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The Marwood Family #5
His True Wife: Is it all over for Catherine of Aragon...?
Queens rise and fall at the Tudor court of Henry VIII! For fans of Philippa Gregory, Elizabeth Chadwick, Carol McGrath and Anne O’Brien.
Are the Marwoods falling out of favour…?
May 1529
Queen Catherine of Aragon is awaiting the start of the Legatine Court, summoned to pronounce on her marriage to King Henry VIII.
The queen asks her trusted lady-in-waiting, Thomasin Marwood, to attend for her, to be her eyes and ears throughout the proceedings.
But Thomasin has her own problems. Her sister Cecelia has fallen pregnant while her husband Sir Hugh Truegood is absent, and now the Marwoods are disgraced.
Thomasin is expecting a proposal of marriage from courtier Rafe Danvers, but she is worried this scandal could jeopardise things.
And when an old spark returns to court, she starts to wonder if she is making the right decision.
As Queen Catherine falls out of favour, those not on the side of the king’s mistress, Anne Boleyn, could be in danger.
Could this be the end for the Marwood family? Can Thomasin rescue her reputation?
And will the outcome of the royal marriage change the course of history forever…?
HIS TRUE WIFE is a page-turning historical drama set at the court of King Henry VIII and featuring Anne Boleyn. It is the fifth book in the Marwood Family Tudor Saga Series.
THE MARWOOD FAMILY TUDOR SAGA
Book Dangerous Lady
Book Troubled Queen
Book False Mistress
Book Lady of Misrule
Book His True Wife
Book Crowned Viper
Are the Marwoods falling out of favour…?
May 1529
Queen Catherine of Aragon is awaiting the start of the Legatine Court, summoned to pronounce on her marriage to King Henry VIII.
The queen asks her trusted lady-in-waiting, Thomasin Marwood, to attend for her, to be her eyes and ears throughout the proceedings.
But Thomasin has her own problems. Her sister Cecelia has fallen pregnant while her husband Sir Hugh Truegood is absent, and now the Marwoods are disgraced.
Thomasin is expecting a proposal of marriage from courtier Rafe Danvers, but she is worried this scandal could jeopardise things.
And when an old spark returns to court, she starts to wonder if she is making the right decision.
As Queen Catherine falls out of favour, those not on the side of the king’s mistress, Anne Boleyn, could be in danger.
Could this be the end for the Marwood family? Can Thomasin rescue her reputation?
And will the outcome of the royal marriage change the course of history forever…?
HIS TRUE WIFE is a page-turning historical drama set at the court of King Henry VIII and featuring Anne Boleyn. It is the fifth book in the Marwood Family Tudor Saga Series.
THE MARWOOD FAMILY TUDOR SAGA
Book Dangerous Lady
Book Troubled Queen
Book False Mistress
Book Lady of Misrule
Book His True Wife
Book Crowned Viper
- GenresHistorical Fiction
262 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 30, 2026
45 people are currently reading
10 people want to read
About the author
Amy Licence
43 books325 followersMedieval and Tudor historian, with a particular interest in women's lives and experiences, also dabble in Modernism. I write fiction and non-fiction, also journalism for The Guardian, BBC History website, The New Statesman, The Huffington Post, The English Review and The London Magazine. I appeared in TV documentaries "The Real White Queen and her Rivals" and "The Private Lives of the Tudors." Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 1, 2026
"Is it all over for Catherine of Aragon?" Not quite, but it's getting close in His True Wife. This newest book in the intriguing Tudor series by Amy License takes place in the long-awaited Legantine Court. Sounds boring? Au contraire! This is Divorce Court, Tudor style, and Henry VIII has no intention of losing.
"Our fates are tied to the men who choose us. We rise or fall with their favor." The stark differences between the lives of Catherine and Henry are even more pronounced in this book. Catherine has been cut off from her powerful family connections and is isolated within the court. Henry's life hasn't changed one bit, other than the inconvenience of his queen refusing to go to a nunnery.
The author cleverly uses her fictional characters in the Marwood family to give us inside views of fascinating historical characters. My favorites are Thomasin's friendship with Thomas More and his eldest daughter, Margaret Roper. There are big personal changes in store for Thomasin and her cousin Ellen in His True Wife, as well as unforeseen twists of fate for her family. Queen Catherine gives her some sage advice: "My blessings come with a warning. You are fortunate in being matched in love. Do not give the whole of your heart; keep a small part of it back for yourself. in case you might need it one day." I love this series and now wait for the release of the next book, Crowned Viper. (I hope that Thomasin remembers Queen Catherine's advice.)
"Our fates are tied to the men who choose us. We rise or fall with their favor." The stark differences between the lives of Catherine and Henry are even more pronounced in this book. Catherine has been cut off from her powerful family connections and is isolated within the court. Henry's life hasn't changed one bit, other than the inconvenience of his queen refusing to go to a nunnery.
The author cleverly uses her fictional characters in the Marwood family to give us inside views of fascinating historical characters. My favorites are Thomasin's friendship with Thomas More and his eldest daughter, Margaret Roper. There are big personal changes in store for Thomasin and her cousin Ellen in His True Wife, as well as unforeseen twists of fate for her family. Queen Catherine gives her some sage advice: "My blessings come with a warning. You are fortunate in being matched in love. Do not give the whole of your heart; keep a small part of it back for yourself. in case you might need it one day." I love this series and now wait for the release of the next book, Crowned Viper. (I hope that Thomasin remembers Queen Catherine's advice.)
February 8, 2026
The Marwood family is never dull!
Another outstanding adventure the Marwood family. This series is a wonderful read, embracing facts with fiction so smoothly that I often feel the Marwood family was real. All the historical facts makes the blend even more astounding. I usually spend time between books in the series reading the author's other historical books. Don't miss any of Amy Licence 's books!
Another outstanding adventure the Marwood family. This series is a wonderful read, embracing facts with fiction so smoothly that I often feel the Marwood family was real. All the historical facts makes the blend even more astounding. I usually spend time between books in the series reading the author's other historical books. Don't miss any of Amy Licence 's books!
February 8, 2026
i’m such a sucker for this series <3
it’s so nice to read tudor era novels where the characters have actual substance (!!!) and the story inserts them into the tudor court smoothly (!!!) and there’s a good balance between romance and the ins-and-outs of the tudor court (!!!) anyway i would die for my girl thomasin ❤️
it’s so nice to read tudor era novels where the characters have actual substance (!!!) and the story inserts them into the tudor court smoothly (!!!) and there’s a good balance between romance and the ins-and-outs of the tudor court (!!!) anyway i would die for my girl thomasin ❤️
February 5, 2026
A very well written novel about the treacherous time of Henry VIII
February 4, 2026
As per usual an excellent book by Amy. I enjoyed every page. I cannot wait for the next book in this series to be released.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews