Queen's Gambit

April 15, 2013
Tudor women continue to rule historical fiction, as Fremantle demonstrates in her debut novel tracing Katherine Parr’s passage from grieving widow to Henry VIII’s sixth and last wife, the one who survives. Taking us into Katherine’s mind and heart, Fremantle portrays a complex gentlewoman: decent, though willing to hasten her previous husband’s demise; modest, though ready to throw herself into the arms of the man she adores; and intelligent, though blind to the machinations of the man in question, aristocratic playboy Thomas Seymour. At 31, daft with desire for Thomas, Katherine has no choice but accept the now aging, ungainly King’s unwelcome marriage proposal. A reluctant queen in a court full of intrigue and potential enemies, she still manages to write a book, reconcile Henry to his daughters Mary and Elizabeth, and champion Protestant reforms, all while maintaining a tenuous hold on the King’s favor and a noticeably unabated attraction to Seymour. Fremantle details the dangers of 16th-century sexual politics while humanizing powerful women, including Katherine herself; clever, willful Elizabeth; and lonely, suspicious Mary. Even with invented characters—such as a gay royal physician/confidant, and a loyal commoner maid—Fremantle carves out no new literary territory, but like Katherine, she navigates Tudor terrain with aplomb.