The Unhappiest Lady in Christendom

Six Tudor Queens #3.6

by Alison Weir

The Unhappiest Lady in Christendom by historian Alison Weir is a captivating e-short and companion piece to the third novel in the Six Tudor Queens series, Jane Seymour: The Haunted Queen.

I was to be chief mourner - I, for whom Queen Jane had done more than anyone. She could never have filled the shoes of my dear, sainted mother - no one could - but she had done her very best to restore me to my rightful place in my father's affections, and for that I shall always be grateful.

Henry VIII's third queen is dead, leaving the King's only son without a mother and the country without a queen. And as preparations are being made for Queen Jane's funeral, her stepdaughter, the Lady Mary, laments the country's loss.

But, only a month later, the King has begun his search for a new wife. Will Mary accept this new queen, or will she be forced to live in the shadows of Queen Katherine, Queen Anne Boleyn and Queen Jane for ever?

Featuring the first chapter of Jane Seymour: The Haunted Queen.

SIX TUDOR QUEENS. SIX NOVELS. SIX YEARS.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Tudor Period, Historical, Short Stories, Royalty, Novella

49 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 6, 2018

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

Alison Weir is an English writer of history books for the general public, mostly in the form of biographies about British kings and queens, and of historical fiction. Before becoming an author, Weir worked as a teacher of children with special needs. She received her formal training in history at teacher training college. She currently lives in Surrey, England, with her two children.

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having long been a fan of Alison Weir’s novels, particularly those related to the Tudors, I was so pleased to hear of the Six Queens series. While Weir is a master at taking fact and fictionalising it on occasion to create novels, I was even more excited to hear that she would add some short stories to bridge the major novels in the collection. I came across this piece and devoured it in a single setting, having recently read the third book in the series, centring around Queen Jane. In this short story, Jane has just died and Princess Mary takes the narrative role. Mary explores her own sentiments about the death of her step-mother who worked so hard to calm sentiments between King Henry VIII and his eldest daughter. With the death of the queen, Mary must wonder if her return to Court will be short lived or if it might be a new and prosperous future for her. With Mary and Elizabeth comes a new child, Edward, who is heir to the throne. However, as a newborn, there is little he can do for the time being. The King has waited just long enough to mourn the death of his wife of seventeen months before realising that he needs another heir and must marry again. Questions arise as to where he might find a new wife, turning to political ties to strengthen the Protestant cause. While Mary worries about how this might dilute her Catholic background, she worries more about how her own life may be seriously harmed. Those around her remain sycophantic to the king, who seeks a wife rather than basking in the love that Jane brought him. When a potential wife is found in Germany, Mary can only hope that this Princess Anna of Cleves will prove a decent step-mother, even if she is only a year older and likely nowhere near as wise as Mary has been while remaining in England. Recommended for those who enjoy Weir’s work and have a soft spot for all things Tudor.

Weir never disappoints, even when she has a limited time to present her work. I found myself able to devour this piece quickly, yet noticed all the information jammed into the story. Offering things up from the perspective of Mary, recently welcomed back to Court, was a genius way of bridging the Jane and Anne marriages to Henry VIII. I had not given as much thought to the change in role that Mary had under Jane’s short reign, though hindsight has provided me many new ideas on the subject. Weir shows that Mary worries about her own future marriage to a worthwhile prince, surely sullied by her father’s ongoing shelving her and giving her a ‘bastard’ moniker. The Court is also going through many transitions, such that the key players close to Henry VIII are forced to shift their mindset to yet another round of irrational thoughts. The story may have been brief, but Weir packs a punch and keeps readers hooked throughout, pining for the release of the next novel, still many months away. I must admit that I am still a little upset that those outside of the United Kingdom cannot readily access these pieces and hope there will soon be progress to offer them to all fans of Alison Weir the world over.

Kudos, Madam Weir, for another wonderful piece of writing. The Tudors come to life under your pen!

Like/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com

A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

[Eleanor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this one quite a lot better than some of these other short e books. I really liked reading from Mary's perspective and I enjoyed how for once (aside from the actual book about her) Jane Seymour was actually portrayed in a positive light. I felt like this was a good lead in to the next book in the series and I'm now super ready for the Anna of Cleves book!

[Lois · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh kinda boring

[Niamh · Rating 4 out of 5]

poor little mary she's been dealt an absolute stinker

[Claudia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yet another of Weir's short stories connected with her series Six Tudor Queens and this one is narrated by Princess Mary Tudor, daughter of Katherine of Aragon and Henry VIII as she experiences the two years between the death of Queen Jane Seymour and the arrival of Henry's fourth queen, Anne of Kleves. Her personal hate for Anne Boleyn which fortunately doesn't transfer over to the young Elizabeth who she doesn't really consider a sister since Mary considers her the daughter of someone else than her father, adding to the accusations of Anne's infidelity. But Mary does adore the sweet child as well as the infant Edward

Interesting perspective that fills in some gaps between the third and fourth queen books

2021-259

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am currently working my way through the Six Tudor Queens series by Alison Weir, and this bridges the gap perfectly between the Jane Seymour book and the soon to be released Anna of Kleve book.

I find short stories similar to this, are excellent at giving a little bit of back story to the books, or helping you between the wait for the books to be released. This is told in the aftermath of Jane's death, and prior to Anna arriving, from the point of view of Henry and Katherine's daughter, Mary.

It's a very quick book, with some insight into Mary's feelings from losing her stepmother, to the prospect of having a new stepmother. If you want to be pedantic, the book starts at 10%, and finishes at 66%, with the end of the book, being a first chapter of the Jane book.

Ultimately, these books occasionally feel like scrapped ideas for future books, or brief story outlines, which have been slightly more fleshed out. I do prefer Alison Weir's longer books, as a lot of research goes into them. This is just something to bridge a gap, but will not be memorable.

[Graff Fuller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Six Tudor Queens 3.5 The Unhappiest Lady in Christendom by Alison Weir

emotional informative inspiring reflective

Fast-paced

Plot or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters are a main focus? It's complicated

4.0 Stars

I'm not the biggest fan of short stories, but in this context of a short story tale within a series of novels...it works.

This is a tangent of the life of King Henry VIII and Queen Katherine of Aragon's child, Lady Mary. 

I works well at the end Queen Jane Seymour and the upcoming Queen Anna of Kleve.

Especially because Queen Jane loved Queen Katherine (and hated Queen Anne), and wanted to help Lady Mary...in her life.

I'm glad I read it.

But...I was worried that it may have spoiled something about what's up to come in my reading. We shall see.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75🌟
These eshorts that fit between the Six Tudor Queens series are little gems. They are so readable and entertaining. This would have been
4🌟 read as the writing is very enjoyable but the abrupt ending knocked a little bit off the rating.

[Williams Angelique · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 stars

[Donna Maguire · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://donnasbookblog.wordpress.com/...

I do love an Alison Weir book and had downloaded all the novellas that accompanied the Six Tudor Queen series but hadn't finished reading them all so I picked up the last couple I had at the end of 2021 to read them and start a new list for 2022.

I really enjoyed this one, it was well written as I expected and there was good characterisation. It was an easy book to follow for me as I love the Tudor period and know the different things that happened from reading non-fiction books. I think that this one is set out well enough for people to get the grasp of who is who with it being a feature on Mary Tudor.

I liked the plot and the link to the main characters in the series too as these novellas tend to allow lesser known characters from the book, and era, to take centre stage and they tell the main stories that most people know from a different angle.

It is 4 stars from me for this one, a nice and quick read to end off the year and I loved that the focus was on Mary as she is often left behind the scenes in a lot of the books that feature Henry's queens when she was the step-daughter to them from Anne Boleyn onwards...

[Helene Harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review - I really enjoyed this short story. It was interesting to see what Mary I might have thought of Jane Seymour and Anne of Cleves in particular, as her thoughts towards her mother and Anne Boleyn were well-known. The feelings she has towards her father in this short story are also rightly confused, and towards the future Elizabeth I. It is a very thought-provoking story and sets up the next full-length novel in the series about Anne of Cleves.

Genre? - Historical / Novella

Characters? - Mary I / Elizabeth I / Henry VIII / Jane Seymour / Anne Boleyn / Katherine of Aragon / Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury / Anne of Cleves

Setting? - London & Hunsdon (England)

Series? - Six Tudor Queens #3.6

Recommend? – Yes

Rating - 18/20

[Claireybooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really loved this one. I have a lot of sympathy for Mary and truly believe it was how she was treated throughout her life that caused her mental health issues, which in turn, made her a tyrant.

This short novella has me further intrigued and I will be looking for other fictional work surrounding her life & from her point of view.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great little short that leaves me wanting more!

I've really enjoyed reading the 6 books from the wives perspective and after reading this little short I would love to see more books each from the childrens perspective (Mary, Elizabeth and Edward). I have such a soft spot for Mary and all she went through and reading this made my heart break even more for her

[Victoria Frow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice companion piece to the third book in the series as it deals with Princess Mary's grief over losing Jane Seymour and her introduction to Anna of Kleve. So this is 3.6 in the sequence of books for this series.

[Roos · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

This novelle shows in short what happened between Queen Jane's death and the arrival of Anne of Cleve!

[Lea Manning · Rating 3 out of 5]

This short companion piece to 'The haunted Queen' portrays Lady Mary's feelings on the loss of Queen Jane. Not really a book but a bonus chapter.

[Rosie Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good

[Amelia · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was hardly a story.
More a narrative explanation of the life of Mary Tudor.
Morose and uninspiring.

[Dayanara Ryelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

For being the "unhappiest lady in Christendom", Mary sure seemed to be happy looking after Elizabeth and commenting on the world at large!

[Mercedes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful and well written, original description of Jane Seymour after her death, very atmospheric.

[Courtney · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was decently good. I was definitely expecting more, but it is just a novella, so that is pretty understandable.

[Róisín · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this novela and shows a different perspective would recommend

[lestrange · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved seeing Mary's perspective on Queen Jane's death and her father, King Henry. Wish I could have an Alison Weir historical book about Mary Tudor... I don't think she has one yet.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

The aftermath of Queen Jane's death from Princess Mary's POV, which was nice to see. This bridges the time between the two queens nicely.

[EmmaC · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed all the e shorts Alison Weir has written complimenting the Six Wives Series. They have added an enjoyable insight into the lives of the people surrounding the Crown. As well as bridging a gap until the final book arrives!

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable short novella.