The Queen's Rival: In the Court of Henry VIII

In The Court of Henry VIII #3

by Diane Haeger

From the author of The Queen's Mistake comes the untold story of King Henry VIII's first well-known mistress.

As the beautiful daughter of courtiers, Elizabeth "Bessie" Blount is overjoyed when she secures a position as maid of honor to Katherine of Aragon. But when she captures the attention of the king himself, there are whispers that the queen ought to be worried for her throne.

When Bess gives birth to a healthy son the whispers become a roar. But soon the infamous Boleyn girls come to court and Henry's love for her begins to fade. Now, Bess must turn to her trusted friend, the illegitimate son of Cardinal Wolsey, to help her move beyond life as the queen's rival...

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical, Tudor Period, Fiction, Romance, British Literature, 16th Century

416 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2011

About the author

Diane Haeger is the bestselling author of fifteen published novels, including Courtesan, The Ruby Ring and My Dearest Cecilia. Her work, to date, has been translated into 18 different languages and has been featured in the LA Times and Harper's Bazaar Magazine. She loves telling real stories from history. She lives in California with her husband and family.

Reviews

[Rio (Lynne) · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Even though not all historical facts were documented during this time, those of us who know Tudor history have an idea how we feel these situations happened. Not much is known about Bessie Blount except that she did have Henry's son and was married to Gilbert Tailboys and Edward Clinton. In this story Diane weaves what is known with "a lot" of fiction. Some not so believable, but who I am I to say it didn't happen that way. The author had a tendency to write dialogue of things that would happen in the future into conversations (I believe to help readers who don't know the history) but it was annoying to me. She also tried to make Henry likable in unbelievable ways (example keeping Arthur's baby blanket under his bed.) I also don't believe he was torn between marrying Bessie and Ann Boleyn. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed this book and I do recommend it, but for me it was just a fun fluffy escape.

[Jenn (Booksessed) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book combined a lot of my nerdy loves. Tudor history, books, and sappy love stories. Not like super sappy, but you'll probably say "aww" a couple times. Unless, you don't have a soul, in which case you probably don't read books either. So it's all moot, right?

I'm still a huge fan of the Showtime series The Tudors even though there is some artistic license there (read, historical inaccuracies) that one must over look. Even though it's really hard. At least for me. So I went into this novel having the images of The Tudors portrayals of these characters in my head regardless of how much I wanted to push them out.

Diane Haeger is one of my favorite authors Tudor history. She does it so well. (Philippa Gregory is another favorite of mine.) She makes all the characters kind of lovable, even when you can clearly see that sometimes they are not.

Blessie Blount is a very unique woman for her time. She was the first (of many) mistresses of Henry VIII, she even gave birth to his illegitimate son Henry Fitzroy. She was however, one of the two known mistresses he had but didn't marry. The other was Mary Boleyn and one can pretty much surmise that marriage, had one taken place would have really messed things up between Anne Boleyn and the king. Which, seeing as how she was beheaded in the end, maybe that would a been a good thing? History lesson over.

I really liked this portrayal of Bessie. She was very likable. You got to see her mature from a naive country girl sent to court, to a more confident woman sure of the kind of woman she was and the conscious of the choices she was making. I loved the character of Gil as well. He was just adorable. He was that kind hearted soul that every girl dreams of ending up with, and unlike most men of the court, he wasn't interested in meaningless flings. Major bonus points there.

I am torn about the portrayal of the King and Queen though. Henry VIII is known throughout history as being a very attractive and viril young man, who in his later years was a rather large man, with open weeping sores on his legs, a violent, petulant temper and delusions about his appearance, importance and how his subjects viewed him. Plus, he went through women like woah. His portrayal in this novel is far from perfect, but he's more a lovestruck man rather than a tyrannous ruler. Which is kind of odd, yet refreshing.

The Queen is another story. I was totally on her side in the beginning, because let's face it. No matter what she gets a shit deal in history. But somewhere in the middle of the novel, she becomes less of a regal controlled women and kind of whiny. But I did find it interesting that at one point during the novel she does long for the days of Bessie Blount. (That's during the fun of Anne Boleyn).

To conclude, even though there were a few things that I didn't absolutely love about the novel, it is pretty great and definitely worth the read. And to my knowledge there aren't a lot of novels dealing with the subject of Bessie Blount. So there's a bonus right there. Time to find a spot for it on my shelf.

[Kelly A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's official - Diane Haeger is one of my favorite authors. I love her ongoing series about Henry VIII's court, and The Queen's Rival was no disappointment. I read it in less than 24 hours.

This book explores the life of Bessie Blount, one of Henry's very first mistresses. Though not much is known about Bessie's early life, we follow her through her years as a maid-of-honor to Queen Katherine of Aragon, her affair with Henry, and the birth of their illegitimate son, Henry Fitzroy. Little Henry is the only bastard that the king ever acknowledged as his own. Barely at the age of ten, young Henry was bestowed as the Duke of Richmond - he was later seriously contended to become the king's heir to the throne. Bessie's and the king's affair comes to an end when the child is very young, mainly due to two new girls at court: the Boleyn sisters. Mary Boleyn is just a brief dalliance, but Anne is a tempting, alluring, and lustful object for the king to conquer - but we all know how that story ends. The book concludes with the death of teenaged Henry Fitzroy. The grief that his two parents feel is heartbreaking; Bessie, because she lost her dear firstborn son and reminders of happier days with the king, and Henry because he has lost his one and only living son, and possible heir.

Diane Haeger always picks very interesting figures to write about (I loved The Secret Bride, about Henry's sister Mary). Bessie Blount was very prominent in her days at court, days that are often forgotten when Anne Boleyn and more notorious women later come into play. It was refreshing to read a book that took place around Henry VIII but did NOT focus on one of his wives. I also liked this look at the younger (20ish) Henry VIII; I've read too much about him where he's just the old, fat ailing King. Here, he was a man with whom every woman at court was in love with. Bessie was a character I like very much. She is portrayed as a very clever girl, if not a little too lovesick sometimes. She certainly led a very interesting life. I also read elsewhere that Bessie later briefly served Anne of Cleves - can you imagine how awkward that would be??

4.5 stars to a well written and very interesting book. DEFINITELY recommended to all lovers of the Tudors and romantic historical fiction. A big thanks to the publisher for sending me an ARC - it was much appreciated!

[Mishel Forte · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Rating: 4.5/5 stars

The Queen’s Rival is about one of King Henry VIII’s known mistresses, Elizabeth “Bessie” Blount. It was a very emotional read that put me directly in the court of Katherine of Aragon and Henry VIII. I was both fascinated and horrified by the court lifestyle. The politics, rules, and hidden agendas are enough to make anyone’s head spin. The Tudor time period is another part of history that I avoided both in school and after I graduated. This novel was an introduction into an entire “new world” for me reading-wise.

I have no previous Tudor knowledge before The Queen’s Rival. I’ve also never read any of Haeger’s work before. And even though I don’t have anything to compare the novel to I still really enjoyed the way Haeger treated her characters. While some parts of the story are of course fictional, I felt there was a lot of honesty and raw intensity in each of the characters. Bess, while ignorant and innocent throughout the first part of the book, was a very strong, loyal, and romantic woman. There were times when I wanted to shake the girl, especially when she was younger. It’s easy from an outside point of view to judge all the parties involved and say “I can’t believe she’s letting him treat her that way…etc.” But I know first-hand how impossibly blind one can become when love is involved. Her relationship with the king was passionate and yet so obviously destined for heartache. I felt awful for Bess but I’m an emotional mess when it comes to relationships.

I liked reading the king’s point of view but I don’t know how factual it was to his true personality. Of course no one really knows Henry VIII’s true feelings or intentions. I liked seeing him portrayed as man who had internal conflict, although I didn’t like his actions or ultimate decisions. Like I mentioned earlier I haven’t read any books pertaining to this time period or Henry VIII himself so it was interesting to see Haeger’s take on things. I’m also looking forward to the other books in this particular series to see more of Henry VIII and the other characters.

I never watched the Tudors on TV but was always intrigued. I think after reading The Queen’s Rival I may have to look into watching the series. I do know I’ll definitely be reading more by Diane Haeger and more about England’s history. I think a lot of people will really enjoy reading about Bess, her relationship with the king, and finding out more about Henry Fitzroy (the only acknowledged natural son of Henry VIII). The Queen’s Rival is very emotional, informative and even relatable on a personal scale. It’s filled with stand-out characters in a time period that so many of us like to read about.

[Mimi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written novel about Bess Blount, who is a character that is not usually in the forefront of Tudor novels. A good and interesting read, although it dragged a little bit at the end (and a side note, "Here, here" is incorrect. Arggggggg. I miss editors)

[Mary-Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Deyanira C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

I really enjoyed this novel, it became very addictive at times and was a light and enjoyable read.

This is the story of Elizabeth Blount (Bessi) the mistress of Henry VIII with whom he had his only recognized illegitimate son, historically there are many blanks in the history of Bessi, but the basic facts are known and the author uses them to create this novel.

The story starts in 1514 when Bessi is sent to court to serve Queen Katerine of Aragon, Bessi is not a main lady so more than a lady in waiting she is a young woman in the service of the Queen, Bessi is almost 14 years old beautiful, educated, sweet and quite innocent, Bessi comes from a loving and noble but relatively humble family so she has romantic and completely unrealistic ideas in some aspects of life, but make no mistake she is not a silly girl she understands that in her world marriage and love are separate things, she quickly learns that the court is a place of luxury but also of vices and very dangerous, other ladies can be malicious and people are ambitious and cruel, fortunately Bessi won't have issues asking friends specially a Lady called Elizabeth and Wolsey's ward Gil, who falls deeply in love with Bessi, but Bessi like all the other ladies of the court soon felt a silly love for Henry VIII affectionately referred Hal, he is handsome, talented, affectionate and the King so it is not a surprise his success with women, he usually has affairs with young girls of 15 years or less, but they are very discreet relationships of which he gets tired quickly, so decides to marry the girl in question to a nobleman, or send her away from him, Elizabeth herself is forced into a loveless marriage when the King gets tired of her, and although Bessi knows it she cannot help but feel attracted to Hal who flirts with her, but nothing happens for a time until Bessi turns 16, in that moment Hal seduces her and the two start a relationship that begins as pure lust and exciting sexual encounters (the book is not graphic) but Bessi falls deeply in love and her unambitious and calm nature makes Hal come to really like her, but the affair is still like any other Hal had in the past, not far away Katherine suffers from the lack of children and Hal's love affairs but she deals with them in silence with dignity, we know that the relationship between the king and queen was once affectionate and faithful, but so many losses and disappointments have left them together only due to duty or at least that is how Hal sees it, who like his father did prefers to be discreet with his affairs to not humiliate his Queen, until it becomes clear that Katherine won't be pregnant again in that moment Hal is convinced that the marriage is cursed, and his relationship with Bessi becomes more and more comforting so he becomes cynical and treats Bessi as a formal mistress something he never did before, and favors her with expensive gifts, dances with her in public, flirts at banquets, shows her unashamedly to ambassadors, and openly favors the Blount family, Bessi feels guilty for the Queen but her love for Hal is greater, also she knows that the queen will always be the Queen and Bessi never dreams of competing with her rather she intelligently conforms being the mistress expecting nothing but Hal's love, but she knows that the Boleyn girls especially Mary are trying to seduce Hal Bessi of course feels jealousy but she avoids having tantrums dedicating herself to conquer him through sweet words and the bed, everything seems happiness until Bessi gets pregnant and has her son Henry Fitzroy "Harry", Hal doesn't react badly in fact he loves to have a son and gives him the surname Fitzroy (son of the king), but he knows that is time to end the relationship with Bessi, partly because of Katherine's pressure, Wolsey's manipulation but mostly because of the nature of Hal who while Bessi was pregnant took Mary Boleyn as mistress, Bessi nevertheless has faith that Hal will approach her son and take her back, her family warns her that this will not happen and although at first she struggles to keep the faith, but after months of being ignored, mocked and rejected by her beloved Hal, Bessi is heartbroken because she understands that their relationship was not the romance she thought it was, Wolsey is already preparing a marriage for her with Gil, but is Bessi who decides to go in that marriage and continue with her life away from Hal and the court (finally a mistress with self love !!!!) A year passes and Hal decides to order that Harry be taken to court leaving Bessi destroyed, life goes on and she refuses to visit the court but remains in contact with her son, while she has 3 other children with Gil, the marriage is happy and Bessi falls in love with Gil although in a mature and intelligent way, unfortunately Gil dies and Bessi suffers the loss but finally her son visits her, and Hal goes with him at that point he is already with Anne Boleyn, who we know is ambitious but very intelligent and has six fingers, that doesn't prevent the sparks between Hal and Bessi from shining, but our Bessi is an intelligent woman and although she still feels physical attraction for Hal, over the years she managed to see that all the romantic ideas she had of her and Hal as a couple were pure trash and that Hal was a selfish womanizer, so she worthily rejects the advances, Hal is torn between his desire for Anne and his feelings towards Bessi, he even considers which would be a better wife but before he can consider it better our girl Bessi has already completed her year of mourning, and already met a neighbor of hers with whom she decides to marry, she forms a family without forgetting the sweet Gil and neither buries her past love and passion with Hal, but Bessi is happy and full with her new husband who is very handsome, as passionate as the King and as loving as Gil, unfortunately Bessi notices thanks to the letters that her son is no longer the sweet kind young man who visited her years ago but a cold and dry nobleman, even so they continue in contact until Harry passes away leaving Bessi heartbroken, she goes to court to talk with Hal about the burial of their son, this will be the closure of their relationship because without Harry nothing but memories tie them and the two say goodbye, a cute touch of the scene is that Hal asks Bessi to leave his room through the front door, not the hidden door that she was used to explaining that he was proud of their past together and what they did together (Harry).

Honestly, I have had bad experiences reading about royal mistresses, who always end up being a Mary Sue, this time Bessi doesn't appear as someone unreal, although at times she is too good the book also portrays some bad aspects, and although she is the typical " different girl " this is certainly believable, and the book shows it well, it is also historically supported that her relationship with Henry VIII was the most notable he had before Anne Boleyn (including Mary Boleyn went unnoticed on his list of mistresses) the romance it's not ridiculous but it is romantic and realistic, I think Bessi must have been someone important to Henry VIII and the novel certainly gives a version that explains why? Exploring the status of Henry's marriage at the time, I don't think Henry ever thought about marrying Bessi as the book implies but it is possible and it is an interesting touch in this story, another great success is that it explores the characters and their situation in a way that you can understand them, like Catalina's suffering, Wolsey's caution, to cite two examples. Historically, the respects the most important facts, although takes some liberties, here I think that a little more balance between the romantic and the logical was lacking, I can believe that Bessi's second marriage was a choice of hers for attraction or love, but the first was not and I I would have preferred the author to explore it in a more cold and logical way, although I loved Gil and it is true that the two were together for a while in court, so ok I take it. Another very well accomplished part is how the Henry / Anne Boleyn situation is explained, regardless of whether the author made Anne very cold and ambitious, I think it explains very well how Henry could feel "pathetic" and I loved how Anne toyed him just as he had done with so many women.

Now the reasons why I have not given 5 stars:

*Although the characters are really humanized, Henry is impossible for me to believe, he is too good, or rather his mistakes are ignored, and the few that are told are always minimized and justified in a silly way.

*Although the book is in the third person and presents conversations between other characters, for example between Katherine and Wolsey, Henry and Wolsey, etc., some of those conversations are unnecessary for me because they do not add anything to the story, especially towards the end.

*Bessi's life away from court is little explored, I understand that the interesting thing is to know her life as mistress, but I would have liked to know more about her son, or her marriages, not just half paragraph.

*In the end the story becomes very rushed.

Still this is a very entertaining book, I will surely read another by this author.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bessie Blount was a sweet heart. She was a good natured girl from the countryside at Kinlet. She spent her whole childhood with her big family dreaming of a life of grander things at the Tudor court. Bess was naive in all the right places for Henry VIII to notice her upon her arrival at court. It really did not help Bess that the first friends she made were with Henry's current treat of the moment Elizabeth Bryan. I found that Bess was different than the previous women in Henry's life; she was not like Elizabeth Bryan or Jane Poppincourt in the fact that she truly loved Henry and was not blind to his faults. It would be Bess who gave Henry his heart's desire, a son. His queen Catherine of Aragon physically could not give him what he wanted and so desperately needed not just as a king of England but also as a man. Henry always got what he wanted and was very fickle when it came to his liaisons with women. He had no qualms about passing off his seconds to his friends when he was through with them. It was the thrill of the hunt Henry really wanted but it also seemed like once Henry got what he wanted he dropped it like a bad habit especially when it came to the affairs of his kingly heart

Bess really loved the man Henry was and the complex King that also ruled with a mighty fist over his court. When she first came to court to be a lady in waiting to Queen Catherine Aragon, Bess had naive dreams of a real Lancelot coming into her life and stealing her heart away in a state of romantic bliss. Sadly Henry had turned into her Lancelot and we all know how his infidelities typically went. Henry is best known for his six wives but I found this novel opened a window into the early life of the passionate Henry Tudor that I always wanted to envision. Bessie Blount's romantic heart led her to the king and she gave him the one thing no one else could, a prized son but at what cost?

[Meagan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. Coming into it I didn't know all that much about Bess Blount, except you know the usual of being a mistress of Henry VIII and mothering one of his two sons. It was interesting to read. But there was a lot of problems that I had with this book. The main thing that was how stupid Bess came off. I mean really? She didn't think that the King had mistresses? Her parents were at court for most of their lives and tried to 'school' their daughter on the goings that should've been the number one thing. And if she has Lancelot as a focus as to her romantic ideals that's just wrong in the first place. Especially if she was comparing Lancelot and Guinevere to Henry and Katherine. It's like she didn't understand that Lancelot and Gwen were betraying King Arthur or that wasn't even a factor in it. The story was very bias in Bess's favor which I can see since she was the main character, but I highly doubt that Bess was even on Henry's mind when it came to marrying Anne Boelyn or not. It was also a bit unbelievable that Henry would be that vunerable or even keep the baby liner from his brothers crib. It seemed like an effort to try to get the readers to like Henry in order not to hate him for what he did to Bessie years later. Plus there were lots of hints at the future it seemed in the dialogue that people wouldn't have known about. It seems like I had a lot of annoyancs with this book, but I did really enjoy it.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored this author's writing style and "voice." The story came alive to me and all I wanted to do was read this book. It was tragically beautiful and passionately written. The lessons Bess learned were priceless. Her longtime friend, Gil, was truly heroic. One couldn't help wondering what might have happened to the Tudor Dynasty if Henry VIII had married Bess Blount instead of Anne Boleyn. Though not Christian fiction, the story went deep and explored the faith of the characters, which was sincerely experienced despite being a bit misguided. The religious parts of the story were genuine to the time they lived in.

The emotion between the king and Bess felt genuine to me. I actually liked Henry VIII and his seemingly impossible position in this book. What may have started out as a selfish pursuit by Henry ended up sparking frightening emotions he hadn't allowed himself to feel with any of the other women in court. I have always wondered about the life of the first and only living son Henry VIII had produced outside of wedlock. I felt badly for him and the constraints his role as king put on him. His way of working around the system set in place for centuries had ultimately cost his son Harry his very life. Quite sad, but true to history.

Again, this novel was well-written and heartfelt. I absolutely loved this book. I am glad I discovered this book at the store and purchased it because I am now a devoted fan of Ms. Haeger's.

[Kristy · Rating 3 out of 5]

well, I didn't realize that this was book #3....
Atleast I'm somewhat up on this history so I wasn't confused.

There is something so magical and fascinating to me about the Tudor court. I adore Henry, even though he is a dog. I love reading about Anne and Jane and Mary, I loved the show (and, yes I am so sad it's over, here's to hoping house of borgia is just as good) and I love the scenery and imagery of that time period.

This book was about Bessie Blount. The kings' first mistress to produce a child. It showed her as a young girl, eager to come to court and as an older lady longing for country life. We follow her as an innocent child turing into the kings lover. We learn her to be sincere and honest, albiet clueless at times. This one really shows the King opening up to her.

This isn't really anthing terrifically special or new. I felt like I was re-reading to a point even though I have never picked up this book. I did enjoy it. I gobbled it down. So, do I think you should read it? Well obviously you should like this genre, but don't go into thinking it's going to wow you with new ideas. What will wow you however, is the readability and the fast-paced nature of this one. Also, it is not sex, sex, sex all the time. There is an actual story and character relationships. There is some mild sex scenes, but nothing like some of the others............


3.5 stars

[Helen Azar · Rating 2 out of 5]

For some masochistic reason I force myself to read (or at least attempt to read) every single Tudor work of fiction that is released lately. And there are plenty of those. Some of them are excellent(Wolf Hall by Mantel and the Matthew Shardlake mystery series by Sansom, just two examples). Others - not so much. Most unfortunately fall into the latter category, including this one. Yes, it's somewhat different because it focuses on one of the lesser known of Henry VIII's mistresses (whom he did not actually marry), and the mistress who gave birth to his only acknowledged bastard son, Henry Fitzroy. What I found annoying about this novel is that the character of Bessie Blount has been given this whimsical historical importance than she actually never had, by far. In fact, SPOILER ALERT!]: Henry VIII comes really close to marrying her instead of Anne Boleyn, and had Bessie had not married someone else, she, and not Anne would have become queen and her illegitimate son the legitimate heir to the throne of England. Oh really? The writing style is nothing to write home about either... very mediocre - at best. But I did finish the book, which is why it gets 2 stars instead of one.

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

In a review for an episode of Mad Men, the reviewer, praising the actress’s ability to become the character, noted that she wasn’t wearing a costume – she was wearing the character’s clothes.

Unfortunately, here we have the book version of actors wearing costumes, as there is a very stilted quality to everything the characters do and say, continually reminding us of historical people’s names and known places of the time period. Bess Blount does not draw us into the time period – there isn’t a lot of sense of the wider world – she is simply a love struck girl who could be from any high school anywhere, any when.

However, the book does show how much Anne Boleyn broke a known pattern of king-see’s pretty virgin, seduces her, moves on, wash, rinse, repeat. That this was a pattern that took place literally over the course of three or four generations of women as King Henry flirted his way through court ladies for three decades.

I liked seeing the court before the Boleyn sisters hit the scene, and overall I liked seeing the author playing with the known facts from the less used angle of Henry-in-his-20’s.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book didn't quite click with me. Bess Blount was an adolescent when she came to the court of Henry VIII. She was mesmerized by the handsome king (in his 20's at the time). A more vivid case of "puppy love" you wouldn't be able to find! But there the main character (Bess) drifts along with the plot. The author tries to convince readers that King Henry was wounded emotionally by the death of his older brother, Arthur, but it just didn't convince me. IMHO the king was a healthy (and lusty) man of his time who could have anything (and anyone) he wanted. Trying to sugarcoat their relationship (from Bess's viewpoint) just didn't work in this story. I felt the best part of the story was Bess's friend, Gil, and the steadfast way that he stood by her no matter what happened.

[Marcia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wasn't a huge fan of the multiple third-person narration, and I never really got *why* Henry was so attracted to Bess, although I suppose "he" told me during numerous scenes that it was her... innocence? her honesty? her not-like-other-girlsness?

I ended up being more interested in Gil's backstory. His love for Bess, unrequited as it was for most of the book, reminded me of something Nia Vardalos said of the husband in My Big Fat Greek Wedding. There were criticisms that the character was just too nice, and her response was something like, "I want nice! I wanted him to be a nice person! Why have a jerk?"

And so it went with Gil; while I thought his continuing love was perhaps too good to be true, it did beat the alternative of "maybe he considers her damaged goods."

[Gaile · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book was just so, so as I thought it was not well researched. The entire time line of
exactly when events occurred were completely off. As a quasi romance I enjoyed it but still think it could have been better.

[Christy English · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written novel of Bessie Blount...I really loved it

[tinalouisereadsbooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bessie Blount is overjoyed when shes to become a maid of honour to Katherine of Aragon. She soon however catches the eye of King Henry VIII. It's not long before Bessie gives birth to a healthy son. Henry is soon looking elsewhere for affection mainly from Mary Boleyn.

I am in my element when I read about the Tudors. This is the first book by this author that I have read. First impressions are positive and it turned out to be a lovely read. This is the first book that I've read about Bessie Blount. It made a nice change to have somebody different as the main character. The story of Bessie is interesting and this story focuses mainly on her life at court and then her affair with the king.

I did think that at times the author was overdoing it with the constant descriptions of the clothing. The reader knows they are in the Tudor court so its not always necessary to keep describing clothing. I know this is a work of fiction so why are small facts incorrect. For instance the author says that Katherine of Aragon married two English kings. She only married one and that was Henry, Arthur was never king. Anne Boleyn has green eyes according to this account. I've always been led to believe that Anne had dark eyes. My final niggle is that Bessie is not buried at the church in Kinlet although a lot of the Blounts are and it is well worth a visit.

After all that I enjoyed reading about Bessie Blount. The book was a lovely read and wasn't too taxing, nor was I bogged down. The author offers the what if's and does make the reader wonder what could have happened. If Henry really did love Bessie and Mary Boleyn wasn't on the scene then our Tudor history could have been quite different.

Overall a pleasant read and apart from the historical minor mistakes I would recommend this book. I do have other books by this author which I shall look forward to reading.

[Stacey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tudor fiction is a particular favorite of mine. Sadly, when dealing with real people, this means there is no new story out there ever for me. Just retellings of things that I already know how they end & very very few stories involving the Tudors end happily for everyone.
This is not one of them.

This is the story of Bessie Blount who was the king’s mistress before Mary Boleyn. She gave Henry VIII his long awaited but alas illegitimate son, Henry Fitzroy. She was married off & the baby taken from her & raised by ‘more suitable’ people. He would die as a teenager of probably consumption but at the time it was speculated Anne Boleyn poisoned him.

So.

Sad ending.

But a decent story. I think she did a good job on the relationship between Bess & Henry. Bess was a well drawn character & the plot moved along well. It is one of a series of books set at the same time & some of the people from previous books make appearances in this one, but nothing is lost if you haven’t read those books.

[Louise Bergin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ever since I first read Phillipa Gregory's The Other Boleyn Girl many years ago, I have had a fascination with the Tudor era. There are many colorful people alive during this time, giving authors much rich material to work with.

Diane Haeger's Bessie Blount is often an overlooked person. The author shows the reader what could happen when a naive, young girl (she was only 14) comes to such a treacherous court. With her head full of dreams of romance, Bessie was easy prey. I liked that she was conflicted about Henry. Bessie was well aware the great romance she wanted between the king and his first wife Katherine of Aragon wasn't real. In fact, Bessie was one of the outward signs that her fantasy wasn't reality, but she clung to it, possibly far longer in the book than she actually did.

Bessie's viewpoint gives a different perspective on the well-known events of Henry VIII's court. I was glad to read the book.

[Larissa ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book for its flawed characters. Haeger loves to write “sweet and innocent” heroines who are really quite self-absorbed and superficial. In this book, Bess Blount falls for Henry VIII simply because he’s handsome and she thinks he’s sensitive and gallant, like Lancelot du Lac. Not long after Bess “matures” and grows to love and appreciate her long-suffering friend, Gil—whom she marries because she feels she owes him and because she’s fed up with Henry—he dies from consumption, and she’s swept off her feet by yet another handsome nobledude (whose lands border her own; convenient, that). Still, I find Bess somewhat sympathetic. The court of Henry VIII was the place to be for a teenage girl in the 1510s. I can’t imagine I’d have acted much different.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yet another great read from Haeger. I've never really looked into the life of Bess Blount and this novel has whetted the yen to do a little more research into this woman and her relationships. There aren't many novels lately that make me want to stay up late to finish it, but this one was just one of those novels.

[Cher 'N Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars - It was really good.

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Favorite Quote: There is no bad from which some good does not come.

First Sentence: “I tell you, it is her!”

[Claire Lally · Rating 3 out of 5]

A common theme in Haegar's books is that her characters are always naive and ignorant of the facts of life! They seem to fall into affairs with powerful men rather than seeking them out. It's sweet, but seems to deny these real-life women their agency.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was good. It was from a pov that you don't usually see amongst the usual major players of the Tudor dynasty. I also like the way the author really humanized King Henry and showed a softer side besides the bloodthirsty tyrant that is often portrayed.

[Cyl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story of Bessie Blount, the King' Mistress. Very little is known about this woman except she did give Henry VIII his first son although he was illegitimate. Diane Haeger kept to a lot of the history and I liked seeing that. I would highly recommend this book.

[Jasmine | Poppies and Jasmine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel covered Henry VIII’s affair with Bessie Blount, and it took a particularly romantic view of it, which struck an odd chord with me. It was never particularly bad, although it was never particularly good, either. Instead, the novel was just soft and ambivalent.

[Katherine M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would give this book a solid five if it had been more historical correct toward the end. The author does acknowledge the historical changes in her notes which is nice. The book is well written and really puts you in the place in time with historically correct authenticity.

[Shannon Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed it. Easy to read. If you are familiar with the history you will know that some dramatic license has been taken, but it was entertaining. I would read her again.

[Addie Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the author's writing style and the way the characters were portrayed. That's all I have to say.