How six resourceful women faced the perils of being married to King
Henry VIII and managed to play an active role in the man's world of
early 16th century England. Sex scandals and power politics
interacted with the intellectual and religious ferment of the
Renaissance and the Reformation. Conventional accounts of Henry
VIII and his wives turn on the bizarre figure of the king, with his
wives appearing as a backdrop and supporting cast as victims of his
caprice. Lindsey (Women's Studies and Writing/Emerson College;
Friends as Family, 1981, etc.) is part of a movement to correct
this perspective. Prefacing her account with Margaret Beaufort, who
brought her son, Henry VII, to the throne and thus ended the Wars
of the Roses, the author offers sensitive and detailed portraits of
Henry VIII's six wives, concluding her narrative with his
daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, who successively ruled the country
in their own right. Lindsey, admitting to reinterpreting rather
than disputing the accepted facts, claims that her book is an
advance on the recent works by Alison Weir and Antonia Fraser,
since she makes use of the ideas about women's lives advanced by
feminists such as Gloria Steinem and Germaine Greer. Thus she holds
that the image of Henry's fifth wife, Catherine Howard, remains
tarnished because of our failure to accept female sexuality.
Similarly, she takes seriously the religious integrity of both the
Catholic Katharine of Aragon, Henry's first wife, and the
Protestant Catherine Parr, who managed to outwit and to outlive
Henry. Lindsey writes with a pleasing and elegant style, enlivened
by flashes of ironic humor. Her brisk account teams with anecdotes
and names, and to help the breathless reader, she provides a useful
glossary. She has a special talent for exploring the feelings of
all her characters, the men as well as the women. Entertaining and
sensitive. (Kirkus Reviews)
A fascinating, revisionist look at 16th century English politics
(both public and private), examining the lives of Henry VIII's six
wives as active personalities Provocative thoughts on the why and
wherefore of the matrimonial quests of Henry VIII and the women who
were party to them.--Denver Post Lindsey's book reads like a
romance novel: airy, witty, full of drama and compassion, . . .
more about sentiment than feminist theory. . . . Her chronicle is
lustier, more concerned with emotion and the peculiarities of being
human than other accounts have been, and her presence as a moral
authority is palpable.--Los Angeles Weekly Lindsey is insightful
and disarmingly funny in her musings on Henry and his sorry
wives.--Arizona Republic This is an engaging read that conveys well
the feelings not only of the characters but of the era as well. An
occasional bit of dry humor blends nicely with Lindsey's
intelligent writing style.--Tulsa World
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