She stands up for what she believes in…but such courage has consequencesAttractive, wealthy and influential, Katherine Willoughby is one of the most unusual ladies of the Tudor court. A favourite of King Henry VIII, Katherine knows all his six wives, his daughters Mary and Elizabeth, and his son Edward, as well as being related by marriage to Lady Jane Grey.When her father dies, Katherine … father dies, Katherine becomes the ward of Tudor knight, Sir Charles Brandon. Her Spanish mother, Maria de Salinas, is Queen Catherine of Aragon’s lady in waiting, so it is a challenging time for them all when King Henry marries the enigmatic Anne Boleyn.
Following Anne’s dramatic downfall, Katherine marries Charles Brandon, and becomes Duchess of Suffolk at the age of fourteen. After the short reign of young Catherine Howard, and the tragic death of Jane Seymour, Katherine and Brandon are chosen to welcome Anna of Cleves as she arrives in England.
When the royal marriage is annulled, Katherine’s good friend, Catherine Parr becomes the king’s sixth wife, and they work to promote religious reform. Katherine’s young sons are tutored with the future king, Prince Edward, but when Edward dies his Catholic sister Mary is crowned queen. Katherine’s Protestant faith puts her family in great danger – from which there seems no escape.
Katherine’s remarkable true story continues the epic tale of the rise of the Tudors, which began with the best-selling Tudor trilogy and concludes with the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.
“The characters are wonderfully drawn. From king to queen to servant, each were brought vividly to life.” Discovering Diamonds Review
“Tony Riches, delivers a vividly descriptive, interesting, and well-written read here with characters and a setting that totally captivated and intrigued me. I was totally taken and fascinated with historically political drama that unfolds within the Tudor Court..” Verified Amazon Reviewer
“Katherine Willoughby finally gets her time to shine in Tony Riches’ conclusion to his Tudor trilogy.” Review at Adventures of a Tudor Nerd
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Wow! This book is phenomenal! It is gripping, intriguing, full of history, and so much more! Whenever I picked up “Katherine – Tudor Duchess”, I was whisked back in time to the Tudor Era, and went on such an emotional journey with this story.
The Tudor Era is one of my absolute time periods to read about and study! I was so excited to hear that this book focuses on Katherine Willoughby, an intelligent and driven woman who was a part of so much history.
This is the third book in Tony Riches “The Brandon Trilogy”, but the first I have read. I think it works as a stand-alone novel as well, and I can’t wait to go back and read the first two titles in the series as well! I can only imagine the amount of research Mr. Riches must have done, as he brings history to life before the reader’s eyes in such a special way. From the first page to the last, I felt immersed in the past, and could really envision each moment. Every character felt so incredibly real, and I could really picture the various locations that help make the story jump right off of the page.
As I mentioned above, this book, spanning about 30 years, focuses on Katherine Willoughby. Beginning when Katherine is extremely young, we see her sent to Charles Brandon’s (who is a close friend of Henry VIII) home to become his ward, and how this changes her life forever. After the death of Charles’ wife Mary (who is Henry VIII’s younger sister), Katherine later becomes Charles’ wife, and becomes the Duchess of Suffolk. As the book continues, we see Katherine continue to grow up, and see many moments of happiness and tragedy within her life. I feel like I really got to know her and so much of her story throughout the book, and from Katherine’s devotion to her religion, her love, intelligence, relationships, and so much more, I also experienced many events in history through her eyes. I do not want to spoil anything in this review, so, I will simply say, this book is a must-read!
So, so many historical figures are present or mentioned throughout this book, and all help to push the plot forward in one way or another.
If you enjoy Tudor Era Historical Fiction, I highly recommend this book! It kept me turning the pages into the early hours of the morning to see what would happen next, and I had such a difficult time putting this book down. I can’t wait to see what Mr. Riches will write next.
Thank you so much to Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours and Tony Riches for the review copy of this book, it is incredible! All opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Done! This is the final book in a three-novel series about Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk and close friend to King Henry VIII. It’s the life story of his final wife, Katherine Willoughby, whose Spanish-born mother was a lady-in-waiting to Queen Catherine of Aragon.
Katherine was originally Charles’ ward, a wardship he purchased in the hopes of one day providing his son with a wealthy wife. But after the death of his third wife Mary Tudor (sister to Henry VIII and widow of King Louis XII of France), Charles figured (at the age of 49) he might as well marry the 14-year-old heiress himself. (#MeTOO!) The new Duchess takes over the running of various estates, has a couple of children, and chiefly manages things for Charles while he spends lots of time at court, trying to stay in the good graces of the King.
My chief complaint with the first two books in this series was the amount of duplication there was. Large chunks that seemed to be lifted from one book and pasted into the next. Though there was a bit of that in this third volume as well, there was much less.
I still didn’t find myself very emotionally connected to Katherine. I didn’t gain much insight into her or better understand her motivations. And that was also true of all of the other characters. But I did learn more about her story after Charles dies, where she becomes active in supporting church reform, suffers some personal losses, finds a new husband that she loves, and lives in exile.
I now have the satisfaction of having completed this entire series. But I do NOT expect to pick up the other series by this author. Even though I am interested in the subject matter of his three-novel Tudor Trilogy (about Owen, Jasper, and Henry Tudor).