One of my favorite spoof accounts
A couple of weeks ago there was a pub quiz round on the six wives of Henry VIII and it made me finally pick up this biography by Antonia Fraser, that was lingering on my shelves since time immemorial. Right from the start it reminded me of probably my favorite biography – The Brontës by Juliet Barker – in that it was chunky but read like The Hunger Games.
It’s always refreshing to read well-research biographies about women in history and even more refreshing that Fraser’s focus was not on King Henry and his perspective, but on his wives, their upbringing, their education, their tastes, and how they shaped their fate (as Fraser put it, none of them were married against their will). These women’s lives is worthy of a telenovela, so much so that many stereotypes about them became ingrained in the collective mind. Fraser is not exactly in the business of myth-busting (because, let’s face it, a lot of it is true), but at least she’s trying to give these women more depth:
It is seductive to regard the six wives of Henry VIII as a series of feminine stereotypes, women as tarot cards. Thus Catherine of Aragon becomes The Betrayed Wife, Anne Boleyn is The Temptress, Jane Seymour The Good Wife, Anna of Cleves is The Ugly Sister, Katherine Howard The Bad Girl; and finally Catherine Parr is The Mother Figure. (…) These are elements of truth, of course, in all of these evocative descriptions, yet each one of them ignores the complexity and variety in the individual character. In their different ways, and for different reasons, nearly all these women were victims, but they were not willing victims. On the contrary, a remarkably high level of strength, and also of intelligence, was displayed by them at a time when their sex traditionally possessed little of either.
Fraser did really well in remaining neutral without making the book boring. She always makes a point of using references (most from primary documents) and letting us know when she’s citing the POV of someone who was either not present or was biased (and how likely is it that they got it right). As much as possible she includes different perspectives of an event. Even with all these considerations, there’s enough intrigue, death and sex in these lives to make for a riveting read.
I thought it’d be easy to pick out the author’s favorite wife, but she remains very professional, and we only notice her personal voice when she allows herself a bit of sarcasm, usually at the expense of King Henry (all those masons hurriedly changing coat of arms; the French Kings receiving yet one more report of a new wife at the English Court).
Of all the details Fraser gives us, the ones I appreciated the most was knowing what the each of the wives was reading and how these books were both a cause and effect of their believes and personalities.
Have Fraser’s biography of Mary Queen of Scots in the TBR and will pick it up sooner rather than later, especially since I’m staring a re-read of the Lymond Chronicles. I know she’s written other books, so let me know if you have any recommendations.
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Other thoughts: Resolute Reader (yours?)
13 comments
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May 18, 2016 at 10:01 pm
brontespageturners
I love Fraser. I hate how she is not respected as a proper historian by the likes of Starkey and so on. Her Warrior Queens books are excellent. Bronte
May 19, 2016 at 11:00 am
Alex
UUuuUu – drama! I need to look up those feuds 😛
May 18, 2016 at 10:07 pm
Helen
I keep thinking I’ve read enough about Henry VIII and his wives, then I see a review like this which makes me want to read more! I’ve never read anything by Antonia Fraser but I’ve heard a lot of good things about her books. The Mary, Queen of Scots one should be useful while you’re re-reading Lymond!
May 19, 2016 at 11:01 am
Alex
I know exactly what you mean (books & TV.documentaries), but this was felt very fresh and I highly recommend it.
May 19, 2016 at 3:18 am
Jenny @ Reading the End
You came away with absolutely no sense of which wife was her favorite? But now I am so curious!! Also, did you read that Toast piece about Catherine Howard and what a dummy she was? I will link it for you just to be on the safe side. :p
http://the-toast.net/2015/11/11/unsolicited-advice-for-the-six-wives-of-henry-viii-working-within-their-social-parameters-and-not-suggesting-they-just-invent-feminism-because-thats-anachronistic/
May 19, 2016 at 11:04 am
Alex
Confession: before reading this book I also saw Catherine Howard as the dummy. Now I see her more as naive and misguided. She showed true courage at the end.
I’m even hard-pressed to chose one myself. I had a weak spot for Anne of Cleves, but now it might be Catherine of Aragon (old age kicking in?) or Anne Boleyn… or Catherine Parr.
May 19, 2016 at 12:51 pm
sakura
I used to read a lot of historical fiction, especially about Elizabeth I, by Jean Plaidy but never tried Antonia Fraser (though I’ve obviously heard of her). Henry VIII’s six wives are endlessly fascinating. Her book on Boadicea looks very interesting too. On a side note, I’ve been meaning to read Dorothy Dunnett forever but have never gotten round to it. I should, right? And funnily enough, I’m also reading both Akunin and Stiefvater at the moment too, although different books in the series!
June 7, 2016 at 2:46 pm
Alex
Just added her book about Boadicea to the wish list. Isn’t it a great coincidence that we’re both reading these two authors? I don’t know anyone else in book blogging that actually reads Akunin! Dunnett is my favorite author, but I’m always afraid to recommend her – she puts up a fight!
May 24, 2016 at 8:58 pm
Athira
I’m not big on King Henry but I do love the stories of his wives. I have to check this one out – I love the kind of research Fraser has done here.
May 30, 2016 at 12:30 pm
Alex
I also know all I needed to know about Henry VIII between Philippa Gregory, Hilary Mantel and several others. The wives on the other hand, are still fascinating.
May 25, 2016 at 1:43 pm
Charlie (The Worm Hole)
I meant to read this years ago, but mistook Alison Weir’s version for it when actually going to buy (loved Weir’s book anyway). It’s still on my list, because I liked her biography of Marie Antoinette. I like what you’ve said about her discussing bias, it’s always good to have the extra information there, and the sarcasm sounds funny.
May 30, 2016 at 12:29 pm
Alex
I had also added Weir version to my TBR list by mistake and it took me a while to realize my mistake. I think there was a change of name meanwhile to prevent this!
January 22, 2017 at 5:01 pm
amandamarlin
I really loved Fraser’s Marie Antoinette bio. It made me feel sympathetic towards a queen who I’d previously put in the “what a waste of oxygen” category. Also loved the Sofia Coppola adaptation – especially the shoe shopping scene complete with Converse.