Books - The Taming of the Queen by Philippa Gregory

The Taming of the Queen by Philippa Gregory
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I read this book as part of a book series at my local library about the Reformation, and it focuses on Kateryn Parr, the sixth and final wife/Queen of King Henry VIII. While historical fiction, and thus includes the relevant actors of the period and some real life events, the book reads as pop fiction. This is to say it was an easy read, and at times enjoyable.

My primary complaint about the book, and why it ends up as 2 stars versus 3 for me, is that at times I felt some of the writing felt gratuitious. I kept waiting for the plot to move on, but it wouldn't. I kept waiting for my exploration of a character, but the development never really happened. In addition, after awhile I found myself growing tired of the lengthy descriptions of various things to hammer home the point that the King was disgusting - he ate enormous, gluttonous feasts that Gregory described in detaiil over and over again; he had a wound that leaked puss and blood and carried a stench that was described constantly; he was extremely overweight, leading to difficulty with certain activities that were described in a way to continue to make Henry disgusting.

I'm not suggesting that he is a sympathetic character; but it almost felt that his defining characteristic in the book was being a disgusting, foul-smelling glutton, not an evil man. In any event, after awhile, I grew tired of reading those sections, and I think that tainted the last third of the book for me. It's a quick read, and does provide some interesting thought experiments on early Reformation times, but overal I found it to be just an okay read.

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