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Title details for Anna of Kleve, the Princess in the Portrait by Alison Weir - Available

Anna of Kleve, the Princess in the Portrait

A Novel

#4 in series

by Alison Weir
ebook
1 of 1 copy available
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This “outstanding” (Historical Novels Review) novel in the Six Tudor Queens series illuminates the surprising and dramatic life of Anna of Kleve, King Henry VIII’s fourth and least known wife.
“In this vivid and beautifully crafted portrayal, Alison Weir transforms Henry VIII’s much-maligned fourth wife into a woman of passion, courage, and mystery.”—Tracy Borman, author of The Private Lives of the Tudors
Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced, Beheaded, Survived
Newly widowed and the father of an infant son, Henry VIII realizes he must marry again to ensure the royal succession. Forty-six, overweight, and suffering from gout, Henry is soundly rejected by some of Europe's most eligible princesses. Anna of Kleve, from a small German duchy, is twenty-four, and has a secret she is desperate to keep hidden. Henry commissions her portrait from his court painter, who depicts her from the most flattering perspective. Entranced by the lovely image, Henry is bitterly surprised when Anna arrives in England and he sees her in the flesh. Some think her attractive, but Henry knows he can never love her.
What follows is the fascinating story of an awkward royal union that somehow had to be terminated. Even as Henry begins to warm to his new wife and share her bed, his attention is captivated by one of her maids-of-honor.
Alison Weir takes a fresh look at this royal marriage from the perspective of Queen Anna, a young woman with dreams of her own, alone in a royal court that rejected her from the day she set foot on England’s shore.

  • Creators

  • Series

    Six Tudor Queens

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    May 14, 2019

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9781101966587

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9781101966587
      • File size: 5092 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      December 1, 2018

      In this fourth in the celebrated British historian/novelist's "The Six Tudor Queens" series, Weir chronicles what happens when a desperate Henry VIII, widowed and with a small son, seeks the hand of Anna of Kleve in marriage. Here, she's just as disenchanted with tubby, ugly Henry as he reputedly was with her.

      Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      June 17, 2019
      Weir’s fourth installment to the Six Tudor Queens series (after Jane Seymour, The Haunted Queen) is a solid rendering of the often grim 16th-century travails of King Henry VIII’s fourth wife, Anna, who survived divorce and a backstabbing court. Anna, 24, was a princess from the German duchy of Kleve, chosen to ensure royal offspring and good will with her country. Anna receives an extravagant welcome, but the marriage is never consummated; Henry assures Anna he likes her, “but it seems that God does not intend that I should love you.” Obese and suffering from severe leg ulcers, it is suggested that Henry, 46, was impotent; however, Anna’s much earlier annulled betrothal was contrived to legitimize Henry’s rejection and divorce of Anna. All the while, Anna harbors a secret from before her marriage that would doom her—like her successor, Katheryn Howard, who was executed. Humiliated, yet relieved to live independently with her divorce settlement, Anna is a much-loved figure, though forced to contend with court intrigue: manipulative Thomas Cawarden, her tenant who is knee-deep in conspiracies; spies among her staff; and court officials who accuse her of treason for supposedly favoring Elizabeth over the king’s rightful heir to the throne, Mary. Weir’s clever plot reimagines Anna’s deliciously scandalous maidenhood, sacrifices, and yearning for love. This riveting historical resonates long after the last page is devoured.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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