An Unchaste Life: Memoir of a Tudor Queen

by Anne Cato

Cato pens an evocative and provocative fictional account of the life of Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of King Henry VIII. Thrust by her ambitious relatives into the glittering orbit of the mighty Tudor monarch, Catherine was bound to beguile him with her passion, sensuality, and vibrant youth even as the shadow of the executioner's ax fell over her.

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

248 pages, Paperback

First published July 31, 2006

Reviews

[Meaghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was way, way, WAY too much sex in this book and it was way, way, WAY too explicit. It was like watching The Tudors -- or reading Harlequin Romance. I am not against explicit sex scenes in principal, but in this book they became a crutch and started to get very annoying.

However, I also found much to like about the book. Catherine Howard had more intelligence, spirit and personality than historians and most fiction writers have granted her, and I also liked Cato's characterization of Catherine's enigmatic and thoroughly creepy uncle, the Duke of Norfolk. And the book had reasonably good historical accuracy.

I would recommend this book to fellow Tudor junkies.

[Katiekitten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cato blends careful hisorical research with an intimate character study of Catherine Howard, and throws in some other fascinating character studies to boot. In fact, this book is almost all about character, which makes it different from other books focusing on this era. Every character is well-rounded and interesting -- Catherine's uncle the Duke hooks you, and Cato has nailed the King. Would love to see this author and this book in the hands of a good agent and publisher.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though we know how her story ends, we don't know all that much about the early life of Katherine Howard. This book takes the view that the passions of her earlier life became the undoing of the queen.

[Helen Azar · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't finish this one... Reads like a really bad romance novel. I guess I should have given it a chance before I gave it one star, but I just couldn't read on!