In the original dust cover. Navy cloth binding with gilt title on the spine.

• We provide an in-depth photographic presentation of this item to stimulate your feeling and touch. More traditional book descriptions are immediately available

• Note: These books carry the £5.00 discount to those that subscribe to the F.B.A. mailing list.

Amid the turbulent, faction-ridden late reign of the fearsome Henry, eager high-spirited Catherine Howard caught the king’s eye – but not before she had been the sensual plaything of at least three other men. Ignorant of her past, seeing only her youthful exuberance and believing that she could make him happy, he married her – only to discover, too late, that her heart belonged to his gentleman usher Tom Culpeper. As the net of court intrigue tightens around her, and with the Tudor succession yet again in peril because of Prince Edward’s severe illness, Queen Catherine struggles to give the angry, bloated and impotent king a son. But when her relations turn against her, she finds herself doomed, just as her cousin Anne Boleyn was, to face the executioner. The “Unfaithful Queen” lays bare the dark underbelly of the Tudor court, with its sugared rivalries and bitter struggles for power, where a girl of noble family could find herself sent to labor among the turnspits in the kitchens or – should fortune favour her – be exalted to the throne.

Review: I loved this book, but Tudor experts may be a little disappointed. The book tells the story of poor Catherine Howard, and the author gives her an idea of the background that ended with Catherine marrying King Henry and then, as we know, losing her head. Carolly Erickson points out that this is a novel but there were some glaring omissions. Catherine was one of several children, not a single child, and her mother was Joan of Lincoln. This is well documented evidence so I am not sure why the author changed these details. Also she seemed to rush through her demise. If you are reading this as a story then you will enjoy it, but if you want a possible account of Catherines life, this may not be for you. 

About the Author: New York Times bestselling author CAROLLY ERICKSON has written twenty-eight critically acclaimed, prize-winning biographies, histories, and a recent series of fictional historical entertainments. Her range is wide, her audience worldwide. She lives in Washington and Hawaii.