The Constant Princess
Philippa Gregory
Katherine of Aragon, daughter of Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain, eventual Queen of England. Brought up on the battlefields worshiping her Mother and God, Katherine from the age of three knew that she would be Queen of England. Even upon her first husband’s death, her determination would boost her to her desired goal.
Katherine is a true heroine that gets what she wants both by being forthcoming and sneaky. I honestly thought she was going to get her head chopped off, but perhaps that was the French… Honestly, I thought she should have taken Henry VII as her husband and poisoned off Henry VIII. No-one would have noticed, in those days it was more common to die early than to live!!
This is the closest I get to studying history. I couldn’t tell you much about the truthfulness of this novel, although the carefree and careless picture of King Henry VIII (who got married a lot of times!) seems absolutely accurate. I did a quick Google about Katherine and I am reasonably certain that this novel is accurate on the facts that we actually know about.
I thought I had read Phillipa Gregory before this, but I haven’t written a review. Perhaps I let it slide because it wasn’t a novel from a publisher. This is a light romance that passes the time very satisfactorily and it doesn’t matter whether you are interrupted during the reading or not.
As it progressed, I got a little more bored by it and the glacial pace. The beginning awkward romance was far more exciting. Let’s give this novel 3 stars.
The dust jacket is written as if a 32-year-old woman living at home is abnormal, but truly it isn’t especially for those days. She isn’t married. I also think her sister was a complete idiot. Ok, your mother has trusted you to look after your sister, but at some point you must get your own life. From what I learnt about the sisters in this novel, Lizzie should have been institutionalized.