Well hello there,
Welcome to my very first blog book review!
In this series I'll be sharing some of the books I've finished reading recently. I'll also provide a short review of each book, and I'd love to hear what you thought of them and any book recommendations you have. ..comment below!
Today I'm looking at The King's Curse by Philippa Gregory.
I am a big fan of historical novels (being the MAHOOSIVE History geek that I am), and Philippa Gregory's are always top notch. If you haven't read The Other Boleyn Girl yet, stop reading this and go get a copy right now. Go on, I'll wait for you. Off you go....
....oh good, you're back. How was it? Awesome? I know, right?!
Anyway, back to The King's Curse. This is a beast of a book- I had the hardback copy but the paperback which has recently been released is considerably smaller and lighter!
It's written from the point of view of Margaret Pole, who gives an eyewitness account of the rise of King Henry VIII and the decline of his marriage to Katherine of Aragon.
It's certainly a fresh perspective on historic events, and stays true to Gregory's mission to tell events from female angles.
As is inevitable in a book concerned with Henry VIII's striving to produce a male heir, there's lots of infant mortality here. This is true to life, but also quite wearying and grim to read about in detail. I found I needed to put the book down several times to shake off the sadness of the text.
I also think the book ended on quite a deflating note (no spoilers here). All I'll say is that I felt the book worked its way up to an anticlimax.
While this is a really good read, it's not quite as good as some of Gregory's earlier works.
Interesting enough, but not Gregory's best novel.
Rating : ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Bye for now!
Philippa Gregory, The King's Curse, (Simon and Schuster: London, 2014) Buy here
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