Rating: WORTHY!
If you want a definitive biography of all six wives, as opposed to one of Henry himself, then this has to be up there at the top of any list. It is extensive and exhaustive, pulls no punches and skirts no detail. it begins with the early life of each wife - as least insofar as that life is known, and some of them are not, and continues right up until their divorce, execution, or death. The rule for the six queens is: divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived.
It seems the secret is that if you do not want to lose your head, then do not lose your head: do not be flirtatious or vivacious, as were Anne Boleyn (pronounced 'Bullen') and Katherine Howard. If you want to be divorced, then be the daughter of an important foreign power such as Aragon or Cleves. If you do not want to simply die, then don't give birth to Henry's only son, as Jane Seymour did, and if you want to survive, then be Catherine with a 'C'!
I enjoyed reading this although for my purposes it was a little TMI at times, but you cannot argue it skimps on the story. overall I enjoyed this, learned a lot and I commend it as a worthy read.
