The Taming of the Queen

Why would a woman marry a serial killer? Because she cannot refuse... Kateryn Parr, a thirty-year-old widow in a secret affair with a new lover, has no choice when a man old enough to be her father who has buried four wives - King Henry VIII - commands her to marry him. Kateryn has no doubt about the danger she faces: the previous queen lasted sixteen months, the one before barely half a year. But Henry adores his new bride and Kateryn's trust in him grows as she unites the royal family, creates a radical study circle at the heart of the court, and rules the kingdom as Regent. But is this enough to keep her safe? A leader of religious reform and the first woman to publish in English, Kateryn stands out as an independent woman with a mind of her own. But she cannot save the Protestants, under threat for their faith, and Henry's dangerous gaze turns on her.The traditional churchmen and rivals for power accuse her of heresy - the punishment is death by fire and the king's name is on the warrant... From an author who has described all of Henry's queens comes a deeply intimate portrayal of the last: a woman who longed for passion, power and education at the court of a medieval killer.

About the Author :
PHILIPPA GREGORY is one of the world's foremost historical novelists. She wrote her first ever novel, Wideacre, when she was completing her PhD in eighteenth-century literature and it sold worldwide, heralding a new era for historical fiction.    Her flair for blending history and imagination developed into a signature style and Philippa went on to write many bestselling novels, including The Other Boleyn Girl and The White Queen.    Now a recognised authority on women's history, Philippa graduated from the University of Sussex and received a PhD from the University of Edinburgh, where she is a Regent and was made Alumna of the Year in 2009. She holds honorary degrees from Teesside University and the University of Sussex. She is a fellow of the Universities of Sussex and Cardiff and an honorary research fellow at Birkbeck University of London.    Philippa is a member of the Society of Authors and in 2016 was presented with the Outstanding Contribution to Historical Fiction Award by the Historical Writers' Association. In 2018, she was awarded an Honorary Platinum Award by Neilsen for achieving significant lifetime sales across her entire book output.   She welcomes visitors to her site www.PhilippaGregory.com.

Review :
‘A master storyteller…Gregory captures the intrigue and suspense of life at the Tudor court in vivid detail. She skilfully combines painstaking historical research with a gripping fictional narrative and her characters are so lifelike and engaging that they practically leap from the page’  ‘A cleverly wrought political novel. In introducing Parr to a new audience, Gregory has done the first lady of English letters something of a favour’    ‘Gregory dramatises the story of a reluctant royal wife negotiating the anxious, dangerous years of her marriage… written with her usual authority and capacity for great drama’   ‘The Taming of the Queen reads like a clever, intimate thriller’  ‘Gregory brilliantly captures the torn loyalties, treacheries and tragedies that lie beneath the historical detail, to entertaining effect’ ‘The contemporary mistress of historical crime’    ‘Popular historical fiction at its finest, immaculately researched and superbly told’  ‘Gregory creates a world in which all but the most determined women are tools in the hands of powerful men… past-paced, convincing, vivid and engrossing’  ‘Philippa Gregory has another hit on her hands with this gripping page-turner. Her novel simplifies and humanises the complex politics of the period’  ‘Lady Margaret Beaufort – cold, clever, calculating – will stop at nothing to put her son Henry Tudor on the throne.  Gregory is very good at describing the bitchiness of the women in this tale of dynastic rivalry’  ‘Rollicking, page-turning stuff’   ‘Popular history at its best’    ‘Meticulously researched…for each novel she immerses herself in dozens of primary and secondary sources, before transforming them into vivid fiction’ ‘History comes gloriously alive as Elizabeth Woodville seduces and marries Yorkist King Edward IV’  ‘Philippa Gregory is truly the mistress of the historical novel. It would be hard to make history more entertaining, lively or engaging’   ‘Her novels are filled with strong, determined women who take their fate into their own hands’  ‘Rarely has history been so seductive’    ‘Gregory makes history come alive ... riveting’