The World of King Henry VIII

I have always been fascinated by the world of The Tudors. In that respect I read what I can on them. I read "The Other Boleyn Girl" by Phillipa Gregory, which I loved, I have spent time on the internet researching them. I bought a biography on Henry VIII and started reading that, it is a tad dry but I think that I will try it again. The point is I find the whole Henry VIII saga intriguing. In that vein I was at a bookstore and I stumbled across a novel, a rather thick one titled, "The Autobiography of Henry VIII" by Margaret George. I had read one other historical novel by her "The Memoirs of Cleopatra," and though it was long and a tad boring towards the end I thought that it was good writing and it seemed to be well researched. So I thought that I would give her Henry VIII a try. 

Yes I know that the very definition of autobiography means written by oneself. And how is a modern novel written by a King who has been dead since 1547? The reason Margaret George called it the "Autobiography of Henry VIII" was because she put it as a first person narrative, the book was supposed to be Henry's journal. Hence the title. Anyway I was taken in from the start. To read things from Henry's point of the view was a nice change of pace. Reading about how when he was very young and was going to meet Katharine of Aragon in his brother's stead, how from the moment he saw her he fell in love. He felt that she was indeed the love of his life, that he should be the one to be in his brother Arthur's place. 

We see Henry's pain as his mother and father favor the first born son over and above him. We experience his confusion when after his brother dies and then his mother and finally his father he finds himself King of England. And after many years he finds himself the husband of Katharine and truly happy. Then we watch as Henry becomes bewitched by Anne and throws his country into a tailspin trying to change the way the world worked. With each new bride we watch as he falls incredibly in love, sure that this is the one true love. And we experience his pain when he realizes he has been betrayed or that the ones he trusted most turned from him. 

The book is well written and well researched, it had poetry and reality that was well mixed. I enjoyed spending time not only in the court of Henry VIII but also in his mind. If anyone enjoys historical novels or finds themselves especially interested in the Tudor court I would reccommend this novel. However it is not for everyone because it is a long novel and gets very involved. I give it a 7 out of 10. A good read, and well written but not for everyone.