Customer Reviews

The King's Rose

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Born into the ambitious Howard family, Catherine has never had much control over her life and fate. Her cousin, the infamous Anne Boleyn, lured King Henry VIII into marriage then met a grisly end. Hoping for a marriage that will benefit the family, Catherine's relatives send her to court in 1540, when she is fifteen. There, Catherine catches the eye of the king, who decides to divorce his current wife, Anne of Cleves, and marry her. Though Catherine would prefer to marry for love, one does not refuse the king, and even if she could, her family is determined to gain power through her marriage.

From the start, Catherine feels like she is living a lie, and playing a part to be the wife Henry desires. He wanted a pure, innocent maiden, and Catherine had a foolish and youthful love affair before coming to court, an event the king must never learn about. Woefully unprepared for the life she must live, Catherine struggles with her own immaturity and the conflicting desires of the king and her family, and is forced to make terrible choices that will lead to her doom.

The King's Rose is a wonderful historical novel for young adults - and adults as well - about the life of King Henry VIII's fifth and youngest wife, Catherine Howard. The author did a good job of bringing Catherine to life and making it understandable why she made the choices she did. Catherine is tragic figure - a young girl, unprepared for the life of a queen, forced into a terrible situation by her family in a time when a young woman had few choices and little right to control her own destiny. I highly recommend this book to readers who are fascinated by the Tudors as well as those who enjoy historical fiction in general.

From the slender threads of what is known about the historical Catherine Howard, Alisa M. Libby weaves a complex and beautiful tapestry of the life of an ordinary girl at the court of Henry VIII. In Catherine, Libby paints the portrait of a teenage girl whose family did not offer her enough guidance, leaving her to stumble into romantic and sexual entanglements at a young age. Once Catherine arrives at the court and attracts the king's eye, however, the powerful Howard family pushes Catherine's indiscretions into the background, making her appear a paragon of virtue. She marries Henry and quickly acquires a taste for luxury. Catherine tries to be a good and dutiful wife and queen, but Henry's age and ill health cannot satisfy her desire for true love. The king's appropriation of Catherine cut short a budding romance between her and her cousin Thomas Culpeper. Culpeper is one of the king's servants, and he and Catherine find themselves constantly thrown together, making it difficult for them to hide their feelings for each other. Meanwhile, childhood friends and an old flame appear at court, creating a licentious atmosphere and threatening Catherine's position and reputation. The only way Catherine and her family can hold onto power is for her to bear a child, but the king appears increasingly impotent. To produce the son Henry cannot provide, the Howard family and Catherine turn to Thomas Culpeper. Other powerful courtiers look to gain from the Howard family's fall, however, and someone reveals the truth to Henry. Depressed and enraged, the king banishes Catherine, who ends up in the Tower of London awaiting her death.

In The King's Rose, Alisa Libby does more than bring the glamorous but sordid Tudor court to life. She also creates a flesh and blood heroine whose naive character finally yields to worldly wisdom, and who has the courage to face up to her flaws. She also offers a more complex version of Henry VIII than the usual Bluebeard stereotype. Despite the book's somber tone, readers will find it rewarding.

The King's Rose by Alisa M. Libby is the story of 15-year-old Catherine Howard and her marriage to King Henry VIII. It is historical fiction written for young adults. Romance is interlaced throughout. The intrigue, vivid description, and clarity of the narration should draw readers of any age.

As the story begins, Catherine is decided upon to be the next pawn for the Howard family to groom in hope of achieving a spot on the throne. Nothing is required of her except her youth, beauty and noble birth. No one asks her if it is what she wants. She is expected to sacrifice everything for the entire family. While Catherine is busy attaining this goal we are entertained by the jewels and gowns showered upon her. Yet the entire time it is constantly stressed what she must say, how she must look, how she must act in front of her king and of how important a goal it is for her to be queen.

The intense pressure to be something she is not and helplessness to go against her family's wishes along with her decent into madness were especially compelling elements of her story for me. The screaming of her handmaidens and the visual of a gaping black hole in the floor which she was being sucked into were quite compelling and stayed with me even though the last page was read. There was also a scene where she thought she saw a ghost but it was her own reflection in a mirror that I found well written.

The King's Rose was a terrific fast read. I can definitely give it my thumbs up. I recommend it for women mainly or anyone who wants to learn more about Catherine Howard.

Well, I imagine that if you had any dreams of being the queen of England, you would likely reconsider them after reading this novel. Libby's breathtaking presentation of Catherine Howard's story certainly gives a revealing account of what it likely would have been like to be a young queen in Tudor England. There is nothing romantic about the life Catherine is forced to lead--she seemed to be merely a puppet of the rest of her family, a pawn in their plan to work the Howards back into the royal family.

Certainly this is a fictional account of Howard's story, but it is vividly told and beautifully written. And there are certain factual events and people that are included, showing that Libby obviously did her research. After the story, she has also included a helpful note about some of the true events depicted in her novel. It truly was a fascinating look into life in the royal court during Henry VIII's reign. It was a life I certainly would not have wanted to live. I appreciated the fact that Libby's account was more sympathetic with Catherine, though I don't imagine we will ever truly know what happened to cause her downfall. All I know is that it seems you could not trust anyone if you were Catherine, and that likely applied to all royalty. Throughout the story I found myself questioning various characters--lords, ladies, members of Catherine's court--and whether or not they could be trusted. Small actions and words frequently seemed suspicious and I felt sorry for the life poor Catherine Howard had to lead.

I would imagine fans of historical fiction and Tudor England would enjoy this book. Not surprisingly, there are many allusions to sex, but there is nothing very graphic. I'm not sure that I would market it as a young adult novel, but it is certainly written that way and has that feel. I thought Catherine's story was beautifully told, engaging throughout, and the pages flew by as I read.

(Additional Note: My actual rating was 4-1/2 stars but I round up on sites like Amazon.)

Young Catherine Howard is brought to Court by the scheming Howard family to catch the roving eye of Henry VIII. Henry determines to dump current wife Anne of Cleves and marry the beauteous Catherine - although Catherine has a few secrets from her past that soon come back to haunt her. Desperate to give Henry the son he desires and thus secure her tenuous position at Court, Catherine takes drastic measures - aided by Jane Rochfort, widow of Anne Boleyn's brother George.

This is all pretty much known history and as the historical market is pretty much inundated with anything and everything Tudor so I needn't rehash it much more. Very easy, pleasant reading and perfect for the YA Reader, but if you're looking for a big meaty read and/or some new aspect to Catherine's story you won't find it here. I do give BIG thumbs up to the author for pointing out in her notes that the twist she took in Catherine's story had no basis in fact. There have been a few recent historical novels whose authors made up nonsense with no basis in historical fact just for the sake of a sensationalized story - although they kind of forgot to point that out to their readers in their notes. 4/5 stars.

As someone whose love of history (especially the Tudors) dates back to her early teens, I was really looking forward to reading this book aimed at readers aged 14 and up. I did find the book to be an engaging treatment of the story of Catherine Howard's marriage, especially as she is so often overlooked in favor of her more flamboyant predecessor. The writing was crisp and the pacing of the book was excellent.

I also think Libby did a wonderful job capturing the voice of her 15 year-old protagonist, though I quibble a little with Catherine's naivete in parts. I cannot help but believe that even the most sheltered 15 year-old would have been forced into a greater awareness of political realities in such a tumultuous time. Regardless, Libby made Catherine live, and revealed the pathos of her situation. Even knowing as I did how this story would end, I found myself wishing she would in fact receive a reprieve from her Henry.

Given the complexity of the cast of characters involved in this story, I would like to see a chart or list to help readers less familiar with the subject matter keep track of everyone. I read an ARC, so this oversight may in fact have been rectified during final printing. Also, some readers may be uncomfortable with the sexual component of the story (though it is minor and essential to the story). All in all, a highly recommended read for high schoolers interested in historical fiction.

I picked this one up due to my newly found fascination with King Henry VIII. I must admit that at first, I had no clue going on, with all of the court speak and repeated names. It look me a good hundred pages or so to understand who was related to who and which person they were (seriously, how many Janes, Catherines, and Annes can you have in one book?) but once I finally got it, everything began falling into place. The back-stabbing and deception that goes on between the characters is absolutely ridiculous but also, sadly, realistic. Even though the ending is quite obvious if you know anything about Henry, I found myself rooting for Catherine throughout the whole book. The ending, even though I knew it was coming, was heartbreaking for me and I found myself near tears at one point.

If you're a history buff or just enjoy historical romances, I definitely recommend you pick this one up ASAP.

[...]

Perhaps my three stars are a bit unjust, but I couldn't really get into the book. The reason for that is that I already knew Cathrine Howard's story very well from reading Phillipa Gregory's novel. I know the story couldn't be any different than it was due to historic facts, but still, it felt like I was re-reading Gregory's Boleyn's Inheritance.

When a novel is written based on facts and an event that has already taken place and therefore everyone knows how it ended, the writing and plotting must be exceptional to keep me intrigued. The King's Rose failed at that because, as I already said, the story was old and the portrayal of Catherine wasn't much different from Gregory's.

The book is, however, a good addition to YA lit because it introduces a story that fewer and fewer young people are familiar with. It offers a more fun way of getting to know the history.

Recently I've been reading a lot of historical fiction, and it's hard to tell which are going to be good, and which are the duds.

Happily, this one turned out well.

I've always been interested by Katherine Howard, Henry VIII's fifth and youngest wife. She always struck me as a girl too young (or perhaps just too silly) to maneuver through the treacherous waters of the Tudor court. This is that story.

Katherine is caught up in her family's machinations as they try to re-create the power they held when Katherine's cousin Anne was queen. She's a bit of an innocent, but savvy enough to know that marrying the king is a safer choice than marrying for love. Eventually she grows fond of Henry, but her inability to bear a son causes a chain reaction that ends in the tower, as she waits for her doom.

Excellent read full of drama and discriptions of the life at the Tudor court. Felt like crying over her death.