Henry VIII: The Heart and the Crown (UK) / The King’s Pleasure: A Novel of Henry VIII (US)
Alison Weir has already told this famous story from the viewpoint of each of the six wives of Henry VIII. Now here is the story of Henry told from Henry’s perspective. It is an entirely conventional rendition, going over all the events of Henry’s life and using known quotes as much as possible. This is not a criticism; the background research is formidable. The dramatis personae alone is twelve pages long, and some characters have been left out. Of course, Henry Tudor is the very epitome of the unreliable protagonist, but the author uses the view of events through his prism of passion and self-justification to cleverly illustrate Henry’s motivations and character. He comes over as proud, vain, avaricious, intelligent but impulsive, devout but dutiful, and, in the true sense of the words, a hopeless romantic. He loves chivalry. He loves the idea of love. Tragically he loves, or at least cares for, all of his wives but never actually falls in love with any of them.
This is an impressive piece of work and very subtly done. The steady alteration of his attitude to illness and death, from terrified dislike in his early years to grudging acceptance in his winter days is particularly noteworthy.
