The King's Secret Matter [Hardcover]

Jean Plaidy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 26, 1995

A fictional recounting of Henry VIII's plot, with the help of the power-hungry Cardinal Wolsey, to divorce his first wife, Katherine of Aragon, and marry Anne Boleyn, captures the complex rivalries and intrigues of England's Royal Court.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"'Plaidy excels at blending history with romance and drama.' - New York Times 'Jean Plaidy, by the skilful blending of superb storytelling and meticulous attention to authenticity of detail and depth of charaterization has become one of the country's most widely read novelists.' - Sunday Times 'Full-blooded, dramatic, exciting.' - Observer 'One of England's foremost historical novelists' - Birmingham Mail" --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Jean Plaidy, one of the preeminent authors of historical fiction for most of the twentieth century, is the pen name of the prolific English author Eleanor Hibbert, also known as Victoria Holt. Jean Plaidy's novels had sold more than 14 million copies worldwide by the time of her death in 1993. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 284 pages
• Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons; First US edition (September 26, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399141111
• ISBN-13: 978-0399141119
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,510,485 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hard to put down, even if you know the historical ending!, October 20, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The King's Secret Matter (Hardcover)

This book is the third in Plaidy's Tudor series. It is painful to read of Queen Katharine's heartbreak over her inability to produce a son and heir for the increasingly tyrannical Henry. Plaidy's simple writing style is necessary to help readers follow the complex "tangled web" of court intrigues. Read Antonia Fraser's _The Wives of Henry VIII_ for the straight history, then Plaidy's novels for the fictional "inside scoop!"

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Katherine of Aragon, January 16, 2004

By 

"swedishqueen" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The King's Secret Matter (Hardcover)

This book is about Katherine of Aragon's later years of her life. There are many books on how Anne Boleyn lived, Elizabeth I, Mary Tudor and Henry VIII, but seldom is there any about Katherine.

In the previous two books in the Katherine of Aragon trilogy, you see how Katherine left Spain unhappy. She had loved her native land and wanted to stay there with her mother, Isabella of Castile. They show how she meets Arthur and how they get along, but Arthur dies before the marriage is consummated. Then Katherine's troubled years start. She is used as a pawn. Then Henry comes and marries her in a fairy-tale sort of way. Katherine is loved by her people and tries hard to give Henry a son and heir to the thrown, but the best that she can do is a daughter-who she thought would make a wonderful queen-Mary.

This book picks up and shows how Henry meets Anne Boleyn and whats it is like for Katherine, who was once wooed by Henry, to be rejected. He desperately tries to get a divorce from Katherine, but the pope does not grant it to him. The pope fears Henry, but fears the Emperor Charles more. The pope does nto want to insult Spain.

Katherine swears that her marriage with Arthur had not been conssummated, but not all believe. Henry wonders if this divorce trial is really a matter of conscience, or just wanted to rid himself of Katherine.

This book is a wonderful and sad conclusion to the Katherine of Aragon trilogy. I think that everyone should read all three of them and every other Jean Plaidy book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Jean Plaidy's Best, April 23, 2010

By 

Susan Sinclair "SuSin" (Canada) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The King's Secret Matter (Hardcover)

As a dedicated Jean Plaidy (Victoria Holt) fan, I looked forward to reading this book about Henry VIII and the turmoil surrounding his love affair with Anne Boleyn. However, inasmuch as the story is told from the perspective of Catherine of Aragon, the storyline was filtered, and we didn't get a first-hand look at the protagonists. Additionally, the book was missing the wealth of information usually associated with Plaidy.