Dear Henry: Confessions of the Queens

by Judith Arnopp

There has been much written of Henry VIII of England, everyone knows of his struggle for a male heir, his divorces, the beheadings, his quest for marital happiness. The motives for his actions have been examined and re-examined, and his wives have been the subject of countless romantic novels, films and television.In this pamphlet of VERY short fictional stories Judith Arnopp considers the position of Katherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard and Katherine Parr to consider, through their own eyes, the emotional effects of life with Henry and the traumatic ending to each marriage. You can read more about Henry's queens in Judith's full length novels. The Winchester Goose, The Kiss of the Concubine, Intractable Heart and A Song of Sixpence.PLEASE this is a revised edition of VERY short stories.Judith Arnopp graduated from the University of Wales, Lampeter in 2007 having gained a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature and Creative Writing and a Master of Art’s degree in Medieval Studies. She now combines those skills to write historical novels, reflecting the medieval period as experienced by women.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Tudor Period

26 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 3, 2011

About the author

.A lifelong history enthusiast and avid reader, Judith holds a BA in English/Creative writing and an MA in Medieval Studies.
She lives on the coast of West Wales where she writes both fiction and non-fiction based in the Medieval and Tudor period. Her main focus is on the perspective of historical women but she is currently writing a novel from a male perspective, that of Henry VIII himself.
Her novels include:
A Matter of Conscience: Henry VIII, the Aragon Years
A Matter of Faith: Henry VIII, the Days of the Phoenix
The Heretic Wind: the life of Mary Tudor, Queen of England
Sisters of Arden: on the Pilgrimage of Grace
The Beaufort Bride: Book one of The Beaufort Chronicle
The Beaufort Woman: Book two of The Beaufort Chronicle
The King’s Mother: Book three of The Beaufort Chronicle
The Winchester Goose: at the Court of Henry VIII
A Song of Sixpence: the story of Elizabeth of York
Intractable Heart: the story of Katheryn Parr
The Kiss of the Concubine: a story of Anne Boleyn
The Song of Heledd
The Forest Dwellers
Peaceweaver

Judith is also a founder member of a re-enactment group called The Fyne Companye of Cambria, and makes historical garments both for the group and others. She is not professionally trained but through trial, error and determination has learned how to make authentic looking, if not strictly HA, clothing.

Her non-fiction book, How to Dress Like a Tudor will be published by Pen and Sword in 2023,

You can find her group Tudor Handmaid on Facebook. You can also find her on Twitter and Instagram.
Webpage: www.judithmarnopp.com
Author page: author.to/juditharnoppbooks
Blog: http://juditharnoppnovelist.blogspot....


For more information please visit my website: www.judithmarnopp.com

author.to/juditharnoppbooks

Reviews

[Trejon Dunkley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Waste of three dollars.

[Kirsten Muller · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice, quick read that I think is fair and balanced to all of Henry's Queens

[Mirren Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historical fiction does not normally attract me. I am ashamed to say I have finished only one such novel in my time - The Flowers of the Forest by Elizabeth Byrd which I loved and have re-read. However, I downloaded this very short book to my Kindle and was hooked by the immediacy of the writing. No talk of battles or hackneyed Lord and peasant girl relationships, this was an insight into the minds of the six wives of Henry 8th. I don't know how accurate it may or may not be - and I don't much care either. History and reality can be quite remote from each other as we well know. I have started The Forest Dwellers now by the same author. Who knows - I might even venture into science fiction one day, now that I've moved outwith my comfort zone (Mirren)

[Afie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked it. I gave it two stars just because it was so short.

[Changey Mcsubject · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, it could have been longer, but not a bad 20 minute read.

[Sarah-Hope · Rating 1 out of 5]

An interesting idea for a story collection, but too underdeveloped and the characters too undifferentiated for it to be successful.

[MissyLynne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing.

[Mrs S Ruck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read

Brought the queens to life, wonderfully written and descriptive I would like to see more from this author. Brilliant and can't put it down

[Carolyn Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slightly disappointed. Stories are very short, bit too short. Took me about 1 hour to read the whole book.

[Jamie · Rating 1 out of 5]

What came first? This book or the finale of the series, "Tudors"'....