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In spite of its title, the real historical protagonist of this book is not Henry VIII, but Thomas Cromwell. The novel does not start at the beginning of Henry's reign, but at Cromwell's accession to power. And it does not end at the end of Henry's reign, but at Cromwell's execution.The novel complies with my rules for a good historical novel, as I explained them in a post in my blog: https://populscience.blogspot.com/201...

The brothers of the Torridon family make their way in the world -- the eldest, Ralph, in service to Cromwell and the King, and the youngest, Christopher, in service to God and the Catholic church as a monk in the Priory at Lewes. Their paths carry them to completely different destinations.
A note about the questions. In addition to our standard questions I used AI to generate some discussion questions. I was able to generate dozens of questions within a few seconds, using Grok and google AI, but I also noted a strong tendency to "hallucinate." (The term used to explain lying by AIs.) I just finished reading the book a few days ago - so it was easy to spot, but if I've missed something and a question seems "wrong," please point that out.
As always, please feel free to add discussion questions of your own.