Katherine of Aragon: The True Queen by Alison Weir Review

 Title: Katherine of Aragon: The True Queen

Author: Alison Weir

Age Group: Adult

Genre: Historical Fiction

Series: Six Tudor Queens, book one

Star Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

I was gifted a copy of this book and reviewed it.

I was gifted this book by a kind soul a few years ago, and since I’m trying to put a dent in my backlist, I chose this as one of my books to read. I’ve always been fascinated by the Tudors ever since I was a child and first studied history, so this was a really cool book to get reacquainted with that! I’ve always cared more about Henry the 8th’s wives rather than Henry himself. Alison Weir is one of my favorite historical novelists, so I was very excited to read this! Truth be told, I didn’t know much about Katherine of Aragon before this novel, but after it, I feel like I knew her intimately. I really knew her as the wife set aside by an emotional, lustful man for the beguiling Anne Boleyn. But this book changed all that. Strong, resolute and steadfast, Katherine has carved a permanent place in my heart!

Katherine of Aragon is known as Henry the 8th’s first wife, and the mother of his first daughter, the woman who would later become Mary Queen of Scots. The book begins with Catalina, later rechristened Katherine, sailing across the sea from Spain to England. This book spans through Katherine’s reign as queen, being set aside for Anne Boleyn later in the book, all the way to her death. This book follows her struggles to the throne, and her marriage to Henry, which later becomes tumultuous. This book, it taught me patience. I haven’t read historical fiction in a while, and I almost gave up, but I’m so glad that I stuck with it!  I only wish I had the next book in hand so I could continue, but alas, I must move on to the next book. The bottom line: Rich in detail and beautifully rendered, I loved The True Queen! Next on deck: Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Canas!