The Fifth Queen Series

by Ford Madox Ford

Now back in print, Ford's highly acclaimed portrait of Henry VIII's controversial fifth Queen

This masterful performance of historical fiction centers on Katharine Howard--clever, beautiful, and outspoken--who catches the jaded eye of Henry VIII and becomes his fifth Queen. Corruption and fear pervade the King's court, and the dimly lit corridors vibrate with the intrigues of unscrupulous courtiers hungry for power. Soon Katharine is locked in a vicious battle with Thomas Cromwell, the Lord Privy Seal, as she fights for political and religious change.

Ford saw the past as an integral part of the present experience and understanding, and his sharply etched vision of the court of Henry VIII--first published in 1908--echoes aspects of Edwardian England as it explores the pervading influence of power, lies, fear, and anxiety on people's lives.

Genres: Historical Fiction

592 pages, Paperback

First published February 21, 2013

About the author

Ford Madox Ford was an English novelist, poet, critic and editor whose journals The English Review and The Transatlantic Review were important in the development of early 20th-century English and American literature.

Ford is now remembered for his novels The Good Soldier (1915), the Parade's End tetralogy (1924–1928) and The Fifth Queen trilogy (1906–1908). The Good Soldier is frequently included among the great literature of the 20th century, including the Modern Library 100 Best Novels, The Observer′s "100 Greatest Novels of All Time", and The Guardian′s "1000 novels everyone must read".

Reviews

[David C Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very well written and suspenseful counterfactual historical novel in which Catherine Howard is a learned, devout and politically shrewd woman who is brought down because she threatens the Protestant revolution by turning Henry back to the Church. I don’t know enough about Ford’s beliefs to speculate why he made his Catherine the heroic opposite of the feckless historical Catherine. Also, Thomas Cromwell is the evil genius of 2/3s of the novel (he’s executed of course when Catherine becomes Queen) and I wonder if Mantel conceived her fictional trilogy as counterpoint to Ford’s.

[Kallie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read a lot of books about the Tudors, Henry VIII, the wives and their fates. No novel, including those of Hilary Mantel, so powerfully evokes the danger a young woman in Katharine Howard's position as does this one by FMF, a writer who understood how disadvantaged women were in the Tudor court (It might be more difficult for some men readers to appreciate how important this is to the entire story). All around Howard plots bubbled, and the authors of those plots pressured (and threatened) Howard to join them at every turn, on every side, until she proved too steadfast in her values and they plotted against and betrayed her. Ford beautifully presents an intelligent, lively, vulnerable young woman of near-martyr integrity, and the danger of proximity to Henry VIII and his more powerful courtiers. All this is written with little to none of the annoying anachronisms in language use, dialogue and projected thought that usually plagues contemporary historical novels, and I felt transported to a social environment both fascinating and dismaying. The language and detailed machinations were a bit of a slog, but well worth the time. I doubt that Howard actually got to lecture Henry VIII as in the book, but enjoyed that lecture as well-deserved on both accounts, and expressive of a character Ford clearly admired.