Reread: The Wives of Henry VIII (by Antonia Fraser)

Memory Reaction:

I got this book as a Christmas gift one year, I think, and I remember being totally unable to put it down. I wanted to re-read it because my memories of all the wives after Jane Seymour had become slightly fuzzy--The Other Boleyn Girl and Bring Up the Bodies stop there, after all, I didn't have any trashy or literary fiction to remind me what was the deal with Catherine Parr. (I also remember that Beth is more an Allison Wier person and dislikes Fraser. Did I get that right Beth?) 

Reread Reaction:

Still totally could not put it down! At least not until we got to Catherine Parr who, as it turns out, is slightly less exciting than some of the other queens with their "dramatically dying in childbirth" or "being beheaded" and all. Fraser's prose is erudite but still accessible, the story is compelling, and I  enjoyed it just as much the second time around.

Previous Reaction:

I swear I've read this since I started blogging my reading in 2000, but I can't find a previous review of this anywhere, though I've mentioned it a bunch. Weird.