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Book Review: The Confession of Katherine Howard by Suzannah Dunn

April 27, 2011 by Darlene


The Confession of Katherine Howard is a retelling of the rise and fall of Katherine Howard, the fifth wife of King Henry VIII by her girlhood friend and later Lady in Waiting, Cat Tilney. As I hadn’t previously read a lot on Katherine Howard I was very interested in learning more about her brief stay as Queen of England. The Confession of Katherine Howard takes us deep into the world at court where treachery, lies and betrayals run rampant.

At the young age of twelve, Katherine is sent to live with the Duchess of Norfolk. She comes across as aloof to the other girls yet they all want to befriend her. At first Cat Tilney resists Katherine’s pull but even she succumbs and they become best friends. Cat is horrified at much of Katherine’s behavior because even as a young girl Katherine had a real hankering for the boys. While with the Duchess, Katherine makes her way through a few boys, one being Francis Dereham. She seemed to be quite taken with him but ultimately was called away to King Henry’s court at the age of seventeen. I’m not entirely sure that Katherine ever really loved anyone as much as she loved herself.

In the meantime Cat is left at the Duchess’s and becomes involved with Francis herself. Later on when Katherine is made Queen, Cat is called to court as is Francis. Katherine however has not been idle and certainly not devoted to King Henry. Again Cat is horrified when she learns that Katherine has been carrying on an illicit affair with Thomas Culpeper. Cat warns her that she is going to be found out and that it would mean certain death if she was. Queen’s were supposed to be virgins which Katherine was most definitely not. In a time when Queens seemed to be coming and going, Katherine was really playing with fire.

Ultimately her background is looked into and it is believed she was pre-contracted to Francis Dereham which back in that day was like a marriage contract. Not being a virgin was alone enough reason for her not being worthy of the King but lying to him as well was treason in its highest form. In the meantime Cat, desperate to help Francis who she loves, gives away a few clues as to more of Katherine’s behavior and this is what eventually is the last straw for Katherine. While Katherine does try her best to get herself out of trouble and especially out of being executed, she doesn’t succeed.

Overall I really enjoyed this book. It’s written in a simple and straight forward way that I really liked and it made for easy reading. My biggest complaint about this novel is that I thought, from the title, The Confession of Katherine Howard and even the description of the book, that I would be reading an account from Katherine’s viewpoint. The book is told entirely from Cat’s viewpoint and really I learned just as much about Cat’s life as I did Katherine’s. This did take away from the book for me because really it was just Katherine I wanted to read about, not her friend. That being said though the novel is really good and is a very enjoyable read for those who love historical fiction, especially those who love anything to do with Henry VIII as I do!

I read The Confession of Katherine Howard by Suzannah Dunn for her book tour with TLC Book Tours. You can stop by and see what other readers on the tour thought of the book here. Be sure to pop in and visit Suzannah Dunn’s website as well! You can pick up your own copy here in the US and here in Canada.



© 2010, Darlene of Peeking Between the Pages. All Rights Reserved. If you’re reading this on a site other than Peeking Between the Pages or Darlene’s Feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

My copy of The Confession of Katherine Howard by Suzannah Dunn was received for review from TLC Book Tours and the Publisher.

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Filed Under: 2011 Challenges, 2011•100 Books or More Challenge, 2011•ARC Tracking Challenge, TLC Tours

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Beth F says

    April 27, 2011 at 11:35 am

    I always felt bad for Katherine Howard. I'll have to give this one a try.

  2. Book Dilettante says

    April 27, 2011 at 12:41 pm

    Don't know much about the 5th wife. I believe I saw a movie based on her life. Very sad!

    Book Dilettante

  3. TheBookGirl says

    April 27, 2011 at 1:25 pm

    I can see why the title would be confusing, after reading what the book is really about and how it's structured. I've always been fascinated by Henry VIII's wives after seeing the PBS series many years ago.

  4. Tribute Books Mama says

    April 27, 2011 at 2:34 pm

    Would love to read this,sounds really good.

  5. Zibilee says

    April 27, 2011 at 3:36 pm

    I have been waiting to hear what you thought of this! I had the same complaint about the title, and felt that the author should have been more accurate with that. I also felt that the time line shifts were a little bit bumbled at times, and wish the book had been a little more straightforward. Other than those little niggles, I ended up liking it, like you did. Great review on this one, Dar!

  6. heathertlc says

    April 27, 2011 at 5:44 pm

    I agree – I'd have thought the story would be told from Katherine's viewpoint as well. Still, I'm glad to hear it was a great book other than that.

    Thanks for being on the tour!

  7. bermudaonion says

    April 27, 2011 at 5:50 pm

    I saw another review that said the same thing about the title. Makes you wonder why they chose it.

  8. Staci says

    April 27, 2011 at 8:01 pm

    The POV change is weird huh? This still sounds like a great read and I'm always interested in history!!

  9. Blodeuedd says

    April 27, 2011 at 8:12 pm

    Poor girl, she sure brought it upon herself

  10. samantha.1020 says

    April 27, 2011 at 11:44 pm

    I think that this book looks and sounds very interesting. I'll definitely be picking it up at some point..thanks for sharing your thoughts!

  11. Aths says

    April 29, 2011 at 7:20 pm

    The plot of this books sounds interesting! I haven't heard much about Katherine Howard, so this book looks like a good start. I did hear a lot of buzz around this one, and barring the weird PoV, this looks like it may work well for me.

  12. naida says

    April 30, 2011 at 1:29 am

    This sounds like a good one. I've read about Kitty Howard through Philippa Gregory, and she really painted her as being very self-centered.

  13. Fyrefly says

    May 3, 2011 at 2:28 pm

    I haven't read much (anything?) about any of Henry's later wives, so even though I'm a little burnt out on the Tudors, this seems like it would be interesting, just for the new perspective.

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