The Constant Princess

Posted on 02 June 2018 by Philippa Gregory

Splendid and sumptuous historical novel from the internationally bestselling author, Philippa Gregory, telling of the early life of Katherine of Aragon.We think of Katherine of Aragon as the barren wife of a notorious king but behind this legacy lies a fascinating story.Katherine of Aragon is born Catalina, the Spanish Infanta, to parents who are both rulers and warriors Aged four, she is betrothed to Arthur, Prince of Wales, and is raised to be Queen of England She is never in doubt that it is her destiny to rule that far off, wet, cold land.Her faith is tested when her prospective father in law greets her arrival in her new country with a great insult Arthur seems little better than a boy the food is strange and the customs coarse Slowly she adapts to the first Tudor court, and life as Arthur s wife grows ever bearable.But when the studious young man dies, she is left to make her own future how can she now be queen, and found a dynasty Only by marrying Arthur s young brother, the sunny but spoilt Henry His father and grandmother are against it her powerful parents prove little use Yet Katherine is her mother s daughter and her fighting spirit is strong.She will do anything to achieve her aim even if it means telling the greatest lie, and holding to it. Read The Constant Princess – kino-fada.fr Ah, Philippa Gregory You lured me in with The Other Boleyn Girl, which I knew was kind of trashy, but still couldn t put it down TOBG was like eating cupcakes while watching SVU re runs Paradise The Constant Princess, however, was like eating Doritos while watching Grey s Anatomy I really wanted to like it, but really, it just made me want to barf The problem, dear Philippa, is that just as Henry VIII liked his ladies, you seem to love italics You write whole pages in italics, which in my Ah, Philippa Gregory You lured me in with The Other Boleyn Girl, which I knew was kind of trashy, but still couldn t put it down TOBG was like eating cupcakes while watching SVU re runs Paradise The Constant Princess, however, was like eating Doritos while watching Grey s Anatomy I really wanted to like it...2.5 starsThose of you familiar with all things Tudor already know the basics of the long suffering Katherine of Aragon and the husband who dumped her when she couldn t produce a male heir Those who aren t might consider this review rather spoilerish so consider yourself warned That said, since the author skims through a big chunk of the latter part of Katherine s life and The King s Great Matter , I wouldn t recommend this for newbies as you ll be scratching your head at the end wondering 2.5 starsThose of you familiar with all things Tudor already know the basics of the long suffering Katherine of A...I m going to start out by saying 1 I love historical fiction and 2 I loved Margaret George s, The Autobiography of Henry VIII with notes by his fool Will Sommers one of my fave books of all time So when I have the opportunity to go back to Kind Henry VIII s court I do I ve read the Other Boleyn Girl, I ve read Elizabeth I by Rosamund Miles to learn about the time after Henry VIII, etc.Therefore I was really looking forward to learningabout Henry s first wife, Katherine of Aragon.The I m going to start out by saying 1 I love historical fiction and 2 I loved Margaret George s, The Autobiography of Henry VIII with notes by his fool Will Sommers one of my fave books of all time So when I have the opportunity to go back to Kind Henry VIII s court I do I ve read t...The Constant Princess The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels, 6 , Philippa GregoryThe Constant Princess is a historical fiction novel by Philippa Gregory, published in 2005 The novel depicts a highly fictionalized version of the life of Catherine of Aragon and her rise to power in England Catalina of Aragon s initially loveless arranged marriage to the crown prince Arthur secretly develops into an intimate relationship where they share their plans to rule England together once Arthur is king But The Constant Princess The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels, 6 , Philippa GregoryThe Constant Princess is a historical fiction novel by Philippa Gregory, published in 2005 The novel depicts a highly fictionalized version of the life of Catherine of Aragon and her rise to power in England Catalina of Ara...A very entertaining and engaging story,lively than Jean Plaidy s Katherine trilogy Even though I found Plaidy s books a bit on the dull side, I m glad I read them to complement Gregory s take on the young Katherine Most of the HF I ve read about Katherine shows her in her times of trial during her second marriage, where she comes across as a long suffering and pious cow, an object of scorn and pity Even as a younger girl, she comes off as a bit of a drip and killjoy, as if she was born A very entertaining and engaging story,lively than Jean Plaidy s Katherine trilogy Even though I found Plaidy s books a bit on the dull side, I m glad I read them to complement Gregory s take on the young Katherine Most of the HF I ve read about Katherine shows her in her times of trial during her second marriage, where she comes across as a long suffering and pious cow, an object of scorn and pity Even as a younger girl, she comes off as a bit of a drip and killjoy, as if she was born old with the knees of a Carmelite nun.So it was a nice change to see the focus on Katherine as a child and young bride to the ill fated princ...You cannot take a person like Catherine of Aragon and fashion some carte blanche story about her there are facts and documentation which must be adhered to Gregory brings this fascinating woman to life for us teaching us as we read She gives the reader such a keen sense of this woman this Catalina, Infanta of Spaincommonly known to us as Catherine of Aragon, betrothed to Henry V111 It follows her story from aged five in 1491 on the battle fields of Spain to 1529 in England at the You cannot take a person like Ca...oh what a marvellous story.If King Henry VIII s wives have any consolation, it is that they are remembered and honored farin death than they were in life there were six wives, and now there are dozens of books about them But The Constant Princess begins at the beginning with the first wife, Katherine of Aragon, whose unfortunate life did not include the birth of a son and heir to King Henry VIII It is that perceived fault of hers that inspired Henry to seek sport in the arms of other women, and provided us with If King Henry VIII s wives have any consolation, it is that they are remembered and honored farin death than they were in life there were six wives, and now there are dozens of books about them But The Constant Princess begins at the beginning with the first wife, Katherine of Aragon, whose unfortunate life did not include the birth of a son and heir to King Henry VIII It is that perceived fault of hers that inspired Henry to seek sport in the arms of other women, and provided us with some salicious history This is Katherine s story, and a sad one it is The most remarkable element of this book is the emotions it evoked within me I know the end of Queen Katherine and her dignified but fruitless life, and that colored my reading of the story.Katherine is not a particularly sympathetic character she comes across as proud, arrogant, stubbourn, an...This review is for the audiobook version of The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory, published by RecordedBooksAudio 5 The audio for this novel is performed by Jill Tanner, a stage actor and voice talent from Britain She does a fabulous job with this recording, speaking very clearly and precisely The narration is really only told from Katherine of Aragon s perspective, so there is very little need for voice changing, but Ms Tanner is able to perform Henry and Harry etc in such aThis review is for the audiobook version of The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory, published by RecordedBooksAudio 5 The audio for this novel is performed by Jill Tanner, a stage actor and voice talent from Britain She does a fabulous job with this recording, speaking very clearly and precisely The narration is really only told from Katherine of Aragon s perspective, so there is very little need for voice changing, but Ms Tanner is able to perform Henry and Harry etc in such a way that the listener knows who is speaking, and yet she does not sound overly masculine and does not over act A great n...It is difficult to know where to start with this review Perhaps by highlighting one of the most pertinent points The novel is written alternately from third person and first person point of view Usually, a scene will occur written in the third person, followed by an internal monologue from Catalina s character about the events which have just occurred Is this poor writing, or does this continuous switching of views work within the story The premise sets off alarm bells that the story may It is difficult to know where to start with this review Perhaps by highlightin...

English
02 June 2018

Philippa Gregory