Charlie Fenton’s Reviews > Katharine Parr: The Sixth Wife > Status Update

‘“If I equal the deeds of my father, men can ask no more,” the child recited. Katharine could have wept for him, remembering the carefree days of her own childhood at Rye House, something he would never know. What a burden to place on his young shoulders. Could learning to emulate his father not wait until he was a little older?’

‘He had beheaded two wives, divorced two others and lost one in childbed - not to mention all the suffering that had been inflicted on those five unfortunate souls. Maybe some had deserved what they got, but Katharine had learned enough of court politics now to know that there were factions poised to bring down a queen they disapproved of and shove another in her place.’

‘She burned with hatred for them and for the faith they were defending. Would Christ condone their threatening behaviour, their refusal to understand that His way was not violence? This rebellion was meant to be a peaceful protest, but, so far, it had looked anything but. More and more, she was beginning to see the light. Religion must be reformed. Why defend an old order that was rotten to the core?’

‘When he’d visited them two nights ago, Will had said that, when the ambitious Seymour family had united with Cromwell and others to bring Anne down, Jane had been involved in the conspiracy. How deeply involved no one could say. It had made Katharine wonder what lay behind the new Queen’s quiet exterior. Perhaps she was playing a long game. She must care about the religion she was reputed to hold dear.’

‘She, being a woman, was unlikely to be asked to take the oath, yet she would do so if required. She had heard too much about the Church needing reform to accept in tenets unquestioningly, as she had in childhood and youth. She found herself astride the fence, as it were, unable to shake off the faith Mother had instilled in her, yet fascinated by new ideas she was hearing at every turn.’

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