Fatal Throne
the Wives of Henry VIII Tell All
Candace Fleming, M. T. Anderson, Stephanie Hemphill, Lisa Ann Sandell, Jennifer Donnelly, Linda Sue Park, Deborah Hopkinson
Readers rate it 3.6 (8 on Hardcover)
416 pages · Released 2020 · Ember
Content report card
Fatal Throne parent’s guide: what’s inside
LGBTQ+ themes
Substance use
What it offers
A note for parents
This historical fiction anthology tells the stories of Henry VIII's six wives through first-person narratives by acclaimed YA authors. While it addresses real historical events including beheadings, divorces, and deaths in childbirth, the treatment is dramatic but not gratuitously graphic. The book offers substantial educational value about Tudor history and explores themes of survival, resilience, and women's agency within severely constrained circumstances. It's most appropriate for mature middle-grade and teen readers with interest in history.
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From the publisher
HE WAS KING HENRY VIII, a charismatic and extravagant ruler obsessed with both his power and with siring a male heir. They were his queens--six ill-fated women, bound for divorce, beheading, or death. Open this book and enter a court filled with the power-hungry and cutthroat, and those who serve them. Watch frie... HE WAS KING HENRY VIII, a charismatic and extravagant ruler obsessed with both his power and with siring a male heir. They were his queens--six ill-fated women, bound for divorce, beheading, or death. Open this book and enter a court filled with the power-hungry and cutthroat, and those who serve them. Watch friends, advisors, and even family betray one another--all to please an impossible-to-please king. Meet the devout and faithful Katharine of Aragon. See the sword flash as fiery Anne Boleyn is beheaded for adultery. Follow Jane Seymour as she rises from bullied court maiden to beloved queen, only to die after giving birth. Hold you breath as Anna of Cleves plays a most dangerous hand. Feel Catherine Howard's terror as old lovers resurface and whisper vicious rumors to Henry's influential advisors. Pace the room with Kateryn Parr as her enemies try to ensnare her. Experience the heartache of mothers as they lose son after son, heir after heir. Here are the tragic and riveting stories of the wives of Henry VIII--as well as Henry's own story--written by seven of the most acclaimed and bestselling YA authors working today. Told in stirring first-person accounts, Fatal Throne dramatically reveals the hopes and fears of Henry's queens as they attempt to survive their unpredictable king. Scandalous and heartbreaking, this epic tale is also an intimate look at the royalty of the most provocative and perilous time in English history. This description comes from the publisher.
Shelved under
- Kings, queens, rulers, etc.--Fiction.
- Courts and courtiers--Fiction.
- Courts and courtiers
- Kings and rulers
- Fiction
- History
- Children's fiction
- Henry viii, king of england, 1491-1547, fiction
- Kings, queens, rulers, etc., fiction
- Courts and courtiers, fiction
- Great britain, history, fiction
- Fiction, historical
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ISBN 9781984830333 · Ember