Mindy Withrow

Queen Katherine Parr, close to home

A couple weeks ago I mentioned that I was reading Suzannah Dunn’s The Sixth Wife, a novel of Katherine Parr, the only wife of Henry VIII who survived him.  I am not alone in my interest in the Tudors (as the popularity of the Showtime series attests), but the real impetus for reading this was a form of celebration/preparation.  You see, my historian husband wrote an introductory biography of this remarkable queen and I’m pleased to tell you that it’s now available!  Katherine Parr: A Guided Tour of the Life and Thought of a Reformation Queen by Brandon G. Withrow includes a scholarly (but easy to read) overview of her background, religious ideas (she was a key figure in the English Reformation and genesis of the Church of England, nearly losing her head in the process), and marital challenges (an understatement!); the complete texts of the two books she wrote (one of the few women in England who published during her century) plus selected letters; and a number of illustrations. 

History Lives readers know that Brandon and I featured Katherine in a chapter (and on the cover) of Courage and Conviction: Chronicles of the Reformation Church.  If you read that and wanted to know more, or if you’re specifically interested in Tudor history, the English Reformation, women’s history, etc., this is the book for you—in my completely biased opinion!  You can read more about it at Brandon’s website or Amazon or Westminster Bookstore; even Showtime is referencing it as a guide to Parr’s spiritual writings.  So there’s been a lot of Tudor Talk in our house lately.  If you decide to read it, I’d love to hear what you think.

And Dunn’s book?  Where other novels focus on Katherine’s life with Henry, Dunn chooses to tell the story of her subsequent marriage to Thomas Seymour.  The plot is fact-based and, where liberties are taken, plausible (unfortunately for Katherine); and the choice of narrator creative.  The historical accuracy, explicit sex, and literary quality defy easy genre labels.  It won’t appeal to everyone, and I wished more of Katherine’s deep-rooted religious convictions would have made it in.  But for that, you can now pick up Dr. Withrow’s book instead!

 

05. May 2009 by Mindy
Categories: News | 5 comments