The Fifth Queen

The Fifth Queen #1-3

by Ford Madox Ford, A.S. Byatt (Introduction)

Now back in print, Ford's highly acclaimed portrait of Henry VIII's controversial fifth Queen

This masterful performance of historical fiction centers on Katharine Howard--clever, beautiful, and outspoken--who catches the jaded eye of Henry VIII and becomes his fifth Queen. Corruption and fear pervade the King's court, and the dimly lit corridors vibrate with the intrigues of unscrupulous courtiers hungry for power. Soon Katharine is locked in a vicious battle with Thomas Cromwell, the Lord Privy Seal, as she fights for political and religious change.

Ford saw the past as an integral part of the present experience and understanding, and his sharply etched vision of the court of Henry VIII--first published in 1908--echoes aspects of Edwardian England as it explores the pervading influence of power, lies, fear, and anxiety on people's lives.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Classics, Historical, Tudor Period, British Literature, Novels

624 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1908

About the author

Ford Madox Ford was an English novelist, poet, critic and editor whose journals The English Review and The Transatlantic Review were important in the development of early 20th-century English and American literature.

Ford is now remembered for his novels The Good Soldier (1915), the Parade's End tetralogy (1924–1928) and The Fifth Queen trilogy (1906–1908). The Good Soldier is frequently included among the great literature of the 20th century, including the Modern Library 100 Best Novels, The Observer′s "100 Greatest Novels of All Time", and The Guardian′s "1000 novels everyone must read".

Reviews

[Fonch · Rating 5 out of 5]

dedicated to Noriko with affection.
Ladies and gentlemen, I apologise for my vagrancy in writing reviews, other than laziness (very natural defect in me) my delay in grief made me more in goodreads' duel than in commenting and analyzing what I read. I will try to alleviate this gap in the coming days, but I don't want to neglect my readings either.
Today it is my turn to write about a book that has exceeded my expectations and I liked it much more than I expected. I had only read Ford Maddox Ford "The GoodSoldier", https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7... which although it was very well written did not end up liking me, because I treated the subject of adultery quite benignly, and I did not like the way Catholicism treated, nor Leonara's character. I always thought that the real culprit for the tragedy that Ford Maddox Ford told us was his protagonist and not his wife, not his family.
Another a priori thing against Ford Maddox Ford is that the author was related to writers who I didn't like especially well as H.G. Wells https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... Anatole France https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... Ernest Hemingway https://www.goodreads.com/author/show..., James Joyce https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... who used to collaborate in his magazine Henry James https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... doesn't like me, but despite the admiration of my dear and admired Juan Manuel de Prada (I never tired of recommending it in my reviews) https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... (Juan Manuel de Prada's book"A Library in the Oasis" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5... , which collects a series of reviews that he wrote for Magnificat magazine about Catholic books will be one of my forthcoming readings, and a review of it will be written. In my opinion it could become the best nonfiction reading of the year, and I recommend everyone to read the books that appear in this book by Juan Manuel de Prada) whenever I have tried to read something of Henry James I have ended up getting bored, or worse sleeping, while reading it, and that was short story. I think Henry James's style is not for me, although I will continue to give him opportunities like Gene Wolfe https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... who after giving him several opportunities has finally managed to hit the target and write a book that has ended up liking me "The Sword of the Lictor" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4... (I will try to write a review of this book). Ford Maddox Ford's other great influence, who was a great friend of his, was the Anglo-Polish writer Joseph Conrad https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... who I have read books that I liked as "The Heart of Darkness" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4..., particularly I recommend to readers "The Duel" where a monarchical officer and a bonapartist one are beaten in various duels such as the friendly characters of G.K. Chesterton https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... and the cross" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2.... This Joseph Conrad novel"The Duel" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4... inspired Ridley Scott's adaptation of duelists. However, there have also been books by Joseph Conrad, which I have not liked as much as"The Secret Agent" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8... even though Russell Kirk https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... sold it as a great metaphor against communism and anarchism I think Dostoyevsky's"Demons" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3... is better written, and more accomplished and not as savage and brutal as Joseph Conrad's novels.
The thread is picked up again, because explaining Ford Maddox Ford's companies we have distanced the ourselves and people what they hope to read is my opinion of Ford Maddox Ford's novel. I didn't originally know if this play was going to be fiction, or nonfiction. I was rather suspicious of the latter, and I was surprised when I found that Ford Maddox Ford (which by the way belonged to the current of modernism) had written a historical novel. It was interesting, because this novel was dedicated by Ford Maddox Ford to a queen Catherine Howard niece of the powerful head of the Howard Thomas Howards, who, at first, perhaps with Anne de Cleves (who best rode him, and the one who best escaped the difficult and unviable situation he was in. I think Ford Maddox Ford solves Anne de Cleves' sub-film well in her novel) it seemed the least interesting of all queens. It is curious this reddish-bearded Bluebeard married six women being three Catholic Catherine of Aragon (about Catherine of Aragon I recommend to you apart from the wonderful biography of Garrett Matingly https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5... and the more modern giles Tremlett https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7..., but recommend to at least to Spanish language users the wonderful chapter that Salvador de Madariaga https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... dedicates to the Spanish-English queen in her book"Spanish Women" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... specifically reading that chapter deserves the purchase of the book), Jane Seymour (Henry VIII's favorite because she gave her the long-awaited heir), and Catherine Howard, while the Protestant queens, or reformers married by the golden English monarch were Anne Boleyn, Anne of Cleves (in the end she converted to Catholicism in the time of Maria Tudor) and Catherine Parr who, as my father's book of History said, was able to survive with cunning the changes of humor of the sensual monarch (more for her work as a nurse than for something else).
However, Catherine Howard would be in the back tail or the queens' tail van, because Jane Seymour gave the son, and will go down in history for stealing From Anne Boleyn from the King (as a Spanish saying says"who steals from a thief has a hundred years of forgiveness"). In her biography this particular Catholic as Antonia Fraser https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... (by the way she also wrote detective novels) in her interesting book "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5... did not seem to give special relevance to Catherine Howard seemed to be the mostsubmissive of the six, and the most docile. A person who, unlike What Ford Maddox Ford tells us, seemed shallower, hollow-headed, without a cultural background, who could hardly write and with an outrageous past. I couldn't say, whether it was unfaithful to the King, or not. The intrigues of the Tudors are so twisted that I would not dare to put my hand on fire or by the King and his counselors so accustomed to inventing false charges, to eliminate those who have lost the King's affection. Catherine Howard's case is a priori that seems most feasible, but the King has lied to us so much that I no longer believe anything he or Henry VIII's supporters tell me. So it may well be Catherine Howard, one more of the King's victims and a collateral victim of the struggles between the Protestant and Catholic factions.
In fact, a flaw, (which for me is not), but can it be for a Goodreads user. Was Catherine Howard a cultured, intelligent, and as loyal to Catholicism as Ford Maddox Ford paints us? I have my doubts, I personally believe that Catherine Howard was a tool of her uncle Thomas Howard (who was partly the one who caused the disaster allied with the Boleyns) when she used Anne Boleyn to take down Catherine of Aragon. Forming a third way in front of the supporters of Catherine of Aragon, and those of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, who wanted the same thing as the Duke of Norfolk, but replacing Catherine with a French princess, because he resented Charles V, because he did not fulfill his ambitions to make him Pope. It makes sense that he will bet on his preceptor Adriano of Utrecht. Which proves how bad envy is. However, Thomas Howard, the girl Anne Boleyn, was answered, very independent and because of her French contacts very fanatical of reformers and the Duke was Catholic. So when it was her turn to take her down, she had no problem ending her niece discola. My opinion as Spanish and Catholic cannot be favorable to Anne Boleyn. In my opinion, and I joined the line of the English writer Maurice Baring in his magnificent novel"Robert Peckham" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... (you will see that my point of view and opinions are totally favorable to Catholics) Anne Boleyn was innocent of the charges that mainly accused him of witchcraft and incest, but deserved his fate for having driven the King to order the executions of Saint Tomas Moro https://www.goodreads.com/author/show..., and Bishop John Fisher. Not to mention that there is growing historical evidence that Catherine of Aragon may have been poisoned (this is also what Ford Maddox Ford refers to and will be one of Maria Tudor's accusations against her cruel father) either by Henry VIII, or by the Boleyns).). However, despite this fiasco Thomas Howard did not miss the opportunity to play the sorcerer's apprentice and try Catherine Howard to see if he was lucky. Well, if you read this novel, you can dismiss this theory. One point in favor and I admit it is as a historian, although I am not impartial (as I pointed out before) if you follow my criticism. If I like this woman forgotten by history, but worse, have a person who redeems her figure. There is nothing, I love more, than a person who defends lost causes in the Caprian sense (by Frank Capra), as my most admired G.K. Chesterton said""we are never closer to Paradise when we get to win a battle that was lost".
That is why in this novel Ford Maddox Ford opts for Catherine Howard to be a cultured, and read woman, who spoke several languages and also write them especially the cultured languages of latin, and Greek in particular. Here in this novel, or should I say that it is three novels "TheQueen Came to court", "The Lord of theSeal" and "The Crowned Queen" Catherine Howard will not be a tool in the service of her uncle the Duke of Norfolk, and the Bishop of Winchester Gardiner, to undermine the power of Thomas Cromwell and the Protestant faction. In fact, both will be an obstacle to Catherine Howard's aspirations. A woman who is nostalgic of the ancient days, who quotes the classics, and whose aspiration is to re-establish Catholicism, daring even to have her lands restored to monasteries, not even Mary Tudor dared to turn back with this law, because she knew that it could cost her the throne. The aspiration that the Pilgrims failedly tried with heroic courage of the pilgrimage of grace, being massacred alevosaly by the merciful English monarch. As Saint Tomas Morosaid, "Free us the Lord from the King's mercy." Of course he will have as an enemy to carry out his goal to Thomas Cromwell, according to Hilary Mantel a great hero, and statesman, who is a follower of the teachings of Machiavelli https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... (who telling the truth did not bring prosperity to Italy, or the various Italian states that formed it), nor will we see those Ken Follet in his fallacious"Column of Fire" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3... rated as the Protestant tolerants, in the face of fanaticism and medieval Catholic obscurantism (by the way, when people realize that good novels are those of Robert Hugh Benson https://www.goodreads.com/author/show..., and not those of Ken Follet who still lives off the return of "The Pillars of the Earth" and his primal novels of espionage, and is now dedicated to cannibalizing his works, especially "The Pillars of the Earth" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5... ). Conversely, intolerance and violence will almost always come from the hand of the reformed, and in the first book protestants will be seen about to kill Catherine Howard in a street riot. Although you have to be honest, neither of the leaders of the two factions goes well to a good stop. Thomas Cromwell is a man without morality, and unscrupulously willing to do anything to take down Catherine Howard at any cost (even if all factions want to use it in his favor, because of the King's appreciation for his charms and his person). By the way, Cromwell's corruptings are shown here to increase his estate and that of his son Gregory. I say this because many think this is the best minister Henry VIII had among them John Julius of Norwich. https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3.... (continues)

[Doreen · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this novel (or trio of novellas, to be more accurate) written in the early 1900s, Ford Madox Ford set himself a challenge, to write a novel of Tudor England in a style that sought to re-create the language of the actual time period. The book that resulted is not the easiest for modern readers to digest, and judging from the work of some of his contemporaries, probably would have been a tough read even a century ago. The text is exceedingly spare in non-dialog content, often subsuming such in what is essentially dialog pulled out of the quotation marks. In terms of that style and commitment to language, I completely agree with Graham Greene, who called this effort a "magnificent bravura piece." As an impressionistic text, it is quite brilliant.

Where I take issue with the novel though, and thereby give it only 3 stars, is the fact that Mr Ford has taken the historical truth and massaged it to fit some personal agenda (which I won't go into here: there's only so much literary theory I can bore you with in one sitting.) I've scoffed in other reviews on this site as to Guy Gavriel Kay's extreme aversion to tainting history with authorial prejudice: now I wonder whether he had this book in mind when he came to his conclusions, and am a smidge more sympathetic (even if I think he's still being ridiculous.) Mr Ford takes the titular historical figure -- who is known, both commonly and to academics, as an indifferently educated, morally loose young woman -- and shoehorns her into the role Anne Boleyn actually had before her: of a scholarly and devout, yet charismatic, queen. This outright fictionalization is completely maddening. Thomas Cromwell, one of the most important men of his time, is set up as Kat Howard's direct opponent, when there is little to indicate that Kat was anything more than a pawn in the (snerk) game of thrones (I mentioned in an update that this portrayal of her more accurately depicts what might have happened to Sansa Stark had the latter not been brought to King's Landing by her father.) Thomas Culpeper, in reality a favorite courtier of the King, is reduced in this fiction to being a minor noble who barely spends any time at court, as he chases after promotion and alcohol in various other parts of Europe. The only characters whom I felt were portrayed with at least some historical accuracy were Henry himself and the imperious Lady Mary (to whose retinue Mr Ford incorrectly attaches Kat: she was actually an attendant to her own predecessor, Anne of Cleves.) And while Kat's final speech was incredibly moving, it was also incredibly unlikely. I spent far too much time admiring the speeches in this book (and thinking they would be well adapted for the stage) rather than enjoying the narrative thread, which might explain why it took me so long to finish this.

If you can overlook the cringe-inducing historical misrepresentations, The Fifth Queen is a great stylistic triumph. And though I said I would spare you too much literary theory, I have to add that forewords to books like this have uniformly irritated me of late. Knowing nothing of the contents or the author, having A. S. Byatt yammer on and on about both topics at the start of the book is just confusing. But going back to her essay after reading the book is an illuminating experience. Why don't publishers tack these things on to the end of books? It's a much better reading experience that way. After all, who reads literary criticism before reading the novel in question? (I mean, besides you guys, but that's because you enjoy my little diatribes.) I expect forewords to build my interest in the story I'm about to read (see: Walpole's first introduction to The Castle of Otranto though, granted, not his second.)

I received this book gratis as part of GoodReads' First Reads program.

Edited to change the phrase "literary criticism" to "literary theory" because there is a difference!

[Lorileinart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published in the 60's, long before Phillipa Gregory, Ford Madox Ford was cooking up stories about the Desperate Housewives of Windsor Castle.

[bookstories_travels🪐 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Y por fin puedo decir que he leído uno de mis eternos pendientes. Para cualquiera que me conozca mínimamente no es ningún secreto la obsesión que tengo desde que soy pequeña con la dinastía Tudor, concretamente por el reinado de Enrique VIII y las dramaticas existencias de sus seis esposas. De ahí que resulte un tanto sorprendente que haya tardado tanto en hincarle el diente a esta novela, la cual llevaba bastante tiempo cogiendo polvo en mi estantería. E esto ha tenido mucho que ver también que, una vez más, me ha dado por oír las canciones de él que creo que es uno de mis musicales preferidos de la vida “Six”, una obra en la que al son de canciones pop estas seis reinas se reivindican como mujeres de carne y hueso frente al papel que les dio la historia y el matrimonio. Además de todo esto, también ha sido mi primera toma de contacto con Ford Madox Ford, Un escritor que también tenía pendiente desde hace muchísimo tiempo, y que tiene algunas obras que me llaman mucho la atención. Y tengo que decir que después de esta lectura no tengo muchas dudas de que no vaya a ser la última vez que me topé de frente con este autor.

Publicada originalmente como una serie de tres entregas independientes , en “ La Quinta Reina” conoceremos una versión verídica, que no cien por cien veraz, del reinado de la antepenúltima esposa de Enrique VIII, Catalina Howard, desde que la joven conoce al rey hasta el amargo final de su matrimonio . Y digo lo de verídico pero no veraz, porque Ford Madox Ford se toma muchas licencias históricas, creando una trama que perfectamente pudo pasar, pero que no fue así en la realidad. En ese sentido me ha recordado inmensamente a los trabajos de mi adorado y admirado Alejandro Dumas, y a su célebre frase "La historia es un clavo sobre el que cuelgo mis historias”. Al igual que el francés, Madox Ford compone una historia en la que usa sin pudor personajes y hechos históricamente exactos, y los une con otros ficticios, manejando ese popurri para crear una obra en la que la ficción modifica o embellece la realidad, según él considere. Así que si alguien se anima a leer este libro que quede avisado que no espere un tratado histórico, sino una novela histórica ficcionalizada.

Si hay algo que creo que tengo que destacar de esta lectura es que no he podido dejar de pensar en ella como si fuera la hermana mayor o antecesora de la célebre trilogía de Cromwell escrita por la solvente y maravillosa Hillary Mantel.Y no solo por la forma en que las dos obras presentan al personaje de Cromwell, como un ser sumamente inteligente y complejo, capaz de hacer cualquier cosa con el poder, pero firmemente convencido de que está actuando según lo que él considera mejor para Inglaterra y para el rey, siendo un carácter al que hasta sus propios enemigos no pueden evitar respetar. Entre ambas obras, insisto, hay muchos otros puntos en común, como el sentido shakesperiano de sus diálogos y de sus personajes, que superan lo meramente anecdótico o simple, para presentarse como seres muy complejos, finamente definidos y llenos de claroscuros. La corte de Enrique es un lugar peligroso y sombrío pese a su aparente belleza estética, escenario de un juego de tronos en el que las traiciones y las conspiraciones están a la orden del día y en la que no se puede confiar en nada y en nadie. Y eso se nota a medida que va sucediéndose la obra, especialmente en el ultimo cuarto del tercer libro, cuando la atmósfera se va volviendo más pesada y la sensación de caída y peligro se va agudizando.

El foco que más cambia con la realidad es la propia Catalina Howard. En la novela se nos presenta como una joven intelectual, amante y conocedora de los autores clásicos, compasiva , inteligente y dueña de sí misma. Y trágica y totalmente comprometida con el resurgimiento de la antigua fe (el catolicismo)en una Inglaterra ferozmente dividida tras la aparición del anglicanismo en la isla de la mano del propio Enrique, como bien sabido es. Nuestra protagonista es una heroína trágica de pies a cabeza, condenada por sus férreos principios, su inteligencia y su belleza, y destinada a ser el objeto de todo tipo de conspiraciones por parte de uno u otro bando.

Nada más lejos que la auténtica Catalina Howard. Si hay algo vital para entender este vídeo libro es diferenciar entre la Catalina ficticia y la original. Una original por la que reconozco que siempre he sentido cierta debilidad por esta reina de entre de todas las esposas de Enrique VIII.

Porque siendo apenas una adolescente capto la atención de un rey 40 años mayor que ella, gordo y gotoso, con una herida terrible en la pierna que hacía que su humor fuera imprevisible, y que se había divorciado una vez, habia mandado decapitar a una de sus esposas y no dudo en volver a divorciarse de otra para poder casarse con la propia Catalina, la cual tendría entre 17 o 20 años en el momento de la boda. Para , apenas dieciocho meses después, ser decapitada cuando le fuera imputado el delito de adulterio con un noble (ese primo Culpepper que en la novela se nos presenta como un patan enfermizo y borracho, pero ciegamente enamorado de ella) y al descubrirse que presumiblemente antes de casarse mantuvo relaciones sexuales con otros dos hombres bastante más mayores que ella, llegando a tener con uno de ellos un precontrato (para quienes no lo sepan: en la época Tudor, un un precontrato era prácticamente como un matrimonio legítimo, y más si era seguido de la debida consumación de la relación)

A esta Catalina real y humana, a diferencia de su alter ego novelístico, las intrigas religiosas o políticas no le podían interesar menos, y lo intelectual ya ni te digo. Solo era una chica que de la noche a la mañana se encontró aupada a lo más alto del poder, después de una vida como una de las hijas más jóvenes de un noble con más vastagos y linaje que posibilidades económicas. De ahí que acabase al cuidado de una familiar que no debió prestarle mucha atención durante su infancia, vistos los presuntos deslices que cometió en su juventud antes de llegar a la corte Tudor. Resulta chocante si lees el libro, pero la autentica Catalina era risueña e inocente hasta lo absurdo, casi lo único que le interesaba era tener trajes bonitos, cantar y bailar. Básicamente, la muchacha no era ninguna maquina de conspiraciones políticas o religiosas, pero tampoco es que quisiese hacerle ningún daño a nadie y, posiblemente, no le fue infiel a su regio esposo. La pretendida relación sexual con Culpepper, según algún que otro historiador, no paso de lo meramente platonico. De hecho, la principal prueba que se encontró para imputarla fue una carta que la joven le escribió a su supuesto amante. Resulta enternecedor, primero por la execrable ortografía de la muchacha (no era tan culta como nos la presentan el libro, no. Pero también os digo una cosa: para la época bastante era que sabía escribir con cierta soltura. Así que eso que nos dicen en la novela de que leía y escribía latín y griego maravillosamente, y de que tenía tanta iniciativa como para aprender por su cuenta alemán y practicarlo una hora al día, iros olvidándoos. Bastante tenía la muchacha con escribir medianamente decente su idioma natal. y segundo, por la dependencia emocional y afectiva que demuestra para con Culpepper.

Más que la prueba definitiva de un adulterio, creo que podemos verla como la prueba definitiva de una adolescente que, por primera vez en su vida, podía pasárselo realmente bien, y a la que le faltaban tablas, experiencia e inteligencia para enfrentarse al tablero político y a las intrigas cortesanas en las que los hombres que la rodeaban la metieron egoístamente de cabeza. Y también, le falto alguien que se preocupase realmente por ella y la cuidase. Y que queréis que os diga, puedo empatizar mil veces más con esta Catalina que con la protagonista de la novela que nos ocupa. Es cierto que se trata de un personaje que, desde el primer momento, el lector es plenamente consciente que está por encima del resto de personajes que la acompañarán en la crónica de su auge y caída. desde el primer momento hay algo de mártir en ella, como si ya desde su primera aparición estuviera condenado a ser una de esas santas que mártires que tanto quiere que vuelvan a ser veneradas en su Inglaterra natal. Y con ello podría ser una protagonista que no resultase empática o no cayera bien al lector. Y algo de ello hay, para que mentir. A veces resulta demasiado perfecta y demasiado pesada con lo de llevar a Inglaterra al redil de Roma de nuevo, haciéndose difícil tragarla. Pero a la vez, veo que uno de los grandes puntos fuertes de esta lectura es la manera en que el autor sabe como humanizarla de manera convincente. Es cierto que esta Catalina es increíblemente culta para su edad, tiene una elegancia y una majestad innata, es preciosa, y la mayoría de hombres que la conocen o quieren destruirla o la aman apasionadamente. Pero no por ello deja de tener ciertos defectos, ya que no es ajena al orgullo que le supone su gran inteligencia y la posibilidad de poder ser reina y llevar a su país por lo que ella considera “el buen camino”; ademas peca de ser demasiado ingenua, recta y terca. Y al final, “ La Quinta Reina” no deja de ser la epopeya de una joven que es moral e intelectualmente superior a todo cuantos la rodean, marcada por sus convicciones y su amor por los clásicos …y por Enrique VIII. Unas pasiones que al final no serán correspondidas. El gran drama de la Kat Howard de Ford Madox Ford no es que Inglaterra no vaya nunca a volver a ser católica. Es que la realidad en la que vive y la persona a la que ama desmesuradamente acaban por decepcionarla totalmente, hastiandola e, incluso, asqueandola. Varios personajes, le dicen a lo largo de los tres libros que ella no ha nacido para la época en la que le ha tocado vivir. Y tienen toda la razón del mundo. Es demasiado bondadosa, demasiado sensible y demasiado idealista para soportar la forma en que, desde que pone el pie por primera vez en palacio, acaba envuelta en una serie de intrigas que no dejarán de ir creciendo a lo largo de las tres novelas. Y todo para que al final todos cuando la rodean acaben por decepcionarla, especialmente un Enrique débil y egoísta que, pese a todas sus promesas y buenas intenciones, al final se descompone a si mismo al quedar claro que es el peor y más implacable intrigador de todos .

Maddox Ford ha compuesto una historia muy creíble mezclando realidad con ficción, en la que destaca su contexto histórico, su sentido de la narrativa y la atmosfera de tensión y peligro con la que logra recrear una corte Tudor plagada de intrigas, conspiraciones y luchas enconadas por la religión y el poder. La recreación histórica es excelente en cuanto a datos e información de la época, económica, política y socialmente. Y todo lográndose trasladar al lector a la situación de inestabilidad y cambios en la que estaba sumida el reino con la llegada del anglicanismo a sus fronteras. El autor sabe cómo hacer que el lector sienta en propia carne los disturbios que supuso este cambio, la manera en que trajo guerras internas, disputas religiosas y grandes problemas a nivel internacional. Situaciones que muchas veces podemos olvidar del reinado de Enrique VIII, ya que la gente suele quedarse con las leyendas historias en torno a sus seis matrimonios.

Como narrador su pluma me ha parecido muy elegante, llena de más vericuetos de lo que puede parecer a simple vista con una sola lectura. De todas formas, tengo que decir que se nota mucho que esta trilogía es hija de su tiempo. En muchas ocasiones sus personajes y sus situaciones me han resultado excesivamente dramáticos, las motivaciones de los personajes me han parecido bastante simplistas muchas veces, y hay situaciones que me han parecido que se cerraban de una forma muy poco realista, más enfocadas en impactar al lector o en hacerles sufrir que en que los personajes resultaron sensatos o mínimamente realistas. De todas formas, para mí ha habido dos grandes problemas con esta lectura que han impedido que sea redonda: Por un lado, creo que ha sido terriblemente arrítmica, en el sentido que se mezclaban escenas muy interesantes e intensas, o en las que pasaban muchas cosas, con otras en las cuales los personajes se dedicaban simplemente hablar o a conspirar, que revelaban mucho de sus motivaciones y personalidades, si, pero que ralentizaban mucho la trama e impedían que está realmente avanzase o se le sacase todo el jugo posible. Algo terrible en una historia bastante pausada, en la que no pasan grandes cosas. Es decir, en muchas ocasiones notaba que se hablaba demasiado y se hacía poquita cosa, por lo cual muchas veces me ha resultado una lectura un tanto pesada. Y lo segundo que más me ha desagradado, creo que ha sido que, a grandes rasgos, me ha quedado una sensación amarga al cerrar esta novela, en el sentido de que sentido que ha sido un poco viaje a ninguna parte. No sé si esto se debe a que yo ya conocía como iba a ser el final de la historia de antemano, pero no he notado nada que me haya sorprendido realmente, ni he percibido que Ford Maddox usé la ficción novelística para mejorar significativamente la realidad o hacerla más interesante. De hecho, ese último diálogo entre Catalina y Enrique con el que se cierra la historia me ha parecido una autentica maravilla (tengo que decir, que en general, las últimas escenas de cada uno de los tres libros me ha parecido lo más destacable de la lectura) en cuanto a como el autor plasma una sensación de final de ciclo amarga y contundente, que deja al lector con una sensación de compasión por Catalina indescriptible. Y todo, para que inmediatamente, en un breve párrafo, se nos informe del previsible y trágico final de la Reina. Echo en falta que se hubiera ahondado más en su cautiverio y ejecución. Así me queda la sensación de un final un tanto precipitado, por más impactante que haya sido esa escena final entre los dos cónyuges.

Al principio de la reseña os he mencionado el musical de “Six”. Tengo que admitir que quizás uno de los motivos por los que sienta tanta debilidad por Catalina Howard es porque una de mis canciones favoritas de la obra es la que está dedicada a esta reina, "All You Wanna Do" . En ella se nos presenta a Catalina como víctima de abusos sexuales por parte de cada uno de las cuatro hombres que marcaron su vida, con el consiguiente trauma que esto generó en ella. Mientras leía “La Quinta Reina” no podía dejar de pensar en esta canción, y no solo por motivos obvios: si hay algo que me ha gustado mucho de la escritura de Ford Maddox Ford es la manera tan avanzada en que reivindica el papel de la mujer en una sociedad cerrada, llena de prejuicios de todo tipo, y obtusamente patriarcal. Una sociedad de la que Catalina Howard (auténtica, ficticia ¿qué más dará?) fue una de tantas víctimas, ya fuera como objeto de deseo y abuso por parte de los hombres, ya sea porque sus principios y su propia fuerza la hicieran tener una muerte ignominiosa ante el verdugo. Las dos Catalinas, la de Ford Maddox Ford y la joven que existió en realidad (bueno tres si se cuenta la del musical), al final pagaron un gran precio por los deseos y la avaricia de los hombres que la rodean. Y creo que eso es lo que más me ha dado de pensar de toda esta lectura.

[Nicole · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Fifth Queen

The Fifth Queen trilogy came by while I was browsing on amazon. It sounded interesting enough for me to read. I was hoping to get an 'Reign' (serie about Mary Queen of Scots) vibe from it. This was an very disappointing read. I couldn't get past the old language use and the plot was confusing and boring.

[Steph Post · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very different- a modernist take on historical fiction- but very interesting. Highly recommended if you're already familiar with the style....

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s pretty clear that Ford’s trilogy about Katherine Howard had a huge influence on Mantel’s trilogy about Cromwell. Not only does the latter end where the former begins but Mantel evidently drew inspiration for her characterization of players common to both stories, notably but not limited to Cromwell himself and Mary Tudor. I can find no place where she acknowledges her debt but as I noted in my review of her third book, acknowledging debts is not her strong suit. Ford’s books are much better, so I recommend this volume both to Mantel lovers who want more and those who were disappointed with Mantel but want a thoughtful novel about the period.

[Siobhan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This definitely wasn't near as good as Philippa Gregory, but it was Okay. 2.75⭐s rounding up

[Dianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in 1926. The story of Katherine Howard and her entry into the court of Henry VIII.

Is some respects Ford Madox Ford reminds me of Hilary Mantel. He uses an impressionistic technique of building up a collage of scenes and vignettes to produce a picture of a cold, dark, dirty and dangerous court where Thomas Cromwell is fighting to keep control in the aftermath of the fiasco of Henry's marriage to Ann of Cleves. Cromwell places Katherine, a papist, the court of Mary Tudor, as an unwilling spy, and parades her before Henry to take his mind off the problem of his new wife. Katherine is an unwilling pawn, and out of her depth in this world of real politik.

His prose style is deliberately archaic, trying to take the novel period back to Shakespeare. Despite this it is a gripping read. The only criticism I have read is one of fact - that the conventional image of Katherine is of a young, flighty, naive girl, whereas Ford Madox Ford portrays her as a rather clever young woman, aware of the danger surrounding her.

This is the first book in a trilogy.

[Perry Whitford · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I thought, this a virtue-mad Queen. She shall most likely fall!"

You won't find many history books accusing Katherine Howard of being virtue-mad, much as her mistress, The Lady ('Bloody') Mary, does in the final part of Ford's trilogy about Henry's fifth queen.

Far from it, in fact. History suggests that Howard was a flighty, frivolous young woman, a good-time girl who was unfaithful to the king, taking a lover in the dashing Thomas Culpepper as soon as Henry's back was turned, swiftly losing her head for it.

In this superb three-part historical romance about her rise and fall, the always impressive Ford Madox Ford seems to have confused her with Henry's sixth wife, Catherine Parr. The key word here though is 'romance', so Ford has perfect license to play with the facts.

His Katherine then is highly principled and educated, speaks several languages and is a brilliant Latinist, committed to the ideal of truth she found in reading Lucian and Seneca as a child.

The story begins as Henry VIII is about to marry his fourth wife, the plain-faced Anne of Cleeves. Katherine Howard comes to court from Lincolnshire, engages the King's eye and is placed in the service of his Catholic daughter, The Lady Mary.

Instantly Katherine finds herself at the centre of plots and counter-plots, inflated into Henry's latest mistress, cultivated as a spy by the Lord Privy Seal, Thomas Cromwell, likewise by the beleaguered Catholics, for she is committedly "for the Old Faith in the old way'.

I had intended to only read the first part of this trilogy, but was so engrossed in the story and Ford's felicity with character and plot that I simply had to read the rest of it. The narrative is also rich in detail, even down to the sleeping droughts of the ladies of court, 'a potion composed of the juice of nightshade and an infusion of churchyard moss. '

I also enjoy his convincing yet unobstrusive use of the period's idioms of speech, particularly the gently endearing terms of affection or abuse, such as 'roaring boys', 'Madam Spitfire', 'my dandery thing' and 'the sturdiest rogue with a yard of tongue to wag.'

And how about this for a description of Henry VII, delivered by John Throckmorton, one of two competing spies who play pivotal roles in the plot across all three books:

'His Highness,' Throckmorton said, 'God preserve him and send him good fortune—is a great and formidable club. His Highness is a most great and most majestic bull. He is a thunderbolt and a glorious light; he is a storm of hail and a beneficent sun. There are few men more certain than he when he is certain. There is no one so full of doubts when he doubteth. There is no wind so mighty as he when he is inspired to blow; but God alone, who directeth the wind in its flight, knoweth when he will storm through the world. "

In the second part of the trilogy, Privy Seal, Thomas Culpepper, made into Katherine's cousin and the playmate of her youth, holds the key to a mad dash which will end with Katherine on the throne and Thomas Cromwell on the block.

The final part, titled the Fifth Queen Crowned, ends with the fifth queen beheaded. as she soon discovers that no one but Henry wants her, precisely because of her incorruptibility.

Cromwell hated and feared her, but he is now out of the way. However, the Protestants hate and fear her as a Papist set on converting the king back to the old faith, while the Papists at court hate and fear her because she will make them give up the gains they stole during the Dissolution.

Katherine's final speech to Henry, in which she places herself above the politics and refuses to refute the claims of inconstancy brought against her by an unlikely alliance of her enemies, is truly stirring and one of the best of its kind I think.

I have read a fair few historical romances from the Edwardian era, the most of which had barely outgrown the rosy-spectacled variety churned out a hundred years before by Walter Scott.

Don't get me wrong, I like Scott, but Ford transcends him here, achieving something closer to our own contemporary version of the genre.

Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall is an obvious comparison, though they present a very different take on Thomas Cromwell.

If you liked that, try this.

[Eva · Rating 3 out of 5]

En stark 3a. - Roman om Henrik VIII:s femte hustru, Katherine Howard. Henriks 1500-tal måste vara bland det populäraste inom populärfiktion. Det finns väl flera versioner av det mesta, i synnerhet Anne Boylen har väl varit ett kärt ämne. Tydligen var hon liksom Katheine medlemmar av samma adliga släkt, och båda blev halshuggna på order av den svartsjuka kungen.

Vad som är sant eller inte kan vi nog aldrig sluta oss till. Historien skrivs av segrarna. Ford Madox Ford har skrivit en roman om intrigerna vid hovet, och vill vända på vad vi tror oss veta. Och det är intrigerna som gör att alla vrider på sanningen, som Katherine säger till kungen på slutet, 'som en kyrktupp för vinden'. Katherine har gått till historien som 'otrogen' men framställs i denna roman som det motsatta, överdrivet katolskt religiös, som försöker omvända tillbaka Henrik till katolicismen. Vilket gjorde att hon inte hann vara drottning mer än ett drygt år.

Ford Madox Ford var en aktiv skribent, lär ha skrivit ca 80 böcker på ca 40 år, förutom tidningsverksamhet. Han var i kontakt med tidens stora, som Thomas Hardy, Joseph Conrad, John Galsworthy m.fl. 'The Fifth Queen' var ursprunglingen uppdelad i tre kortromaner, varav den första var dedicerad till Joseph Conrad, som tyckte om den, även om han samtidigt ansåg att den historiska romanen var en döende genre. Jag inte ser det ut som om det är en döende genre.

Boken är lättläst genom att det huvudsakligen fylls av dialog, dialog mellan personer med motsatta ståndpunkter. Boken blir också svårläst om man inte är insatt i 1500-talets historia, eller ska vi säga historier? Då kan man behöva slå upp några av de historiska personerna för att få en viss överblick, även om deras agerande då inte stämmer med vad som skrivs i romanen. Ford Madox Fords stil, med vissa karaktärers arkaiska sätt att uttrycka sig (lite som i Shakespears språk), finns där för att skapa tidskänsla, och gör det, om man inte stör sig på ålderdomligt språk.

Boken har alltså inga beskrivningar att tala om, vilket lättar upp stilen, men kan också göra historien i sig förvirrande. Men som sagt, har man redan sätt några kostymdramer på TV eller film, från den här tiden, så hjälper det att frammana miljön, och hänga med i intrigerna

Jag har tidigare inte läst särskilt mycket om tiden, men får i denna bok mer inblick i till exempel Lady Mary, dotter till Henrik och första drottningen, Katharine av Aragonien. Som lär ha förblivit hatisk mot sin far för skilsmässan och avsteget från Katolicismen. Dessutom finns den fjärde drottningen Anne of Cleve med i boken, parallellt, eftersom det var ett ännu kortare 'äktenskap' som annulerades, till Katherine Howards förmån. Och förmån för Anne, som blev tacksamt betraktad som kär släkting, och fick slott att bo på, och överlevde alla andra hustrur och Henrik själv.

[Sarah Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This trio of novellas packaged as a single novel is a Modernist take on historical fiction and in it Ford challenged himself to write in the style of the time period. Principally composed of dialogue, the plot follows the rise and fall of Henry VIII's fifth marriage to the teenage Katherine Howard, who in this novel finds herself embroiled in court politics as she seeks to lead political and religious change.

Although I had several frustrations with this work, my primary one was the gross historical misrepresentations. According to the historical record and virtually every other fictional depiction ever encountered, Katherine Howard was a largely uneducated, foolish, and morally loose teenager. Never has she been described as scholarly or devout, yet Ford imagines her as both. In this novel, Ford has made her a pious champion of her religious beliefs who is cruelly persecuted and misrepresented to the court and greater society by her foes and political opponents. It was difficult for me to suspend my disbelief as the Katherine presented in these pages was so vastly different from everything I know to be true about the historical figure of Katherine Howard.

Furthermore, although admiral and well done, the writing style, which intends to mimic that of the time period, made this a relatively difficult and slow read. The heavy reliance on dialogue also made this read more like a play than a novel, as all action is through character's descriptions rather than much descriptive text.

A unique take on historical fiction that far predates the vast majority of published historical fiction. Ford did a credible job at replicating the speech of Londoners in the mid 1500s and presented a unique take on Katherine Howard's characterization. However, the historical inaccuracies and slow moving pace ultimately outweighed the pros of this book for me.

[Doreen Petersen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well I thought this book would have far more detail than it did but I did enjoy it. Makes me want to read more about the wives of Henry VIII.

[Ruby Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an impressive work of historical fiction. It was not an easy read for me, but I felt awed by the author’s prowess most of the way through.

What struck me was how the author was able to present an interpretation of history while keeping it “misty”—there’s still much left to the reader to interpret, and it gives me pause as I think about generally accepted historical narratives. The characters are there, and I see their actions, but their motivations are hidden. It’s similar in reading the book. Someone called it impressionistic in style. It definitely was, from the many plots and counter plots, double agents, to descriptions of Henry Tudor, to the very language (the author used era-appropriate dialogue and even the narrator’s vocabulary is antiquated, on purpose, so that the reader is constantly needing to interpret both narrative and dialogue).

I can’t say I loved this book, but I am glad I read it and I’d like to read more of this author.

[Peter Ellwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

After a brief moment of hesitation at the start, I found this a wonderful piece of fiction. I came to it via The Good Soldier and Parades End: fully prepared therefore to find myself reading a masterpiece.

I was fleetingly disappointed over those first few chapters. But not for long. Once I got into his rhythm, he swept me away. My God, the man could write. His prose simply sweeps you along and you begin to believe every word he uses, painting his picture of the court in Tudor times. It feels so real!

It’s worth stressing that it’s not. I’ve seen quite a few reviews that focus – one might even say, obsess – about whether he takes liberties or doesn’t take liberties, with historical fact. If you come to this novel in order to make comparisons with Hilary Mantel, or to worry whether Catherine Howard actually expressed this or that view, then you’re going to miss the essence of the book. It’s a brilliant – brilliant! – piece of fiction wrapped around, based on, the historical accounts of Thomas Cromwell and Catherine Howard herself. Do we know what he or she actually said on Tuesday morning in September 1539? No of course we don’t – and ultimately it doesn’t matter a hoot. What we’ve got is a stunning evocation of what is might have felt like, almost tasted like, to live in the Tudor court. And FMF does it wonderfully.

The subject matter lends itself to this treatment too. For me, there was something almost Shakespearian, Falstaffian, about the way he puts it together. The central plot hangs around the rise and fall of Catherine Howard (insistently, “Katherine” in the novel), and her relationship with a brooding, menacing Thomas Cromwell and his successors. As in Shakespeare, there are some jolly sub-plots which offer relief, comic and otherwise to the main theme. And as with Shakespeare, the central plot can only move forward in unison with the sub-plots which are central to its conclusion. Clever stuff. If I wavered in those first few chapters it was partly because FMF kicks off with some comic relief and I found myself wondering what was going on. But as I said, not for long.

The more I read, the more I found myself thinking this could be made so easily into a film. There’s something curiously visual about the novel; it feels like an extremely elegant movie script in a way. I’m conscious that comparison with the movies might be taken as a veiled insult and I stress that I don’t mean it that way: merely that it feels so vivid and immediate.

Another aspect where I changed my tune concerns FMF’s use of language. Initially I was marginally taken aback by his deliberate use of slightly ponderous, occasionally archaic, language . For example, in the first chapter:

“He was muttering to his son:

‘A stiff neck knows no mending, God shall break one day’.

His son, square, dark, with his sleeves rolled up showing immense muscles developed at the levers of his presses, bent his black beard and frowned his heavy brows above his printings.

‘Doubtless God shall break his engine when its work is done’ he muttered.

‘You call Privy Seal God’s engine?’ the old man quavered ironically.”

But the more the text continued the more ‘appropriate’ this language felt. If FMF had used contemporary English it would have been as out of place as those all-too common American accents in period dramas made in Hollywood. I was grateful to be reading a Kindle version of the novel (which meant I could simply click on the frequent impenetrable archaic words he employs: there were dozens I had never seen before, and nevertheless, dozens for which no translation was available).

I thought it rather slithered to a conclusion in the final sections, as if FMF had somehow grown impatient to get it finished. One minute the Queen was in the ascendant, about to be crowned; and the next, she was discredited and on her way out. And it was hard to discern the depths of characterisation that he achieved in his other works – by comparison Catherine Howard and the rest seemed more like ciphers (again, ripe for transferring to the movies perhaps). But I’m grateful for what I got all the same: remedying those elements would have made it a very long book and perhaps 600 pages is long enough for most. And the 600 pages already make it a masterpiece of a book, no doubt about that.

[David Butterworth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much is awash with historical bumff about the Tudors: biographies, scholarly works, novels, and movies, plays, TV min-series, and now with Hilary Mantel's ongoing triology concerning the life, career and rise of Thomas Cromwell (Wolf Hall, etc), shows what a popular and enduring epoch the dynasty is.
And this is what makes Ford Madox Ford's novels about Henry VIII's fifth queen, Katherine Howard, interesting. I stumbled on the trilogy while doing a bit of browsing on Gutenberg.org and immediately popped the books onto my kindle. The trilogy is featured on Gutenberg because the books were written way back in 1908, making them antiquated enough to be featured there.
Having read the first in the triology, I must say I think the author has captivated the essence of the period which is renowned for its juicy Machiavellian element: plotting, intrigue, treachery and treason, etc, and all the antecedent politicing and volatile self-preservation (however futile) that went with it, and then it portrays dark and violent aspects; dimly or dark passages, tunnels, an intent to commit assassination, threatening, and some such violence on the Continent.
Thomas Cromwell vis-a-vis the Lord Privy Seal, a title he got from Thomas Boleyn after he fell from favour after his (Boleyn's) daughter's destruction who was Henry's second wife, and because she was related to the Howard's through her mother, was also a cousin of Katherine's, is still in favour with Henry even though his audacious scheming to arrange a fourth marriage to Henry with a Protestant princess from the Germanic territories has proved disastrous. But his power and influence are on the wain, and the Catholic faction led by Katherine's uncle, the Duke of Norfolk, and by Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, is once more on the ascendancy, as their talk and pressure on Katherine to actively engage in plotting, signifies.
Ford portrays the role and Catholic antics of the Lady Mary, Henry's eldest daughter well: hard, twisted, aged or lined with not a glimmer of happiness which is understandable given what the poor creature went through along with her devotion to her mother, Henry's first wife, Katherine of Aragon and her forced separation from her daughter, and both being stripped of title, and rank, not to mention Mary being declared a bastard.
Another player, a guy called Nicholas Throckmorton is a spy and seemingly terrifies Katherine as he attempts to get her implicated in the plotting. So, this aspect of the period, as is its religious-political infighting is handled well.
Where the novel falls, however, is that Ford, because he wrote historical fiction, wanted to portay Katherine as somewhat learned or accomplished (much like her cousin Anne before her) and could speak Latin and, if I remember, has Throckmorton, I think, declaring her even more sophisticated than Mary which is a considerable departure from the traditonal recorded viewpoint as someone who was spoiled, vain, coquettish and silly and illiterate or semi-literate - someone like Lynn Frederick's portrayal of Katherine in the 1972 movie 'Henry VIII and His Six Wives.' It wasn't so much Katherine herself who had a taste for politics, intrigue and deceit, but those around her - her relatives who were closest to her.
Because it was written in the 1900's, I found the prose style somewhat cumbersome or clunky which made the need to re-read some paragraphs or sections. Closest to the Victorian era, I ironically found recent readings of 'Jane Eyre' and 'Oliver Twist' easier to read than Ford's writing style or prose.
Nevertheless, an accomplished handling of a period which fits in well with its fascination and enduring interest to the extent of making it an obsessive read.

[Edmund Bloxam · Rating 1 out of 5]

The very definition of nonsensical, as in 'what on earth is going on?', as in barely legible.

I read a lot of old stuff, properly old stuff. But the author seems to think that everyone in the sixteenth century spoke like they were in a Shakespeare play. Shakespeare wrote poetic language, not real language. So, in trying so slavishly to ape Shakespeare, Ford Forddyford Ford has given way to pretension.

Even in Shakespeare, I know what's going on. I confess I only read the first novella in this set of three. There didn't seem much point in reading the rest. In fact, I read it twice. I then concluded it was the book and not me.

It's all dialogue, with very few scenes actually being relevant. I'm all for decorative scenes-that's the art of novel writing. But chain after chain of dialogue...gibberish, meaningless dialogue...I read 250 pages and the entirety of what happened was 'there was a letter'.

Thomas Cromwell is ridiculously villainous, which is also a discredit to the book. Although it takes so unbearably long to express the most minor of gestures, I'm sure he becomes worse. I thought the scenes between Henry VIII and Katherine Howard would be more...well, more...they jabber about the garden or something, and then Henry seems to forget who she is. I mean, if he's gonna end up marrying her... Doubtless, had I persevered through reams and reams of garbage, I would eventually get to the 'wanna get hitched?' bit. So, when the characters interact, nothing happens, there aren't even personal feelings or anything, or any character development, bandied about-it's just complete nonsense.

There's scenes of Katherine running. From what? Who knows? And there's scenes where she is pulled into side doors (where is she? In the street? In a house? Up Forddyford's bottom?), and the two speakers seem bothered by something, although who knows what?)

Wilfully obscure. Wilfully, pretentiously difficult. This kind of arrogance is intolerable.

[Abigail Escobar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es una chulada leer libros históricos, y es que cuando te adentras a la vida de la realeza puedes darte cuenta que no se necesita ficción por que la vida real tiene un montón de drama digna de libros.
En fin, "La quinta Reina" narra la historia de Catalina Howard la quinta esposa del rey de Inglaterra, el famoso Enrique VIII, Ford Madox Fox te envuelve en una narrativa fácil de leer llena de drama, intriga y ¿amor?, el libro me ha parecido bueno obviamente cuando se leen estos libros de entrada ya sabes en que acabara todo pero es lindo conocer la perspectiva del autor, en mi opinión me ha parecido mas un fanfiction dado a que aquí Catalina Howard se me presenta mas como una victima valiente y con carácter osea que distorsiona toda mi perspectiva de lo que yo ya conocía de esta mujer, sobre todo el hecho de que aqui ella realmente ama a Enrique y pues ¡NO SEÑORES! ¡ELLA TENIA 17 AÑOS Y EL 50!! eso no es nada creíble, por lo mismo pese a que el libro me menciona a personajes que realmente existieron la realidad es que mucho de lo que menciono de estos no era completamente cierto o por lo menos no lo que yo conozco (hablo de Thomas Culpeper upps).
En conclusión "La quinta Reina" me ha parecido entretenido, ya saben detrás del trono todo puede suceder y es una delicia conocer lo que representa llegar a ser alguien con un puesto demasiado alto en un país o ciudad. Como sea la narrativa del autor es muy buena, es la primera vez que lo leo y he investigado un poco por lo tanto he encontrado algunos títulos que lo han hecho sobresalir así que estoy motivada a leer mas cosas de las que ha hecho ya que esta ha sido una buena experiencia.

[Jolie Fleming · Rating 5 out of 5]

Published between 1906-1908, Ford Maddox Ford rewrites the story of Henry the Eighth's fifth wife, Katharine Howard. Long portrayed as a silly girl/woman, interested only in parties, men, and sex, Mr. Maddox Ford writes her as a more serious person, a Latinist who is elevated to a position in the household of the Princess Royal, Mary, as well as an observant follower of the "old religion." In both cases, she seeks reconciliation between them and the King. Much of the dialogue is written in the vernacular of the 16th century which slowed this reader down. However although at first a bit off-putting, like reading or listening to a Shakespeare play, once the rhythm becomes established, I realized how effective the style was. The descriptions of the characters, the scenery, the machinations both for and against Katharine are well done.
So too are some of the observations made by the author: -"No good man shall believe what you do say," the Archbishop cried out, when hearing of lies about Katharine. "But a multitude of indifferent will." Or, in summing up the relationships between men of power and women - "Oh, God, what things we women are when a man rules us."
Is this an alternative history? Perhaps. Although, prominent British historian, Lucy Worsley, also has proffered a more nuanced portrayal of this Queen. If, as George G. Vest noted, "history is written by the victors and framed according to the prejudices and bias existing on their side," who is to say that Katharine's life story and legacy, as known to us, was not influenced by the mostly male writers of the time. Besides writing a strong historical tract, Ford Maddox Ford has given Katharine Howard, Henry's Fifth Queen, another look.

[Levent Mollamustafaoglu · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ford Madox Ford is an important 20th century author. This book is the first one in a trilogy covering the fifth wife of English King Henry the Eighth. King Henry is of course notorious for having six king consorts, three of which were his wife's and his other three marriages were annulled by the Church. While he was married to Catherine of Aragone, he had an affair with Mary Boleyn, then another adder with Anne Boleyn. The inability to resolve his earlier marriage to Catherine (due to the Catholic faith not allowing this) resulted in his establishing the Church of England and denouncing Papal rule.

He was excommunicated by the Pope. Failing to get a male heir by Anne, he executed her and married Jayne Seymour. After Jayen Seymour died at childbirth, he was married to Anne of Cleves. Madox' book starts around the time Anne of Cleves is expected to arrive at Henry's court and focuses on Catherine Howard, who is to become Henry's fifth wife in the near future.

It looks like the content of the book is quite fictional, with all its real personages and imagined events. I must say I did not get too much out of the book. The style is free-flowing, but the story is not very interesting, possibly due to the fact that there is much more emphasis in history on the first four wives of Henry.

Ford wrote two more books to complete the trilogy, but it will be quite difficult to raise my interest enough to finish reading them, although I should try.

[Anamarija · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was going to buy some modernist books, like The Stranger and The Plague etc, when I went on a free shopping spree (aka I went to Project Gutenberg) and saw this under the new arrivals. I wanted to read this ever since I found out that they exist (4 whole months). At one point, I even took it out of the library while I was still studying in England.

Did I mention I have an artistic crush on FMF? He is my modernist bae.

Either way, these books totally threw my plans out of the window and like a geek I am, I was super excited to spend my holiday reading about King Henry VIII’s fifth wife.

And I was kinda disappointed. It was good, it was interesting but for some reason it felt like a play with extended descriptions. He got the language right, but it felt like he got the rest wrong. It was incongruous and distracted me from the plot, that to be honest I still don’t get. Who are these people, what kind of plot are they trying to not uncover?
Like huh?

Will read this until the end, but I get why people much prefer Parade’s End. That book is amazing and mind blowing. This is his teenage work in comparison, that he wrote to impress his history teacher and he gave him an F because the plot is 99% made up.
 

[Trisha · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm fascinated with this period of English history (Henry VIII)and so I was curious about this book about Katherine Howard. But after plodding along through the first 100 pages or so I've decided to abandon it entirely. (life is too short to read books that don't grab me.) The main problem with this one is that unless you're really up to date on the politics of the period it's impossible to keep everything straight.

[April · Rating 1 out of 5]

SO I usually do not write a review until I'm finished with the book, but I am posting at over halfway through that I love Historical Fiction and detest historical language.

Well I finished it and still didn't really like it. I did find the political manuverings interesting, but knowing the fact that Kat Howard was nothing like this written version really kept my BS meter up and took me out of the story everytime she spoke.

[Tiffany · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit too old-fashioned for me, the dialogue was too gadzooks and methinks for me to really enjoy. I recognize that historical fiction has changed quite a bit since Ford's time, but I just couldn't get much further than most of the way through the first book.

[Kara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow. Ford has somehow managed to make Tudor life booooooring!

[Caitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this book in a good reads first reads giveaway contest. I'm really looking forward to reading this book as I am a big fan of the tudors.

[Pam Hulse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard to keep up with all the plots and counter plots. Looking forward to Elizabeth Klett recording for Librivox the next two books in the trilogy.

[Greg]

The rule of 4 holds: fewer than 4 stars on Goodreads means "probably a pretty good book."

This book was a romance that leaves you feeling really bad for everyone involved, written with FMF's knack for character and his (I think) enlightened way of avoiding long passages of dialogue, despite his novels essentially amounting to 6-7 long scenes of various groups of people talking in various places at various times. He's like Shakespeare in that way.

As historical fiction, the outcome of the story is not in question, and for that reason I think it might be helpful to someone who hasn't reviewed their English "New Monarchs" in a few decades to familiarize themselves with the list of characters BEFORE getting too far into the book. If you don't know really what Henry VIII is famous for, who his wives were, who came after him, what THEY did, what the differences are between Catholicism and Anglicism, etc., then a lot of the implied character tensions and motivations are going to be obscure for a good chunk of the book.

The next thing you should do to enjoy the book is to think always in terms of characters, self-image, and relationship, and not plot. The plot contains all of about 6 events across 3 books. Katherine arrives at court in the company of vulgar cousin and runs into the King. The King does not like his wife and does like Katherine, so a pretext is found to send this problematic cousin away. It would be to one of the major character's advantage to have this cousin return, and it would be to the disadvantage of other characters. This is pretty much the entire plot of the first two books. So if you think that hearing people talk about the dangers and benefits of these events and whether and how to resist or enable them is not enough for a book to go on, then this probably isn't going to work for you.

But I recommend it, I really enjoyed it. Throckmorton, God bless you. We do it all for love.

And I'm surprised that so many people were frustrated by the language. It is English. I thought it was a lot of fun. Body of God!

[Mar Blasco · Rating 1 out of 5]

Al principio le había puesto tres estrellas: Aunque no es un libro aburrido, la lectura es exageradamente pesada. Los personajes hablan como si fuesen personajes de Shakespeare (no en el buen sentido) y la acción importante está implícita en los diálogos. Así que tienes que andas descifrando lo que piensan, lo que dicen y a quien apoyan. Aun así, me parecía que las escenas estaban bien escogidas y que los personajes eran realistas y bien reflejados.

PERO, luego he leído un poco sobre los protagonistas, Katherine Howard especialmente, y el libro no refleja nada la historia. Nada es nada: lo que es falso en el libro es verdad en el libro y viceversa. Esto no es una cuestión de interpretación, porque incluso datos históricos (como a quien entró a servir Katherine Howard en la Corte) también están mal.

En fin, que si un libro es tedioso, largo, engañoso y no da la información adecuada cuando pretende reflejar la historia…. No entiendo cual es la decisión del autor para escribir así, no se qué pretende vender. Si pudiera le pondría un cero. No lo recomiendo.

[Brian Hanson · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are difficulties in this 1906-08 series of novels about the life at court of Henry VIII's fifth wife, Catherine Howard. It is wordy, reading like a stage play at times. It sometimes veers off into cod-Shakespearian efforts to punctuate the high games with the partial (and unfunny) musings of the lowly. But it illuminates an aspect of Thomas Cromwell's last days that Hilary Mantel completely ignores. Also, there is a willingness here to trust readers to follow the ins and outs of European politics - far more than Mantel does - giving the reader a much firmer grasp of what transpired over the hapless Anne of Cleves. Mantel seems to believe in the old canard about her being unpleasant to the eye and the touch, while - as in so many other matters - Ford sets it within the context of a Europe torn apart by reforming passions. For those with the stomach for an old-fashioned historical series, I would highly recommend this one.