Get our latest book recommendations, author news, and competitions right to your inbox.
Table of Contents
About The Book
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...
Praise for Philippa Gregory:
‘Meticulously researched and deeply entertaining, this story of betrayal and divided loyalties is Gregory on top form’ Good Housekeeping
‘Gregory has popularised Tudor history perhaps more than any other living fiction writer…all of her books feature strong, complex women, doing their best to improve their lives in worlds dominated by men’ Sunday Times
‘Engrossing’ Sunday Express
‘Popular historical fiction at its finest, immaculately researched and superbly told’ The Times
Product Details
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK (March 10, 2016)
- Length: 464 pages
- ISBN13: 9781471152429
Raves and Reviews
‘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’
– Daily Express
‘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’
– Sunday Telegraph
‘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’
– Sunday Times
‘The Taming of the Queen reads like a clever, intimate thriller’
– The Times
‘Gregory brilliantly captures the torn loyalties, treacheries and tragedies that lie beneath the historical detail, to entertaining effect’
– Good Housekeeping
‘The contemporary mistress of historical crime’
– Kate Mosse
‘Popular historical fiction at its finest, immaculately researched and superbly told’
– The Times
‘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’
– Daily Express
‘Philippa Gregory has another hit on her hands with this gripping page-turner. Her novel simplifies and humanises the complex politics of the period’
– Sunday Times
‘Rollicking, page-turning stuff’
– Metro
‘Popular history at its best’
– Daily Mail
‘Meticulously researched…for each novel she immerses herself in dozens of primary and secondary sources, before transforming them into vivid fiction’
– Sunday Telegraph
‘Philippa Gregory is truly the mistress of the historical novel. It would be hard to make history more entertaining, lively or engaging’
– Sunday Express
‘Her novels are filled with strong, determined women who take their fate into their own hands’
– Financial Times
‘Rarely has history been so seductive’
– Tatler
‘Gregory makes history come alive ... riveting’
– Daily Express
Resources and Downloads
High Resolution Images
- Book Cover Image (jpg): The Taming of the Queen Paperback 9781471152429
- Author Photo (jpg): Philippa Gregory No Credit(0.1 MB)
Any use of an author photo must include its respective photo credit