13 2011
"This is the stuff of a cable miniseries, but Porter tempers the narrative with Katherine's accomplishments, creating a balanced, satisfying read.
HOLLYWOOD TODAY December 9 2010
NEW YORK POST December 5 2010
Required Reading By Billy Heller
Katherine the Queen by Linda Porter (St. Martin's)
"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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY September 6 2010
Katherine the Queen: The Remarkable Life of Katherine Parr, the Last Wife of Henry VIII Linda Porter, St. Martin's, (464p) ISBN 978-0-312-38438-8
"Although often depicted by the Victorians as a matronly nurse to an elderly king, Katherine Parr (1512–1548), according to Porter, was a stylish trendsetter of 30, sensual, confident, dynamic, exceptionally educated and cultured, and able to perform with aplomb on both an English and international stage. Born into a prominent, northern family of Yorkist sympathies, Katherine was widowed twice before marrying Henry VIII: a brief first marriage thrust her into a troubled family; her second husband, John Neville, Lord Latimer, put his life and fortune at risk when he became embroiled on the side of the rebels in the 1536 northern uprising, known as the Pilgrimage of Grace. Probably already in love with seasoned diplomat and soldier Sir Thomas Seymour, the king's brother-in-law, when she married Henry, the pragmatic Katherine embraced her royal role with enthusiasm. British historian Porter (The Myth of "Bloody Mary") claims Elizabeth I's education, religious beliefs, and consciousness of personal image owed much to her loving stepmother. Rich, perceptive, nuanced and creative, this first full-scale biography gives one of Britain's best but least-known queens her due. 16 pages of color illus.
Katherine The Queen by Linda Porter
". . .Linda Porter did her research well. Her writing takes readers into the era and gives them a great respect for Katherine Parr. Being a woman in that time, and surviving as Henry's queen, had to be very hard. I found her story fascinating. Complete review review by Wanda Plourde.
THE DAILY EXPRESS March 19 2010
"Porter's vividly written biography confirms her belief that Katherine was an influential woman. As stepmother she shaped Elizabeth I, one of England's most successful monarchs. More importantly, Porter presents a portrait of an attractive woman more than capable of navigating the treacherous waters of life at the duplicitous Tudor court.
LITERARY REVIEW April 2010
Peter Marshall, Professor of History at the University of Warwick, reviewed Anne Boleyn: Fatal Attractions By G W Bernard and Katherine the Queen: The Remarkable Life of Katherine Parr By Linda Porter
"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."
MAIL ON SUNDAY April 25 2010
"Porter's account of Katherine's life is colourful and well paced. . those who enjoy Tudor history will agree with Porter's assessment that Katherine's was indeed a remarkable life.
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
THE BOOKBAG online
"Linda Porter has done an excellent job in fleshing out such details as we have of the life of this obscure but very interesting lady. Katherine comes across as a woman of ambition, yet not unduly so, of considerable intelligence and character. She was clever enough to keep her head in more senses than one, at a dangerous time when the least indiscretion, or whispering campaign by one's enemies, could mean a one-way trip. . .
CHOICE MAGAZINE
"Katherine...is revealed as feisty and radical."
Reviews of Linda's biography of MaryTudor
THE TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT
[ reviews of ] Anna Whitelock, Linda Porter, and Eamon Duffy for the TLS.
"A sense of Mary as an individual emerges most strongly from Linda Porter’s beautifully written and consistently engrossing study: her love of fine clothes and jewels, her near-addiction to gambling at dice and cards (which at one point in Henry’s reign consumed a third of her income), her warmth and generosity to friends. Porter provides careful and non-sensationalist discussion of Mary’s likely medical ailments, and of her possible attitudes to sex. At the same time there are effective pen-portraits of the supporting characters: Jane Seymour is “a clever little mouse”; Henry VIII, “a strangely fragile man with an infinite capacity to feel sorry for himself”. Porter writes unashamedly in the genre of popular history, and in places paints with a broad brush, but her book is notably insightful on politics, and bears the marks of thorough research (she is, for example, more systematically source-critical than Whitelock over the value of evidence drawn from the Protestant martyrologist John Foxe’s Acts and Monuments). . ."
