Skip to main content

Katherine Howard: A New History by Conor Byrne: A Book Review

Katherine Howard: A New History 
Author: Conor Byrne
Genre: History, Nonfiction, Biography
Publisher: MadeGlobal Publishing
Release Date: 2014
Pages: 266
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Synopsis: In this new full-length biography of Katherine Howard, Henry VIII's fifth wife, Conor Byrne reconsiders Katherine’s brief reign and the circumstances of her life, striping away the complex layers of myths and misconceptions to reveal a credible portrait of this tragic queen.

    By reinterpreting her life in the context of cultural customs and expectations surrounding sexuality, fertility and family honour, Byrne exposes the limitations of conceptualising Katherine as either ‘whore’ or ‘victim’. His more rounded view of the circumstances in which she found herself and the expectations of her society allows the historical Katherine to emerge.

   Katherine has long been condemned by historians for being a promiscuous and frivolous consort who partied away her days and revelled in male attention, but Byrne's reassessment conveys the mature and thoughtful ways in which Katherine approached her queenship. It was a tragedy that her life was controlled by predators seeking to advance themselves at her expense, whatever the cost.
  
    My Review: Katherine Howard was Henry VIII’s teenage bride. Everyone knows that while she was married to Henry VIII, she had an affair with the young, handsome, and attractive Thomas Culpepper. When the truth of the liaison was discovered, the court knew of Catherine’s previous relationships with Henry Mannox and Francis Dereham before she married the king. However, in this biography of Katherine Howard, Connor Byrne states that Katherine was not the promiscuous and frivolous woman that history has portrayed. Instead, he argues that Katherine was sexually abused in the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk’s household.

     Mr. Byrne makes many absurd conjectures about Katherine Howard’s life. He claims that Katherine was raped by both Henry Mannox and Francis Dereham. Katherine being raped by both men during her adolescence really suspends belief. While Mr. Byrne tries to make Katherine out to be innocent, I don’t think Katherine was that weak and naive to let her attractive male servants rape her. It is more convincing that it was consensual. The basis of Mr. Byrne’s claim is due to Katherine’s false confession. However, Mr. Russell already explained that Katherine’s confession should not be taken as fact because she was trying to save her life.

   Another absurd speculation that Mr. Byrne makes is that the reason why Katherine was sent to the scaffold was because she did not produce an heir. While this makes sense in Anne Boleyn’s case, it does not in Katherine Howard’s case. Henry VIII was very pleased with Katherine. He called her “A Rose Without a Thorn.” He was very heart-broken when he learned of Katherine’s dalliance with Thomas Culpepper and wished that it wasn’t true. Therefore, the fact that Katherine went to the executioner’s block was not because she did not produce an heir, but that she had committed adultery with Thomas Culpepper and for her previous relationships. 

   The author also states that Thomas Culpepper and Katherine Howard did not have an affair. He argues that Katherine was repulsed with the sexual relationships that she had in her adolescence. Again, this goes with his theory that Katherine was raped in her childhood. He tries to excuse Katherine’s actions by making her innocent. While Mr. Byrne claims that there is no clear evidence of Katherine’s relationship with Thomas Culpepper, it is clear through eyewitness’ testimonies that their relationship was not platonic.

   Overall, Katherine Howard: A New History is a very unreliable and inaccurate biography of Henry VIII’s fifth wife. The author tries to excuse all of Katherine’s actions. It seems that this book is more based on the author’s imagination rather than real history. Most of the biography’s claims are conjectures that are backed up with no evidence. This book does not even deserve the term “biography” because it is not historically researched and is full of the author’s misguided assumptions. While I do find Katherine to be a very sympathetic figure, I do not believe that she was entirely innocent of her actions. Therefore, I have to admit that this “biography” is very misleading. There are better and more accurate biographies of Katherine Howard out there. I would not recommend this book to anyone, not even to the most ardent Tudor fan. However, if you are still interested in reading this book anyway, I suggest that you read other biographies of Katherine Howard such as those written by Gareth Russell, Josephine Wilkinson, and Joanna Denny first. Katherine Howard: A New History is a book that should not be read for factual information, but solely for entertainment.

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars


   

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Potiphar's Wife (The Egyptian Chronicles #1) by Mesu Andrews: A Book Review

  Potiphar’s Wife (The Egyptian Chronicles #1) Author: Mesu Andrews Genre: Historical Fiction, Christian, Biblical Fiction Publisher: WaterBrook Release Date: May 24, 2022 Pages: 453 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: One of the Bible’s most notorious women longs for a love she cannot have in this captivating novel from the award-winning author of Isaiah’s Legacy .       Before she is Potiphar’s wife, Zuleika is the daughter of a king and the wife of a prince. She rules the isle of Crete alongside her mother in the absence of their seafaring husbands. But when tragedy nearly destroys Crete, Zuleika must sacrifice her future to save the Minoan people she loves.       Zuleika’s father believes his robust trade with Egypt will ensure Pharaoh’s obligation to marry his daughter, including a bride price hefty enough to save Crete. But Pharaoh refuses and gives her instead to Potiphar, the captain...

The Rose Code by Kate Quinn: A Book Review

The Rose Code Author: Kate Quinn Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Harper Collins Release Date: 2021 Pages: 635 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: 1940, Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire.        Three very different women are recruited to the mysterious Bletchley Park, where the best minds in Britain train to break German military codes.       Vivacious debutante Osla has the dashing Prince Philip of Greece sending her roses – but she burns to prove herself as more than a society girl, working to translate decoded enemy secrets. Self-made Mab masters the legendary codebreaking machines as she conceals old wounds and the poverty of her East-End London upbringing. And shy local girl Beth is the outsider who trains as one of the Park’s few female cryptanalysts.       1947, London.        Seven years after they first meet, on the eve of the roya...

A Right Worthy Woman by Ruth P. Watson: A Book Review

A Right Worthy Woman Author: Ruth P. Watson Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Atria Books Release Date: 2023 Pages: 303 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: In the vein of The Personal Librarian and The House of Eve , a “remarkable and stirring novel” (Patti Callahan Henry, New York Times bestselling author) based on the inspiring true story of Virginia’s Black Wall Street and the indomitable Maggie Lena Walker, the daughter of a formerly enslaved woman who became the first Black woman to establish and preside over a bank in the United States.       Maggie Lena Walker was ambitious and unafraid. Her childhood in 19th-century Virginia helping her mother with her laundry service opened her eyes to the overwhelming discrepancy between the Black residents and her mother’s affluent white clients. She vowed to not only secure the same kind of home and finery for herself, but she would also help others in her community achi...