Henry VIII’s True Daughter: Catherine Carey, A Tudor Life
Reviews:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
King Henry VIII, notorious adulterer, womaniser, rake! His love of women is recorded as clearly as his tyranny as a ruler and the creator of his own church.
One of the many mistresses that succumbed to Henrys advances was Bessie Blount, who fathered his illegitimate son, Henry Fitzroy, whom he acknowledged and titled “Duke of Richmond and Somerset,” but what of others?
Apparently quite a few children are rumoured to be Henry’s but none more so than Catherine Carey. The daughter of Mary Boleyn, his mistress for 2-3 years.
Mary was the sister of Henry’s second Queen, Anne. Their illicit affair began in 1522, following their meeting at her wedding in 1520 to William Carey – Courtier and Gentleman of the Privy Chamber. It is accepted by many that her relationship with Henry ended in 1525 before Anne caught his eye.
It had been a much anticipated wait to read this book. I had always believed both of the Mary “Carey” children: Catherine and Henry were the Kings but after this read I’m certain of Catherine. The in depth research and analysis that Wendy J Dunn has sunk into is crucially important to this theory and explanation. A fresh perspective was shown despite it being an old story.
Wendy’s first non-fiction book and chosen subject was perfect as so many are fascinated by anything connected to ‘Boleynmania.’ Here as you read the book, a picture of a person is created, you feel the essence of time going backwards to the 1500’s. Life in another time. A book of thought, creative writing, experienced detail and unique style.
The book takes you on Catherine’s adventures of highs and lows. Falling in love, being at court, during different Monarchs reigns, her refuge to Germany and her death. Within the pages like a typical Tudor, there’s more than meets the eye. Catherine Carey’s name is well-known to anyone interested in Tudor history as well is her daughter, Lettice Knollys.
I’d recommend this if your curiosity is there or you’d like a good read. Usually a fictional writer, Wendy’s crossover to non-fiction is so good. Her debut does give you hope she’ll do more work like this.
The lives of Tudor women often offer faint but fascinating footnotes on the pages of history. The life of Catherine – or Katryn as her husband would one day pen her name – Carey, the daughter of Mary Boleyn and, as the weight of evidence suggests, Henry VIII, is one of those footnotes.
As the possible daughter of Henry VIII, the niece of Anne Boleyn and the favorite of Elizabeth I, Catherine’s life offers us a unique perspective on the reigns of Henry and his children. In this book, Wendy J. Dunn takes these brief details of Catherine’s life and turns them into a rich account of a woman who deserves her story told. Following the faint trail provided of her life from her earliest years to her death in service to Queen Elizabeth, Dunn examines the evidence of Catherine’s parentage and views her world through the lens of her relationship with the royal family she served.
This book presents an important story of a woman who saw and experienced much tragedy and political turmoil during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, and Mary I – all of which prepared her to take on the vital role of one of Elizabeth I closest and most trusted women. It also prepared her to become the wife of one of Elizabeth’s privy councilors – a man also trusted and relied on by the queen. Catherine served Elizabeth during the uncertain and challenging first years of her reign, a time when there was a question mark over whether she would succeed as queen regnant after the failures of England’s first crowned regnant, her sister Mary.