The Queen's Gambit: A Novel by Elizabeth Fremantle

With the recent rise in Tudor fiction filling our bookshelves, it is easy for excellent reads to get lost in the confusing mixture of novels already available. However I would hate for this book to be one of those that was missed as it is an enjoyable and thrilling addition to the collection.

Focussing on the later years of Kind Henry VIII’s reign, The Queen’s Gambit looks at the life of his last wife, forever immortalised in history as the one who “Survived”. Katherine Parr is a strong lady, who marries a notoriously temperamental king and manages to keep her head in more than one way.

The novel starts with the death of Katherine’s second husband and her return to court. The novel captures the twists and turns of court life, and all the concerns within in. At the time of the book, the court is in turmoil and has been for years. With the rise and fall of each of Henry’s previous wives and his sudden changes in religious beliefs, many of the people who are part of the court are hanging on tenuously, scared to think too much in case it becomes the wrong thing to do. Katherine tries to rise above this and wants to be more involved in the decisions that Henry makes about his country and their religious beliefs.

The beauty of this book is that it brings to life the later period of Henry’s reign and the key players who later rise to power and try and benefit from the chaos after his death. Many of the Tudor themed novels I have read previously have tended to focus on the early years, with Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn so it was a breath of fresh air to see a different point of view and a different time period.

Henry VIII’s reign will also remain a source of fascination for us and there are countless stories of him and his wives, of the court scandals that followed them around and the queens (Mary and Elizabeth) who played such important roles later on. The Queen’s Gambit is a worthy piece of this fascination and is well worth a read.