The Unfaithful Queen
by Carolly Erickson
Reviewed by Coral
Though a member of the powerful Howard family, Catherine Howard is one of their poorer relations, as her father always find himself in debt. Sent to live with her grandmother Agnes, who runs a kind of boarding house for all the unmarried young women of the Howard family, Catherine dreams of finding a way out. She hopes to be named to service of whoever will be King Henry VIII’s next queen, not expecting to catch his eye herself.
Although Catherine loves another, Thomas Culpeper, an usher to the king, she has little choice but to marry the King. With court intrigue surrounding her, Catherine’s past may doom her to the same fate as her cousin, Anne Boleyn.
I had a hard time with this story, as it seemed to leave a lot of details out (although I am not an expert on the Tudor era). I found this book to be quite boring. I felt that there wasn’t really a lot that happened in the story. There was too much time spent on Camden and his cousins training and, for me, not enough time spent on the actual conspiracy. I guess because the story set Catherine and Thomas up as a doomed romance, the author didn’t want to bring up the rape charge that was brought against him. Having only the portrayals I saw in The Tudors as a basis, I found the author's characterizations in this book a bit jarring. I know historically Catherine trusted Lady Jane Rochford with the knowledge of her affair with Thomas Culpeper, but I don’t understand why she does in the book. One second she is thinking about how much she dislikes her and the next Jane is with her while she and Thomas are having a secret meeting. Also considering all of the political intrigue surrounding her, you would think that Catherine would know better than to take into her employ a person recommended to her by someone who doesn’t like her. Of course he’s going to be a spy! I found it odd (again not knowing a lot about the history maybe I’m wrong about this) that Henry’s daughter Mary and Charles Brandon were both completely missing from the book. I did like reading a different take on Catherine Howard, as her character here was definitely a lot different than her character in The Tudors. Her whole situation is sad and tragic, even if the book wasn’t the best. Grade: D
