The Sixth Wife

by Suzannah Dunn

A gripping novel of love, passion, betrayal, and heartbreak in the unstable Tudor court following the death of King Henry VIII

Clever, level-headed Katherine Parr has suffered through four years of marriage to the aging and irascible King Henry VIII—and she has survived, unlike the five wives who came before her. But less than a year after the old king's death, her heart is won by the dashing Thomas Seymour, and their hasty union undoes a lifetime of prudent caution.

An unwilling witness to the queen's late-blossoming love, Catherine, Duchess of Suffolk, harbors nagging suspicions of Kate's handsome and ambitious new husband. But as Catherine is drawn deeper into the web of politics ensnaring her oldest friend, it gradually becomes clear that she has her own dark tale to tell. For though Thomas might betray his wife for power, Catherine might betray her for passion, risking everything she has in a world where love is a luxury not even royalty can easily afford.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Tudor Period, British Literature, Romance, 16th Century

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Suzannah Dunn was born in London, and grew up in the village of Northaw in Hertfordshire (for Tudor ‘fans’: Northaw Manor was the first married home of Bess Hardwick, in the late 1540s). Having lived in Brighton for nineteen years, she now lives in Shropshire. Her novel about Anne Boleyn (The Queen of Subtleties) was followed by The Sixth Wife, on Katherine Parr, and The Queen's Sorrow, set during the reign of Mary Tudor, ‘Bloody Mary’, England’s first ruling queen. Her forthcoming novel – to be published in hardback in May 2010 – is The Confession of Katherine Howard. Prior to writing about the Tudors, she published five contemporary-set novels and two collections of stories. She has enjoyed many years of giving talks and teaching creative writing (from six weeks as ‘writer in residence’ on the Richard and Judy show, to seven years as Programme Director of Manchester University’s MA in Novel Writing).

Reviews

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

When selecting this book please beware… Both the title and the cover illustration are deceiving as both clearly suggest that the focus is Henry VIII’s sixth wife and Queen, Katherine Parr. However, this novel’s central character and narrator is Catherine Willoughby Brandon, Duchess of Suffolk, one of Queen Katherine’s ladies in waiting as well as her close friend. Here Dunn presents the perspective of Catherine Brandon on the tumultuous conclusion to the reign of Henry VIII and Queen Katherine’s subsequent hasty marriage to Thomas Seymour following the death of King Henry. Dunn dubs Lady Catherine “Cathy” who is suspicious of the motives behind the marriage to Seymour and suspects that Seymour desires the marriage as it puts him close to the young Princess Elizabeth with whom Queen Katherine lives. Cathy tries to protect both Queen Katherine and Princess Elizabeth by living with them at Sudeley Castle, but in the end finds herself entangled in a physical relationship with Seymour that forever severs her friendship with Queen Katherine who is devastated at the betrayal of her husband with one of her closest friends.

I was disappointed in The Sixth Wife for several reasons but primarily because Dunn opted to pit these two influential women against one another. I have always found Queen Katherine to be the ultimate survivor, a true reformer while remaining nurturing and warm. The suggestion that an improper relationship existed with Princess Elizabeth is one thing, given her age mixed with Seymour’s lethal charm, but to think that Catherine Brandon would betray her in such a way was very difficult to swallow. The young bride of the aging Duke of Suffolk has always fascinated me and from what I have encountered she too was an intelligent woman and a devout reformer. I would rather read more about these women claiming their power and influence rather than succumbing to the charms of a soulless climber. And while I commend Dunn’s use of Catherine Willoughby as her narrator, I can’t help but think that Dunn wasted an opportunity to give her reader more than a historical love triangle; something just one step above a romance novel.

Again I was disappointed with Dunn’s use of modern nicknames, though not as distracting as they were in the Queen of Subtleties, they are nevertheless so unnecessary and really seem to dumb the whole thing down. I was surprised to read that Dunn herself has said “I don’t write historical fiction,” and so perhaps I should strike her works from my reading list. However, I must say that to me Dunn’s statement seems more like an excuse for writing bad historical fiction because clearly she frames her novel within a historical context and choses her narrator to be an actual figure at the Tudor court. What Dunn does not give her reader is a novel that provokes further research or opens the reader’s eyes to a fresh perspective.

Unfortunately, I cannot recommend The Sixth Wife without these reservations and while I enjoyed Dunn’s use of Catherine Brandon as narrator the story that she creates is empty.

[Josephine (Jo) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an exciting and well-imagined story of Katherine Parr, the last wife of Henry Vlll. The whole sorry tale is narrated by Catherine, Duchess of Suffolk, best friend of Katherine since childhood. Catherine was the daughter of María de Salinas, who came to England with Catherine of Aragon, first wife of Henry Vlll. María was always faithful to her mistress and stayed with her after she was exiled by Henry and until her eventual death.

Because of the love that so many had for Catherine of Aragon many girls were given the name Catherine and it must have been quite confusing at the time.
We tend to think of Katherine Parr (Kate), being the widow of the old king, as being older herself but actually, when Henry died she was only thirty-six.
Six months after Henry died Kate married for the fourth time to Thomas Seymour. They married in 1547 sometime around July, Kate became pregnant, much to her delight, she died in September 1548 maybe from complications due to childbirth.

Suzannah Dunn weaves an intricate web of fact and fiction to bring Kate to life again. We know from history that Thomas Seymour was power-hungry, (as was his brother Edward) he had hopes of marrying Princess Mary or Princess Elizabeth upon the death of Henry Vlll. However, he played the game carelessly and only survived Kate by a year, he was executed for treason, leaving their child alone in the world. The story imagines what life was like in the home of Kate and Thomas, also living with them were Kate's step-daughter Princess Elizabeth aged 14 and Lady Jane Grey aged 10. Catherine's narration as a fly on the wall and also as a very close friend of Kate is so well imagined. Cathy is now a widow and visits Kate very often, especially after she becomes pregnant, but her presence at Sudeley was far more complicated than just a visiting friend. She was privy to, and part of many clandestine goings-on, leading to many recriminations and guilt.

I really enjoy novels that are part historical fact and part fiction so long as the author makes it clear where fact end and fantasy begins. Suzannah Dunn does this quite clearly. It was fun to read the intimate events in a Tudor home and to hear that they were far from perfect ladies and gentlemen.

[Barb · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the fourth novel about Katherine Parr that I've tried to enjoy. The other three I didn't even finish so I guess that could be considered something positive about this book. It was an easy read.

Unfortunately I found the Epilogue to be far more interesting than the book. I wanted to learn about the life of Katherine Parr and I don't feel like I know anymore about her than before finishing this novel. The story that Suzannah Dunn wrote could be about anyone.

****SPOILERS AHEAD****
The focus of the story is Katherine Parr's best friend Catherine Brandon's adulterous affair with Parr's husband Thomas Seymour. Mind you this affair is completely fictionalized by the author and there were never rumors about the two at the time of Parr and Seymour's marriage. Dunn states the relationship is of her own imagining. What I don't understand is why the author didn't focus on the relationship between Elizabeth Tudor and Thomas Seymour. I think that would have made more sense given that their relationship was supposed to have really happened.
****END SPOILERS****

I also didn't care for the contemporary narration and dialog. It really took some getting used to. It felt completely disconnected from the history of the story and I had a difficult time reconciling the two things in my mind. I also didn't care for the characterizations of these historical figures, especially Catherine Brandon. I didn't find her actions believable.

I have also tried to read the following books about Katherine Parr; The Ivy Crown by Mary Luke, The King's Pleasure by Norah Lofts, The Last Wife of Henry VIII by Carolly Erickson. All without success. There seems to be two extremes, they are either very, very, dry or simple and melodramatic. If anyone can recommend a novel about Katherine Parr that doesn't fall into either category I'd appreciate it. Plaidy counts as very, very, dry in my book.

[Dawn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Where to begin?

The 1st part of the book was like watching a train wreck--I couldn't look away; about halfway through, it began to drag.

I read the author's notes about her use of modern language/mindsets and how she didn't want to actually write historical fiction. Well, when you write about characters living in the 1540s, then you are generally considered to be writing historical fiction. The language was so modern that my husband picked it up and began reading aloud, but threw in a modern reference (iPhone, etc) every so often and it fit smoothly. I almost quite literally threw the book across the room when I read this sentence: "But Kate was friends with everyone and, anyway, she and Mary [I] had been at school together" (p16). Now Mary may have shared her tutors with other girls, but it would not have been referred to as "going to school together." There's stuff about Katherine's marriages and independent women that also don't strike the right note, either.

Use of names and nicknames falls into the language category. Ed, Eddie, Cathy, Ted (and not for Theodore, but for Edward)--none of them seem right for the time, and honestly, calling Edward VI "Eddie"? headdesk And the maids: Bella, Marcella, Frankie?

This is YMMV, but I was rather put off by the fact that the narrator was never properly named throughout the book (I knew it was the Dowager Duchess of Suffolk because I read the back of the book), but rather dropped hints about her mother Maria de Salinas, her late husband Charles and later how he was King Henry's brother-in-law; somewhere in there she did say something about Brandons and much later the Suffolks. All right, there is a mention earlier, but it sounds as though she was both Duchess of Suffolk and Duchess of Norfolk, so I missed it.

Dunn says she did plenty of research and was scrupulous about the details, but I'm not so sure. There's a lot I plan on double checking--for example, I thought Katherine's sister was there when she gave birth. I don't honestly know exactly when Katherine and Thomas went to Sudeley, but I was under the impression that Elizabeth was never there. And I do want to look up the stuff about Katherine's brother's marital woes.

And lastly, p241. The last page of the chapter that made Cathy a world-class b**** (and I don't use that language normally). What sort of person, having an affair with her best friend's husband, suggests to the wife that it's really the underage stepdaughter he's kissing and then bullies and blackmails him into agreeing to admit to that? "If you don't [tell her it was Elizabeth], I'll tell her it was me, and it was no one-off." My term stands. Especially with all this squirming around, some of it ostensibly to protect her own son who was falling in love with Elizabeth (treason to meddle with the heiresses to the throne at the time), she's trying to darken the reputation of a 15 year old young woman, a princess of the realm (technically), which ultimately contributed to the husband's execution. It's all very nasty. Interesting theory, especially regarding her son, but still very nasty.

My primary assessment is that books like this and those of Philippa Gregory are probably not best read by those who have more than a passing familiarity with the period and care about the details.

[Kelly · Rating 1 out of 5]

The title of this book and the byline which reads: "She survived Henry VIII to be betrayed by love" is very misleading. Anyone, myself included, would have expected this book to be about Katherine Parr, the Sixth Wife of Henry VIII. Katherine had a supporting role to say the least. The book is a first person narrative by her best friend Catherine Brandon, widow of Charles Brandon, the Duke of Suffolk. I had forgiven the author for the misleading title as all aspects of the Tudor reign interest me. However this book was awful.

The narrator Catherine Brandon is very unlikable and even the author admits to her ambivalence of her in the question/answer in the back of the book. So why she chose to write her first person is beyond me. Catherine came off as self-righteous, self-absorbed, selfish and cold. So when you are writing of such a person in first first person it makes for a horrible read.

The author also prides herself for not using "tudorspeak" but calling Catherine Brandon "Cathy" and Edward Seymour "Ed" along with all the other written words she chose for this time period just came off as sounding ridiculous instead of original as the author wanted it to be.

I wanted to quit this book so many times but I also didn't want to be a quitter. The only thing that kept me going was her brief references to Edward Seymour, one of the most interesting men of the Tudor times.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Account by Catherine Brandon (wife of Henry VIII’s best friend Charles) and friend of Elizabeth Parr, of Catherine Parr’s marriage to Thomas Seymour.

The book is very deliberately written with 21st century dialogue and names (Tom, Kate, Kathy, Ed), something the author considers as akin to translation – unfortunately this simply doesn’t work and the reader is left with a bizarre and jarring mix of dialogue and setting and with simply no insight at all into the characters.

The key plot of the book is a mix of testified historic fact (Catherine’s apparent fury at Thomas on her death bed and banishing of Elizabeth), historic supposition (a possible failed pregnancy for Elizabeth during her banishment) and deliberate invention (Thomas and Catherine B have an affair and Elizabeth and Catherine’s son a treasonous liaison – Catherine B resolves both issues by letting Catherine P believe Thomas and Elizabeth are behaving inappropriately).

[Maria Lavrador · Rating 4 out of 5]

Um livro baseado em personagens reais e históricas mas no qual a imaginação da autora dita o enredo da prosa. Gostei e apenas tenho a apontar a linguagem muito familiar entre as diversas personagens, o que não era usual no tempo de reis e rainhas

[J8J8 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Já há muito tempo que andava atrás deste livro. A razão para eu já andar há muito tempo a tentar encontrar e ler este livro estava relacionada com o tema que este aborda, a última rainha de Henrique VIII. Foi então com alguma curiosidade que parti para a sua leitura. Contudo, fiquei completamente desiludida.

Estava à espera dum romance histórico, dum livro com a qual conseguisse aprender algo sobre esta rainha, sobre a grande mulher que conseguiu impor respeito a um homem que pouco sabia sobre este assunto. No entanto, fiquei completamente decepcionada dado A sexta mulher não ser propriamente um romance histórico mas sim um romance de época. Um romance com pouca ou nenhuma emoção. Para além do contexto histórico e do enredo ser um fracasso, nenhuma das personagens foi propriamente cativante, com pessoas historicamente tão interessantes, com pontos de vista diferentes e papeis fundamentais na política e em particular na religião. este livro focou-se num romance inventado e algo forçado pela autora. Com tantos ângulos e perspetivas que a autora poderia pegado, foi uma pena pois se tivesse sido trabalhado, teria sido um livro bastante promissor. Pareceu, sinceramente, um dos primeiros rascunhos duma história. Foi pena. Foi uma história sem pitada de sal, um livro que infelizmente cairá no esquecimento.

[Natasa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was very disappointed by this book - by both the author's writing style and the premise of the story. Not enough historical truth or even plausibility for a true lover of historical fiction.

[Nikki · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book so much more than I did. The premise is difficult if not impossible to swallow. The author offers an interesting explanation of the Thomas Seymour/Princess Elizabeth scandal. I liked the protrayal of Katherine Parr. If you can only read one book by this author read Queen of Subtelties. I read this book second. I found the author used a very similar voice.

[Tita · Rating 2 out of 5]

Já não é segredo que adoro romances históricos e um dos meus períodos preferidos é o Tudor.
Katherine Parr foi a sexta e última mulher de Henrique VIII, a única que lhe sobreviveu. E, confesso, pelo título achei que iríamos acompanhar parte do seu casamento com o rei, no entanto, acompanhamos Katherine já como rainha viúva e já casada com Thomas Seymour, sendo que a história é narrada por Catherine, duquesa de Suffolk, e a melhor amiga de Katherine.
O livro ficou aquém do que esperava. Até achei interessante focar-se no período após a morte de Henrique VIII e vermos Katherine já após se ter casado por amor, no entanto, desiludiu-me o rumo que a autor decidiu para Catherine, duquesa de Suffolk. Pelo que sei, foi uma mulher muito à frente do seu tempo, tal como Katherine, mas neste livro achei-a muito superficial e, também não gostei da traição cometida.

Vejam a minha opinião mais detalhada em vídeo, AQUI.

[Brooklyn Tayla · Rating 2 out of 5]

This started really promising but turned flat. Full review to come.

[Aneca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a gripping novel of love, passion, betrayal and heartbreak. Katharine Parr survived Henry VIII to find true love with Thomas Seymour - only to realise that her love was based on a lie. Clever, sensible and well-liked, Katharine Parr trod a knife edge of diplomacy and risk during her marriage to an ageing, cantankerous King Henry. When he died, she was in her late thirties and love, it seemed, had passed her by. Until, that is, the popular Thomas Seymour - bold, handsome, witty and irresistible - began a relentless courtship that won her heart. Katharine fell passionately in love for the first time in her life and, also for the first time, threw caution to the wind with a marriage that shocked the worldly courtiers around her. But, all too soon it becomes obvious that Thomas has plans beyond his marriage for the young, capricious, quick-witted heir to the throne - Elizabeth - and that in his quest for power, he might even be prepared to betray his now pregnant wife! Katharine Parr's ecstasy and tragedy are witnessed and recounted by her closest friend, Catherine, Duchess of Suffolk, who lives through the tumultuous years after Henry's death at Katherine's side. A polished courtier in her own right, Catherine is sharply aware of the political realities of life at court and is, apparently, a loyal supporter of her friend. As her story weaves its way through that of Katherine and Thomas's heady passion and tragic denouement, however, it gradually becomes clear that Catherine has her own tale of betrayal and regret to tell!
I have recently been reading lots of Tudor history and this is another one this time focusing on Henry VIII’s last queen, Katherine Parr.

The book tells of Katherine story after the king dies and she is left free to marry Thomas Seymour. What I knew about her was that she had been, previous to her royal marriage, close to Seymour and that they had planned to marry. When they do marry it seems that Katherine may finally have her happy ending after having been married 3 times to older husbands. Unfortunately Thomas doesn’t prove to be a husband of substance and there are rumours of him being over familiar with Princess Elizabeth who was fourteen at the time and lived with them. Truth or not those rumours seem to have weighed Katherine down and made her last days unhappy ones.

Dunn provides us with a different story here using those same facts, or rumours that are known to have existed, and despite myself I found the story highly entertaining. I say despite myself because in the beginning I wasn’t too sure where she was leading me and whether I liked her narrator. The book is written in the first person by Catherine, the Duchess of Suffolk, Maria de Salinas’ daughter and Katherine Parr’s best friend.

I think the use of first person worked beautifully in the story so as to provide us with a view of the period. We are privy to Cathy’s (the Duchess of Suffolk) thoughts, we get to know her feelings and her views on marriage, politics and children and we see Kate (Katherine Parr) through her eyes. Kate is a woman who lived her motto – To Be Useful In All I Do – and Cathy does feel that Kate’s friendship was an invaluable treasure when she was growing up and in need of guidance. Not only for Cathy, but for everyone else in need of help that came to her ,Kate is the person who always knows what to do to make everything right again. There’s no better proof of that than when she takes Jane Grey and Elizabeth under her wing bringing some joy to their young lives. Cathy distrusts Seymour and is unsure whether his marriage to Kate was of interest or love but Kate seems very happy and wants her best friend around to share her happiness so Cathy stays in Suddeley for a time.

The problem I had was that in the end I felt the book was more about Cathy, albeit in an assumed fictional situation, then about Kate. I don’t feel I know Kate better than I did before but I feel I know Cathy and the political problems and machinations of the time. I did like that Cathy had a determination and sharp mind but in the end she stays a person of her own time, trying to save herself and her children of scandal and not hesitating in blaming others so as to disguise her faults. I’m also not too keen on sexual scandals being the center of the plot and it seems that most of Tudor stories revolve around sex as much as about politics. But in a way it seems fitting that authors keep coming up with such plots seeing how Henry VIII kept accusing some of his wives of crimes of that nature while he kept quite a few mistresses on the side…

Dunn does mention in the end that the relationship she created here is a fictional one but frankly I don’t know what would have been worse. To have Kate dying and raving at Seymour because of Elizabeth, or because of Cathy. Both perspectives are painful and I feel Katherine Parr deserved better in her last days.

Grade: B-

[Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Setting: England 1547-1548

Henry VIII has just died leaving his sixth wife, Katherine Parr, a widow. Henry’s nine year old son, Edward, is now King of England. Katherine, commonly referred to as Kate by her closest friends, was known as the Protestant Queen of England. Kate was known to be intelligent, kind, and dignified.

Synopsis: Right after the death of Henry, Kate rushed into a secret elopement with one of her closest friends, Thomas Seymour. Catherine, the Duchess of Sulfolk has been Kate’s lifelong friend since childhood. Catherine felt hurt and betrayed that her dearest friend did not confide in her about marrying Thomas. Cathy did not trust Thomas. It was no hidden secret that Thomas once sought after the hand of the little Princess Elizabeth who is now his Stepdaughter.

She questioned his motives for marrying Kate. Was it for money, surely not for royalty or children? Kate has been barren all her life and she no longer was Queen of England, but instead the Dowager Queen of England. Kate seems happy now and so Catherine tries not to make a big deal about her sudden marriage to Thomas. So instead, she takes it upon herself to try and solve the mystery behind the mysterious Thomas Seymour. Soon Catherine feels herself trapped in a dark secret of her own. She’s now faced with her loyalty to her friend and the risk of losing everything she loves and holds dear to her heart.

Opinion: This book, I regretfully admit, was a disappointment through and through. I was looking forward to getting to know Katherine Parr and her struggles as the last wife of Henry VIII. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Instead, I got to know everything about Catherine, the Duchess of Suffolk and Thomas Seymour, but not so much Katherine.

Catherine was the narrator throughout the entire book, which was disappointing in itself. The book was dry and the characters weren’t well developed. Upon reading the first chapter, I was lost. I had no idea what was going on because it’s like I was reading from the end of the book instead of from the beginning. So this caused me to feel like there was a piece missing like I was completely out of the loop with the characters. I think if Katherine had been the narrator and there was a little more background to Katherine’s life in the beginning then I might have enjoyed it a little more.

So unfortunately, this was a disappointment I don’t really recommend it. I haven’t given up on Suzannah Dunn yet. I will definitely read another of her books when I come across one. To read more of my reviews and for HF news chack out my site: http://allthingshistoricalfiction.blo...

[Joana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gostei muito deste livro. A forma como é escrito e narrado é muito atractiva e o enredo é absolutamente cativante. Desta forma, conseguiu envolver-me desde as primeiras páginas, mantendo até ao fim uma pontinha de mistério.

Sendo um dos muitos livros que li sobre a época Tudor, gostei de rever personagens que conhecia de outros.

Um pormenor que me afradou imenso neste livro foi o facto de conter, no final, uma explicação da autora sobre o que é verdade e o que foi por ela inventado, o que é sempre proveitoso neste tipo de livros. Incluiu também uma entrevista á autora, que para mim foi de grande interesse.

Um dos pontos negativos deste livro é a fraca exploração do contexto histórico. As poucas referências ao contexto político do momento, ao pequeno rei, ao conselho de regência e à Reforma religiosa poderiam ter sido mais exploradas, de forma a constituírem um melhor pano de fundo à acção principal.

Um outro ponto negativo do livro é a pouca profundidade psicológica das personagens. Kate é descrita como impenetrável e pouco mais. Não consegui entender muito das suas emoções e sentimentos, excepto que estava apaixonada pelo actual marido. Fala-se nos do anterior casamento dela com Henrique VIII e do quanto este foi, naturalmente, difícil, mas não nos são mostradas as sensações que teve durante esse período, nem os seus pensamentos. Quanto a Thomas, seu marido, fiquei com a impressão de que é absolutamente ambicioso e não norteia os seus planos políticos por princípios morais. Não consegui perceber quem ele amava, se é que amava alguém, nem o que sentia pelas restantes personagens. Esta fraca profundidade aplica-se, na minha opinião, também a Cathy, de quem na sinopse do livro se diz que “é capaz de trair a melhor amiga por amor”. Tanto quanto percebi, Cathy traiu a sua melhor amiga apenas por sexo. Não consigo encontrar na sua relação com Thomas algo mais que sexo. Não sei se era essa a ideia da autora ou se isto deriva do pouco conhecimento da personalidade das personagens, mas foi essa a ideia com que fiquei.

No entanto, o livro não deixa de ser muito bom, já que o enredo é de tal maneira forte que supera estas faltas. Foi uma leitura fantástica sobre uma época que aprecio muito e tenho muita pena que não estejam publicados em português os restantes livros de Suzannah Dunn, nomeadamente sobre Ana Bolena e Maria Tudor, que eu leria certamente.

[Mills · Rating 3 out of 5]

In all honesty, I was planning on giving The Sixth Wife a negative review, but I've had a rethink. You see, for all my dislike of the protagonist and the terrible way she betrayed her best friend, I realised that I actually enjoyed the read. Interestingly enough, Dunn explained in the interview at the end that she didn't like Cathy much either, so I guess the feeling's mutual!

The Sixth Wife is written in first person (that of Catherine of Suffolk, not Katherine Parr - the description is a little unclear) in a rather modern style - especially in regards to speech. Although this makes it much more accessible to readers who aren't necessarily used to the sometimes stilted feeling writing of some historical fiction, I wasn't entirely sure what to make of it as it felt somewhat... inauthentic. But Dunn gives her own perspective on this in the interview - she considers it likely that speech would not have been as formal as it is often portrayed and points out that even now, where plenty of novels contain slang, contractions, abbreviations etc, speech is translated rather than transcribed onto the page. Her aim, therefore, was to make conversations more realistic and bearing that in mind - I think it actually worked rather well.

Just as a warning before I finish, those of you who like your historical fiction to stand up to historical scrutiny might want to avoid this one. The minor details as far as I can tell were perfectly consistent with my own knowledge of the time, but the main focus of the plot is around an affair which there is no evidence ever happened. A lot of historical fiction is of course supposition, fleshing out the bare bones, but this is a fairly significant change so bear that in mind.

[Francis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recently I discovered a copy of The Sixth Wife by Suzannah Dunn in a little free library near my house. Since historical fiction novels about the time of Henry VIII are some of my favourites, I was very excited about this find.

The story is supposed to be about Katherine Parr, Henry's sixth and final wife. However, even though the novel was named after her, it's actually the story of the Duchess of Suffolk, Cathy. She tells us her memories of Katherine Parr from the moment of Henry's death until Katherine's own death. Because of this set up the story was told in a very distant way. I couldn't relate to Katherine Parr because her thoughts and feelings were never described. Additionally I couldn't relate to Cathy either because there was barely anything you learned about her. I didn't even know who the storyteller was until I was more than 50 pages into the book. Confusing, and I didn't even know what to Google to try and clear it up for myself.

On the other hand, I did really like reading about Henry's final wife. I didn't know too much about her, because most novels that are set in this time focus on Catharine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn. I never knew that Katherine Parr was such an educated, calm and kind woman. I just really wanted her to have a happy ending even though I did know her fate beforehand (divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived).

[Peggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading the first 50 pages I was a little bored and not sure if I wanted to finish. I have recently become interested in the Tudor era so I decided to continue on as the book is an easy read. I became very interested as I began to turn the pages. I wasn't sure if I needed to know about the explicit sexual encounters but I continued on. I was hoping to learn more about Kate's life after Henry's death but I found this book to be more intuned to Thomas Seymour and his exploits. The story has whet my appetite to pursue more books to read of this era. However when I read the Epilogue I was so surprised to learn that this was mostly a figment of the author's imagination. I have not read enough other books to compare the historical value of the story. I guess I am comparing the writing to John Jakes historical fiction where he chooses fictional characters set in an historical era. Suzanne Dunn chose an existing historical person and spun a fictional yarn about her. Interesting reading and well written.

[Dayna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this because I've liked some of the Phillippa Gregory book's around Henry VIII, but this had none of the elements I like about those books. If it wasn't a quick read, I would probably not have finished it. There actually are some interesting historical events that I didn't know about, I didn't know that Elizabeth and Jane Grey had gone to live with Katherine Parr and I didn't know that she remarried after Henry and had a baby. I didn't know all of the intrigue around Thomas Seymour. But the story telling is so melodramatic and obviously fictional - this seriously barely qualifies as historical fiction. I like more period detail and this is more about an imaginary affair. I think the only interesting part is how the author teased this story out of historical fact. I guess I admire someone who can spin a tall tale out of perhaps a couple of lines in a history book.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, I thought I would like this book prior to reading it, as it involves many things I am interested in. Alas, I really felt this book felt short. I really had no compassion or like of the narrator and found her to be a very obnoxious, self-centred person. I also found the writing style to be rather odd, it was almost... choppy. I really did want to like this book, but I found myself wanting the main character to be called out on her selfish actions, as she seemed to think she was still deserving of the trust and kindness of her best friend. Overall, I finished it quickly so I could just get it over with...

[Pamela · Rating 2 out of 5]

This turned out to be a novel that just happens to use Katherine Parr, Thomas Seymour, and Catherine, Duchess of Suffolk, as major characters. It concerns a romantic encounter which is purely fiction. The places are correct, the people are correct, but the plot is not. It is an interesting look at Thomas Seymour, however. It does not add anything to one's knowledge of history, and it is a bit slow at times...easy beach read, nothing to write home about.

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

More like a 2.5 bcs it feels like too much context is left out in favor of imagined domestic, romantic, and sexual detail that feels like soap opera filler. If there was ever a cast of real world characters who don't need that touch up to create a sense of dramatic arc or intrigue to support a page turning work of historic fiction this might be them ?

[Ginnie Leiner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating look at the last years of the life of Catherine Parr, sixth wife of Henry VIII. Enjoyed it very much

[Lil's Vintage World · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was really hoping to enjoy this book but; with the use of modern language and the fictionalised affair between Thomas and Cathy, this book turned out to be a massive disappointment.

[Book-Social · Rating 3 out of 5]

January 11, 2019
What is it about historical fiction that's just so addictive?

You already know the ending (and if it's anything to do with the Tudors then, lets face it, it's not going to go well.) You already know the pages will contain lust filled, powerful men, Court intrigue and treachery and women at the mercy of a good marriage. Even though I know all of this I still find myself sucked in and in true 'non named crisp stylie' once I have read one page, I can't stop until I've read them all.

The Sixth Wife is all about Henry VIII sixth and last wife, Katherine Parr. Henry is dead, Katherine (Kate) is finally free and celebrates by remarrying at the first opportunity Thomas Seymour, the brother of Henry's third wife and Uncle to the new King. Who needs Channel 5 when you have Tudors!

I have read endlessly about Henry, his wives and his children and this didn't break the mould. Told from the perspective of Kate's best friend the Duchess of Sussex - Cathy (her love life was even more complicated, don't ask!) As usual, I instantaneously became addicted becoming monosyllabic to my family and squirrelling myself away to squeeze in 'a few more pages' until I was called upon to tie a shoelace or referee the latest fall out.

I kind of feel like I shouldn't like reading this particular strand of historical fiction, all full of women reduced to embroidering their husband's shirt sleeves. But I always enjoy this genre. And that is, after all, how we once were. I do get a bit fed up sometimes when it always seems to boil down to sex. It was intriguing to find out that Dunn followed Kate's story quite faithfully with the one addition of Thomas and Cathy's supposed affair. Why add sex? Why is it not a fascinating story as it is? There was the intrigue with Elizabeth, the makings of Jane Grey and even Bess Cavendish (one of my favourite historical figures) made an appearance. So why did it have to largely be about an affair. That said it didn't make me dislike it any less than other books featuring a wife of Henry VIII.

I liked Dunn's comments in the information included at the back of the book about the style of language she used, choosing to write in a modern style rather than Olde English. Yes, we may have spoken differently back then but to faithfully replicate it doesn't necessarily add to the story and can alienate the reader at times.

I did enjoy it, the book included so many powerful characters that all went on to lead such fascinating lives that it couldn't not be interesting to read. If you are fans of the genre but wanting something where Henry VIII isn't central, it's a good bet.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a book about passion, friendship and betrayal. There was guilt and grief and all those wonderfully deep and stormy emotions that should have made this novel impactful. Unfortunately, there was a distinct lack of emotion and I felt that this was the ultimate downfall for 'The Sixth Wife'.

I wanted to feel the genuine reliance and friendship between Cathy and Kate. I wanted to feel the weight of Cathy's guilt as she took up with Thomas, to feel the depth of grief at Kate's passing.
More so, I wanted to feel the passion between Cathy and Thomas so that their affair was somehow 'justified' or worth the risk. But none of these emotions were captured. Cathy remained aloof and detached throughout the book, and I never once felt her emotions through her narrative. I wanted to feel Cathy's attraction to Thomas, I wanted to know why she felt that he was worth the risk.
I wanted her to feel hopeful after Kate's passing that he would offer for her, to feel the second wave of grief as she had to watch him be arrested and to give evidence that may have killed him.
Instead, I didn't feel that Cathy even liked Thomas, and so I couldn't really support them
There were any number of times that Cathy or Thomas said 'I love Kate' but I never felt that or was shown that throughout the book. In fact, the voiceless Kate was the one who showed her affection more avidly, a touch of her hand here and a smile of affection there…

The plot was rather simple, and covered only a short space of time, and so there needed to be another level to maintain interest, the emotional bonds being the most obvious. As such, the book felt quite slow paced and just… lacking.

The writing style was also a bit of a struggle for me, and I found that the sentence structures were difficult to read, interrupting the fluidity of the story telling. There was one section that I can't remember exactly now, but it was written like:

"They were gazing up at the stars. They were on their backs. On the ground."

So fragmented and blunt! Why did a descriptive sentence such as this need to be in three or four parts?

Overall, I'm going to say that this wasn't the worst novel that I've ever read, though I felt like it missed a trick with the emotional elements. It felt authentic to the time, and there was a great level of detail and scene setting that I enjoyed. I actually rather liked the plot and the supporting characters and subplots that eventually fed into the main to create a more tense ending, but it did just lack for me.

[Rohase Piercy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second of Suzannah Dunn's Tudor novels, but as I've read them in the wrong order I've come upon it last. It doesn't disappoint, though it's not my favourite (the two best for me are The May Bride and The Queen's Sorrow). I'd assumed from the title that this was going to be the story of Katherine Parr's marriage to Henry VIII, but interestingly it deals instead with her widowhood and subsequent hasty marriage to Thomas Seymour, as seen through the eyes of her good friend Catherine, Duchess of Suffolk. It's a very moving, very human story of love, loss and betrayal - the characters of Kate Parr and Catherine Suffolk were vividly portrayed, and what I hadn't realised is that the early Reformation was a time when (admittedly privileged, educated) women were making their voices and opinions heard in a way that was unheard of a mere generation before. Princess (later Queen) Elizabeth makes her presence felt of course - she was Katherine Parr's stepdaughter after all - and a very spikey presence it is. Thomas Seymour I'd already met in 'The May Bride', and his character at forty holds very true to his character as a teenager, as portrayed by Dunn. The attention to period detail is meticulous, and for me it's enhanced rather than compromised by Dunn's device of eschewing all attempt at Tudor speech patterns and having her characters speak in modern language. It allows us to engage with the characters in their historical context much more directly, I think. I also love Dunn's luscious descriptions of sensual experience - the taste of a gooseberry, the feel of a baby's head and neck, the smell of juniper burning in a fireplace, the sight of a gorgeously coloured gown. All in all I'd say that although it wasn't exactly a page turner, it slowly but surely drew me in and as with all good reads I was sorry to come to the end.

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book out of the Little Free Library box in town. It was reasonably well-written and fairly engaging, but the narrator is curiously dispassionate. I also don’t really buy the “betrayal” angle and how it was contrived—it doesn’t feel believable in terms of Catherine’s character/history coupled with the shadiness of Thomas. So, the “romance” if you will, leaves me cold! Also, I am not familiar enough with the history of the British monarchy, I guess, and the Tudor era, to really *care* very much about any of the people in the book—I don’t have enough prior back story to really make it matter to me what they are doing puttering around in their mansion betraying one another. (That’s my own fault, I suppose, but I had the feeling that were supposed to be thinking as we read—“finally! These historical figures are brought to life in this believable way and we can finally gain inside into their motives and their lives!” But instead I felt like, “who the heck are these people and why should I care about them at all?” and the primary story/drama of the book IS the one that is fictionalized/not based in historical fact, so that doesn’t give you the “fleshed out” sensation of understand the people either. It still kept me turning the pages and also with a vague sensation that I should brush up on Tudor history!)

[Lexi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interestingly written take on a Tudor woman who never shows up in fiction since she had nothing to do with Anne Boleyn. The author deliberately wrote a style that I wouldn't really call "modern" but it wasn't all "prithee, wouldst thou" - Ms. Dunn explains that we only have letters and documents, so we don't know people actually spoke that way (after all, in modern times we typically don't speak the way we write formal documents). This made the book refreshing and easy to follow.

The story itself interesting - Catherine Parr (the titular sixth wife) is a secondary character despite being the titular character, the focus is on her historical best friend, also named Catherine (called Cathy in the book). She grapples with disapproving of Catherine's choice in a fourth husband and her own complicated feelings in regards to him, before the historic downfall of many of the top players of the court from the end of Henry VIII's reign.

This is of course historical FICTION so there are some plot lines for which there is no historic concrete evidence, including one that ends up being ambiguous - since we don't see anything from Elizabeth's perspective, well...

The book was very interesting and a good read, although I did find the very beginning a little slow. Once I got into it I was reading 3 or 4 chapters a night. Great book!

[Leah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many reviewers have noted that this book is narrated by (and really mostly about) Catherine, Duchess of Suffolk, not Katherine Parr, so I won't belabor that particular point. I will say that while I understand the difference between history and historical fiction, and I love historical fiction for the way it can creatively fill in some of the "blanks" in the historical record, in the end I couldn't really buy into the main plotline of this book. That's just me--and I wasn't there, of course. Other readers can decide for themselves what they think really went down at Sudley during Katherine Parr's final months; there are lots of possibilities, and Suzannah Dunn's The Sixth Wife tells one possible version of the story.

2021 Reading Challenge Category: The book that has been on your TBR list for the longest amount of time (Since summer 2012!)