I wrote a review for "Rivals in the Tudor Court" and a lot of it ties in with this book. I really think it should be read before this one even if they weren't published in that order.

Something new for this review is that I love reading about different smaller characters in Tudor history. In the genre, I would estimate half of the books are about Anne Boleyn. I love seeing the supporting characters and extras get leading roles. You don't hear too much about Mary Howard other than the fact she was More...

I liked this book better when it was called "The Other Boleyn Girl".

No, seriously. The first part of it was nearly a rip-off of TOBG, complete with the heroine feeling sorry for the poor Catherine of Aragon and hating her own family for, let's see, essentially behaving like every family depending on the king's favor would behave. It got a little better afterwards, the main character (Mary Howard, the wife of Henry VIII's illegitimate son Henry Fitzroy, and the daughter of Thomas Howard the duke More...

Glad to jump back into a good book on my favorite monarch, his fascinating wives and all the juicy backstabbing manipulative drama of the Tudor dynasty..After devoting a week or so to another book about the ancestors of Henry VII the original Tudor Owain in Vanora Bennett's The Queen's Lover I was eager for a good read on the subject. I found The Queen's Lover hard to understand, verbose, tedious and too short for all the sideplots mentioned if that makes any sense. I respect her for unlocking a More...

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Even though I'm a huge fan of Showtime's TV series The Tudors and have recently read Philippa Gregory's The Other Boleyn Girl (the e-book version but not in Kindle format, or I would have written a review), I really don't know anything about the main character in Secrets of the Tudor Court. She is Lady Mary Howard, daughter of Thomas Howard, the third Duke of Norfolk, and cousin to Anne Boleyn, King Henry VIII's second of six wives. I'm familiar with Norfolk, the hard and ma More...

I'm beginning to see a pattern developing in the latest offerings in historical fiction similar to what I'm accustomed to in romances - you have the solid gritty novels with real historical detail and then there are the wall-paper variety with a prettified historical setting - and in my IMHO this book falls into the latter category. Secrets is the story of Mary Howard, daughter of Thomas Howard the powerful Duke of Norfolk and wife to Henry VIII's illegitimate son Henry Fitzroy. As a young girl More...

Good grief...

Any author who endeavors to bring individuals who once lived and breathed back to life in book form has a great deal to live up to, in my opinion. Historical fiction is a tribute of sorts, and those whose lives have inspired someone to compose a novel deserve to be portrayed in a way that as closely fits the historical actuality as possible. True, some characters just weren't included in the historical record to the extent that would allow authors to know exactly what they need to i More...

I really wish they let us give half-star ratings, because I would give this three and a half if I could. I have mixed feelings about it.

On the one hand, it does a pretty good job of telling the story of Mary Howard, a relatively minor figure in the Tudor court, but one who was connected to the powerful Howard family and a witness to many of the important events that happened there. Not (thankfully) having been in an abusive relationship myself, I don't know how accurate the dynamics of her rela More...

3.75 If you are in the mood for some lite historical fiction and looking for a new character to read about, during the Tudor times, this will fit the bill. Mary Howard, the daughter of King Henry VIII's Lord Treasurer, the evil Thomas Howard The Duke Of Norfolk is sent to court during the rise of Ann Boleyn. We follow her years through 5 Queens and her marriage to Henry's illegitimate son Henry Fitzroy. The author portrays the Duke of Norfolk as an abusive evil man and Mary being the daughter al More...

I really enjoyed this book. Its horrifying opening scene grips you right away, and the events to follow, one after another, keep you absorbed until the end. Henry the VIII's court seems very authentically portrayed. I could find two historical inconsistencies: pair dancing, which was not actually invented in King Henry's times, and opals, which were not discovered until colonization of Australia (if I am wrong on these, then my compliments to the author on the extensive historical research). Nev More...

I rather liked this book as a whole, though I wish there had been more interactions between Mary and her brother, since an important part of the plot hinged on her role in his trial for treason. I thought Bogdan actually did a good job of portraying Thomas Howard; despite all of his flaws, which were shown in abundance here, I couldn't help but feel some sympathy for him. There were times when the narrator's voice sounded too modern, as when she spoke of the need for "closure," and some of the o More...

I didn't have the highest hopes for this novel when I started it. I knew it would span 5.5 wives (in relatively few pages) and it's a new author. But I thought I'd give it a go regardless and cross my fingers. It opened harshly, I was occasionally bothered by the modern phrases/ideas used in the novel. But it grew on me. The characters voice matures over the course of the novel (although that modern thing still popped up occasionally - why do some historical fiction authors sabatoge their work t More...

have recently finished reading Secrets of the Tudor Court by D.L. Bogdan and I have to say that it fits my Tubor England mood well. I have been really into this time period lately and I am fascinated by how the English lived and dealt with King Henry. I also love reading about what life was like for women and the roles that they played. The parts of this book that I found extremely interesting was the in depth look into the life long feud between the Howards and the Seymours. It was a great sto More...

The story follows the life of Mary Howard, daughter of Thomas Howard, Third Duke of Norfolk. I was looking forward to reading this book as I very much enjoyed the author's other novel, Rivals in the Tudor Court. However, the two books have virtually nothing in common (other than the subject, the Howards) and I was quite disappointed with this one on almost every level.

There is very little character development, which is particularily baffling in the case of Norfolk, who was a complex and vivid More...

Secrets of the Tudor Court is told from the perspective of Mary Howard, a marginal but well-connected woman in Tudor England. Mary was not only the daughter of Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, married to Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond, was in service as a lady in waiting to five of Henry VIII’s queens (Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, Catherine Parr), but was cousin to Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard and daughter-in-law to none other than the King himself. It is her More...

Mary Howard was a very unlucky woman. She lost many people she cared about over the course of her life and most of that could be attributed to her father's meddling. Thomas Howard was a schemer. He wanted the "best" for his family and would stop at nothing to get it, sacrificing two cousins as queens (both were beheaded: Anne Boleyn and Kat Howard). He prevented Mary from every truly being with her husband during their marriage which lasted at least 3 years (longer I believe). Bogdan does a good More...

I really liked this book. It had everything a good tudor fiction book should have- really names from history, little bit of romance, and some crazy Henry VIII mixed together.

This book starts of with a bang- and a birth of Mary Howard. The first few chapters jump through time so fast that you feel like you might have missed something, but later realize you didn't and that it was just to add to the suspense of Mary's father- Norfolk- taking her to the Tudor court to be a lady to her cousin Mistre More...

I hate to give this just one star, but oh my gosh! It was all I could do to bring myself to finish it! It was WAY to long - it went through ALL of Henry's wives, Edward and then a fair ways into Mary's reign!
The characters remained true to themselves and were believable in a way, but there were too many modern-day hints at word usage and customs for me. Also, there was this weird relationship element between the main character and her father... it really turned into this Dr. Phil we-must-find-p More...

You have to be as enamored of the Tudor court as I am and this one was quite good.

This book is narrated by Mary Howard, daughter of the Duke or Norfolk, who was Anne Boleyn's and Katherine Howard's uncle.

Seen thru her young fearful eyes, it paints a rich picture of life in the cruel capricious court of Henry the Eighth.

Mary actually marries Henry Fitzroy (Henry's illegitimate son) but never consummates the marriage. The book also mentions Elizabeth's supposed pregnancy with Thomas Culpepper's More...

I actually really enjoyed this novel. It didn't go down the usual road of the protagonist finding a happy and contented end. Instead it depicted a harsh reality of how it could well have been like through the eyes of young girl at court.
You could feel desperation dripping out of every character, and it's what made the book such a page turner. The desperation of Anne Boleyn, Norfolk, Lady Stafford and little Mary Howard; how all she really wanted was to have babies and for her father to love her. More...

I thought I was actually going to enjoy this book due to fact that I love reading about Tudor History. The book was rather long and I felt the author did not want it end. I really kept hoping the main character, Mary, would grow a backbone and confront her father, Norfolk, about all the terrible things he did to her (and the Howard family). The book was depressing because she was really never happy and kept losing all the people she loved due to illness or the king. She also blamed herself for t More...

I just can't resist books where the author grabs a little known historical character and writes a story, within history, for her. That's why I decided to pick this one up. The main character here is Mary Howard, the daughter of the Duke of Norfolk. As his nieces Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard she will also be a pawn in her father´s plans to maintain his powerful position with the King.


Unfortunately I didn't find Mary all that appealing as a character. She was a bit too good to be true and she More...

This is a tricky one to rate! On one hand, the writing was really good and very vidid (definitely made me feel like I was right there). On the other, there was something that really bothered me ... and bothered me enough that I can only give this book 3 stars.

First, there is the theme of domestic violence - and the victim's acceptance of said violence - throughout out the story. Mary's father beats and threatens both her and her mother repeatedly (and brutally).

Which leads me to second --- Mary' More...

This book centers on Mary Howard, daughter of Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, and Elizabeth Howard. It follows her life from birth to death and covers what life was like living in the Tudor era court.

This book is an excellent introduction to the Tudor court era. It covers all of King Henry VIII wives and most of his well known children. While it was difficult to read at times due to the violence between Norfolk and Mary, it was a very good book.

My only real complaint with the book was the natur More...

4.5 STARS!
This is another great read to add to your Tudor fiction library. It is full of the Tudor speculation and gossip that Tudor fans have come to enjoy and love, but this is not told in an over the top fashion. It is fast paced and intriguing, as the Tudor courts and the events of the demise of Henry VIII's wives are merely a backdrop for Mary Howard's story. Although an avid fan of Tudor history, this particular story is new to me, as I have never registered the fact that the shrewd and cu More...

Just didn't care for this book--read the blurb about the author and felt bad I couldn't be more positive about it after I found out she lives in Wisconsin. Seems un-neighborly. Theme of the story, girl hates/loves Dad, seemed to be a bit too repetitive— he beats her or strangles her, she gets angry, she forgives him; he murders her friends, she gets angry and forgives him . . . . Didn’t give enough flavor of the time period for my taste either. Oh well.

This book takes place at the same time as Rivals in the Tudor Court, with the same characters and overlapping plot, but different points of view. This is Mary Howard's story; daughter of Thomas Howard, cousin to Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, wife of Henry Fitzroy, daughter in law of Henry VIII. The other book is about her father, Thomas Howard. I think they need to be read together.

I really enjoyed this book. It was interesting to read about the many wives of Henry VIII from another view point, rather than through the voices of Anne and Mary Boleyn as in The Other Boleyn Girl. This story is told by Mary Howard, duaghter of the scheming Duke of Norfolk. I did find the relationship between daughter and father to be a bit disturbing, but it was a good read nonetheless.

Quick read- very engaging because it goes through all of Henry VIII's wives quickly and even a little beyond. I was kind of curious what would happen to Mary in the end because I did not remember ever hearing about her destiny. Paints a very unflattering picture of the battles between the Seymour's and the Howard's, especially Lord Norfolk's roles in many different plots! I would recommend for English History lovers.

The book was interesting because I know the history of Henry the VIII and all his wives and I've watched the HBO show, The Tudors, but really if I had to read about Mary Howard's eyes filling/welling with tears or about her choking/pushing back tears one more time I was going to behead myself. Bogdan needs to expand on his/her ability to express sadness a bit more in his/her characters.

This book was a glimpse of Henry VIII's court through yet another's eyes. I like the mix of his history and her (Mary Howard's) story. The author also pegged the abusive nature of her life and upbringing. Bogdan totally nailed the abused's unconditional love for their abuser. It made me sad that she never truly found happiness, but sometimes stories don't have a happy and satisfying end. This showed how cruel life can be, even to those of pure heart. I look forward to the next book by this autho More...