No Will But His

No Will But His. A Novel of Kathryn Howard. Sarah A. Hoyt. 2010. April 2010. Penguin. 352 pages.

Kathryn Howard was the young and unfortunate fifth wife of Henry VIII. I was familiar enough with her story--my favorite account being a novel by Alisa Libby--The King's Rose. But reading about the Tudors--Henry's wives, his children, etc.--is one of my guilty pleasures. So when I saw this one at the library, I knew I had to read it.

Did this young teenager love the King? respect the King? Was she urged into this marriage by her family? Or did she have some ambition of her own? Did she want to be Queen so much that she was willing to risk everything? Was she in love with another man when she married the King? Or did love come later? come too late?

Kathryn was not perfect, was not innocent, was not perfectly innocent. But at one time the King thought she was. And when he learned about the Queen's past, well, it turned ugly. I did like the way this story unfolds for the reader.


© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews