An original Book Nook review of the novel Fatal Throne: The Wives of King Henry VIII Tell All written by M.T. Anderson, Jennifer Donnelly, Candace Fleming, Stephanie Hemphill, Deborah Hopkinson, Linda Sue Park, and Lisa Ann Sandell and reviewed by Annelise.
Fatal Throne: The Wives of King Henry VIII Tell All is a historical fiction novel written by a myriad of well-known YA authors, including M.T. Anderson, Jennifer Donnelly, Candace Fleming, Stephanie Hemphill, Deborah Hopkinson, Linda Sue Park, and Lisa Ann Sandell, being published on May 1, 2018.
"By changing a life, just one life, you CAN change the world. It is the only way anyone ever has."
- Anna of Cleves, section by Jennifer Donnelly
Fatal Throne provides six individual vignettes from the first-person viewpoint of each of King Henry VIII's doomed queens as they fall prey to divorce, beheading, and sickness in Henry's quest to have a male heir inherit the throne of England. The accounts from the queens are interspersed with first-person thoughts and recollections of King Henry himself (M.T. Anderson).
Age Recommendation: 12+
Sexual Content: Mildly-intense
(there are many kissing scenes, mentionings of sex/incest/adultery, mentionings of "finishing" and of a man "being inside" a woman in the Catherine Howard section, implied sex scenes that are not at all explicit, and one pretty explicit sex scene in the Catherine Howard section between a teenager and older man)
Profanity: Minimal
(the profanity mostly relates to cheating, like w**re and b**ch)
Violence/Gore: Mild
(mentionings of beheadings, medieval torture, and some birth scenes with blood as well as descriptions of pain from sicknesses)
Representation: None
(there are only characters who are white and there is a lot of misogyny from characters because of the ideals of the time)
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The following section is a short summary of the reigns of each Queen as well as their relationship to King Henry VIII, since the stories themselves are historical fiction they all have endings that may be known to some readers, but if you are the kind of person inclined to start a historical book that sounds interesting without knowing the events of what will happen, then there may be what could be considered spoilers ahead.
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Ex-Queen Catherine of Aragon, the devoted and devout, intelligent, and composed wife. She initially married King Arthur, Henry's brother, whose lungs gave out and who died early in the marriage before the chance for consummation. King Henry loved her because she represented loyalty and composure, the adulthood he so yearned for. Catherine was his first love but after too many failed attempts at birthing a male heir, he began to view her as an object that failed in her singular purpose. Thus, he discarded Catherine for mistresses and eventually Anne Boleyn, through an infamous divorce brought upon by conceived claims that God would not allow a happy marriage because she previously married Henry's brother and led to him forming the Church of England or Anglican Church.
Ex-Queen Anne Boleyn, the fiery, kind, and clever wife. King Henry loved her with a passion and admired her strong will and opinion, even separating England from the Catholic Church and severing an important alliance just to marry her. But, unfortunately, the Medieval Times frowned upon and admonished women who strayed from obedience, and Anne's fiery temper caused her to do many actions she is villainized for, despite her fervency towards helping the poor. So, King Henry devised various charges against her as he felt she undermined his authority and had failed to give him a male heir once again, including adultery and incest. Anne Boleyn successfully disputed all claims against her in court, only to be beheaded along with the men with whom she was accused of performing adultery.
Ex-Queen Jane Seymour, the sweet, loving, and demure wife. Jane was an exemplary woman of the Middle Ages whom King Henry loved deeply for her innocence and purity, especially after the overwhelming fire he shared with Anne Boleyn. She never strayed from her duties as a queen nor as a wife, even succeeding in bearing a male heir. Jane would likely have maintained Henry's love and devotion, as well as her position in court, had she not fallen ill and died prematurely after giving birth to a son.
Ex-Queen Anna of Cleves, the smart, proud, and independent wife. An early meeting between Anna and Henry involving a prank by a disguised King Henry led Anna to insult him and reveal the old, fat man he had become, thus leading their marriage to be doomed and never truly consummated even after six months of being married. Anna, despite not being pretty, did not love King Henry nor did he love her, so she was granted freedom through divorce and proclaimed his sister. In later years she perished contentedly of what is considered to be cancer.
Ex-Queen Catherine Howard, the energetic, youthful, and jovial wife. Henry admired Catherine's spirit and youth and she granted him a sense of his old self as well as satisfied him in sexual acts. But, eventually, King Henry's jousting injury to his knee became overstimulating and undeniably painful, while Catherine sought out true love and pleasure at the hands of Thomas Culpepper. Her affairs, both previous and current were brought to light, sentencing her to beheading.
Ex-Queen Catherine Parr, the wistful, patient, and attentive wife. She was forced into marriage at the behest of King Henry, having been widowed multiple times previous, but made a good companion in his final days, reading him stories and assisting him in prayer. Theirs was a quiet love, though as Catherine's self-confidence and support for issues such as religion and education increased, the male figures of court including King Henry began to doubt her intentions. She pled innocent and ignorant, emulating the beloved Queen Jane, and won the King's trust once more, maintaining it until his death. Afterwards, Catherine remarried to Thomas Seymour and bore a daughter, but later died of childbirth.
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RATINGS
Overall Story: ★★★★☆
(It is historical fiction, so the plotline is composed of all true events, but it is still unbelievable the things King Henry VIII was able to get away with)
Writing Style: ★★★★☆
(Since this novel is compiled writings of multiple authors, I will also be rating their writing individually, the above rating is an average)
Catherine of Aragon (Candace Fleming): ★★★★☆
Anne Boleyn (Stephanie Hemphill): ★★★☆☆
Jane Seymour (Lisa Ann Sandell): ★★★☆☆
Anna of Cleves (Jennifer Donnelly): ★★★★★
Catherine Howard (Linda Sue Park): ★★★★☆
Catherine Parr (Deborah Hopkinson): ★★★★☆
King Henry VIII (M.T. Anderson): ★★★★☆
Enjoyment: ★★★★☆
Main Characters: ★★★★☆
Side Characters: ★★★☆☆
OVERALL RATING: ★★★★☆
For me, the allure of this novel was the macabre reality of the tales of each of King Henry VIII's SIX wives. All met terrible fates at the hands of King Henry and none lived past fifty while Henry survived to fifty-five! Though nothing in the Middle Ages was particularly feministic nor was anything but demeaning to women, the fact that the stories of these women were overshadowed by the story of King Henry VIII's reign and were never truly told from their perspective was especially angering.
This novel does a wonderful job of humanizing the six queens, allowing their trials and triumph within the clandestine matters of the court and nobles to shine through, while Henry is merely an instigator and single aspect of their life. They had children and hopes and dreams and personalities that differed from the stereotypes they have been given and their stories and the way they have been written is gorgeous. Catherine of Aragon, the Battle Axe, Anne Boleyn, the Evil Mistress, Jane Seymour, the Perfect Wife, Anna of Cleves, the Ugly Frump, Catherine Howard, the Stupid Bubblehead, and Catherine Parr, the Stoic Matron.
Candace Fleming created a beautiful portrayal of Catherine of Aragon's desparation to give birth to a child and her immense love for her daughter, Mary, but it wasn't perfect and I would have liked to see some of what occurred after the divorce between her and Henry because it would have better bridged the perspectives of her story and Anne Boleyn's, though it's understandable that she didn't include this due to the already longer length of her piece.
Stephanie Hemphill wrote a compelling piece on Anne Boleyn, but the order in which she presented the events within Anne Boleyn's life was a little hard to follow and fell somewhat flat for me. Her devotion to her daughter Elizabeth and her tempermental nature was evident in the story and she was additionally able to showcase Anne's confidence in herself as well as the acceptance she felt in dying. I do wish she had better developed Anne's character though, since there was a lot more she could have done to counteract some of the villainy surrounding Anne to present her more feministically.
Lisa Ann Sandell composed the story of Jane Seymour very well and did absolute justice to the character, but her story individually was not as engaging as the other wives, perhaps because Jane behaved ceaselessly good and pure and chaste, even though it was at the behest of her uncle, making for a less eventful narrative. Lisa took on the hardest story to write, in my opinion, and I was a little underwhelmed by Jane, but it was very appropriate and true to her queen.
Jennifer Donnelly did an absolutely wonderful job with Anna of Cleves. Having read many of her books, I have made note of the eerie fantasy and metaphor within her writing, including the presence of ghosts and entities such as Death that act as characters. She managed to stay true to her style of writing within the limitations of historical fiction, depicting Anna looking back on her marriage to King Henry VIII and being visited by ghosts of her past on her deathbed, encouraging her to make a final effort to change the life of another girl who was also judged for her lack of beauty, but had talents that reached beyond what met the eye. Donnelly explored themes of internal strength, impact, and the pains of a terminal illness within the narrative of Anna of Cleves, which was very accurate and insightful to the story. Anna was smart and independent and true to herself, which is exactly how I had envisioned her.
Linda Sue Park truly captured the youthful energy and joy that was ostentatious within Catherine Howard and deserves 4.75 stars, but I couldn't figure out how to showcase that. Everything about Catherine was light and, despite her inexperience in court, she managed to learn quickly and hold her head high, dissmissing previous notions of her absolute ignorance. There are a few sex scenes and it is a bit more explicit than the other wives, due to Catherine's inclination towards sexual pleasure. And the reason she chose to turn to another lover was because she yearned for passion and pleasure as King Henry was more difficut to service and therefore she recieved no real satisfaction in their interactions. The only thing I have qualms about is the ending of the section, when Catherine practices placing her head on the execution block, since I would have liked to see it end at the execution itself, but this may just be personal preference.
Deborah Hopkinson did a lovely story on Catherine Parr and was able to infuse the character with a quiet defiance and influence that was highly fitting. She gave great historical background to the character and her pacing of Queen Catherine's reign allowed the reader an idea of how Catherine grew to be a threat to the power of the King. She fought to survive by drawing inspiration from Jane, King Henry's favorite wife whom he referred to often, and pleaded innocent in a character arc that made total sense with her experience. It would've been nice to see a bit more of the influence being married previously had on her as she was the only one of the six who was married (that marriage being consummated and binding) previously to becoming queen, and I thought this fact aided in her escape and survival of Henry.
M.T. Anderson did some interesting commentary and guesswork for King Henry VII's thoughts and emotions and it was intriguing after every story from the queen to hear about his perceptions. It emphasized what a terrible person he was, but I also would have enjoyed more historical context about his reign.
The established overall rating for Fatal Throne: The Lives of King Henry VIII Tell All by M.T. Anderson, Jennifer Donnelly, Candace Fleming, Stephanie Hemphill, Deborah Hopkinson, Linda Sue Park, and Lisa Ann Sandell is 4 stars, and it would be recommended for you if you were into history (especially the Tudor era or the wives of King Henry specifically), feminism, or were a fan of one of the aforementionied authors. Ultimately, the novel provided lovely insight into the tragic stories and lives of these six English queens, though it could've included more historical context to make the story more cohesive. I enjoyed reading this book, and it is definitely worth a read. Bookmarks and projects related to this book can be found on our website, in our shop and on our blog. Check out the podcast or explore to find more on the Book Nook, comprehensive book reviews for all.
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