Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Katherine of Aragon, The True Queen: A Novel
    Katherine of Aragon, The True Queen: A Novel
    Katherine of Aragon, The True Queen: A Novel
    Audiobook22 hours

    Katherine of Aragon, The True Queen: A Novel

    Written by Alison Weir

    Narrated by Rosalyn Landor

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Bestselling author and acclaimed historian Alison Weir takes on what no fiction writer has done before: creating a dramatic six-book series in which each novel covers one of English King Henry VIII's wives. In this captivating opening volume, Weir brings to life the tumultuous tale of Katherine of Aragon, Henry's first, devoted, and "true" queen. A princess of Spain, Catalina is only sixteen years old when she sets foot on the shores of England. The youngest daughter of the powerful monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella, Catalina is a coveted prize for a royal marriage-and Arthur, Prince of Wales, and heir to the English throne, has won her hand. But tragedy strikes and Catalina, now Princess Katherine, is betrothed to the future Henry VIII. She must wait for his coming-of-age, an ordeal that tests her resolve, casts doubt on her trusted confidantes, and turns her into a virtual prisoner. Katherine's patience is rewarded when she becomes Queen of England. The affection between Katherine and Henry is genuine, but forces beyond her control threaten to rend her marriage, and indeed the nation, apart. Henry has fallen under the spell of Katherine's maid-of-honor, Anne Boleyn. Now Katherine must be prepared to fight, to the end if God wills it, for her faith, her legitimacy, and her heart.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateMay 31, 2016
    ISBN9781501919640
    Katherine of Aragon, The True Queen: A Novel

    More audiobooks from Alison Weir

    Related to Katherine of Aragon, The True Queen

    Titles in the series (5)

    View More
    View More

    Related audiobooks

    Historical Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The Sands of TREGANLLAW

      May 5, 2022

      England, 1497. Henry VII, the first Tudor king, reigns, having vanquished Richard III, the last monarch of the House of York, at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. A young man calling himself Richard, Duke of York has spent years striving for recogniti

      5 min read

    • Article

      The ROYAL INSIDER

      Sep 5, 2023

      The ROYAL INSIDER
      2 min read

    • Article

      Should Camilla BE QUEEN?

      Apr 13, 2021

      Should Camilla BE QUEEN?
      2 min read

    • Article

      The Firm Falters

      Dec 23, 2022

      The Firm Falters
      6 min read

    • Article

      Royal Insider

      Feb 23, 2022

      The day was always going to be epoch-making. The current British royal family dates back to 1066 when William the Conqueror became King, and since then no monarch has marked 70 years on the throne until Queen Elizabeth II did so on February 6. Impres

      4 min read

    • Article

      Royal Insider

      Feb 23, 2022

      The day was always going to be epoch-making. The current British royal family dates back to 1066, when William the Conqueror became King, and since then, no monarch has marked 70 years on the throne until Queen Elizabeth II did so on February 6. Impr

      4 min read

    • Article

      Speaking To Us From Highclere Castle Lord And Lady Carnarvon On How Their Magnificent Estate Opened Its Doors To Young Wartime Evacuees And Future Plans To Mark V.e. Day

      May 11, 2020

      It is one of Britain’s most distinguished stately homes, visited by royalty – including the Queen – throughout history and the magnificent setting for the hit drama Downton Abbey . But during the Second World War, Highclere Castle near Newbury, Hamps

      4 min read

    • Article

      ‘DIANA Was A Force To Be Reckoned With’

      Aug 4, 2022

      We sat in her plush drawing room at Kensington Palace, surrounded by framed photos of ‘her boys’, William and Harry, and dissected the collapse of her marriage to their father, Charles. Diana was in a chatty mood. It was June 1995: five months befor

      3 min read

    • Article

      Long Live The King!

      May 17, 2023

      Long Live The King!
      10 min read

    • Article

      And Then She Was Gone

      Feb 2, 2024

      And Then She Was Gone
      7 min read

    • Article

      Love will WIN

      Sep 6, 2023

      Love will WIN
      9 min read

    • Article

      My Darling Wife

      May 1, 2023

      My Darling Wife
      8 min read

    • Article

      King At Last

      May 5, 2023

      King At Last
      7 min read

    • Article

      Royal Progress

      Mar 8, 2019

      Royal Progress
      5 min read

    • Article

      Princess Margaret And Me

      Oct 30, 2019

      Princess Margaret And Me
      11 min read

    • Article

      Princess Margaret And Me

      Nov 6, 2019

      Princess Margaret And Me
      11 min read

    • Article

      All Aboard The Cambridges’ Christmas Express William And Kate Get A Rockin’ Royal Send-off Ahead Of Their 1,250-mile Adventure To Sprinkle Festive Cheer Across The Nation

      Dec 14, 2020

      All Aboard The Cambridges’ Christmas Express William And Kate Get A Rockin’ Royal Send-off Ahead Of Their 1,250-mile Adventure To Sprinkle Festive Cheer Across The Nation
      8 min read

    • Article

      Queen Elizabeth I

      Aug 2, 2023

      Queen Elizabeth I
      6 min read

    • Article

      Royal Insider

      Dec 29, 2021

      On January 9, the Duchess of Cambridge celebrates her 40th birthday. With the pandemic still raging, it’s unlikely there will be a big party for the anniversary, but it is, I think, a notable milestone. When the Queen was 40, she had already been on

      4 min read

    • Article

      Royal Insider

      Dec 29, 2021

      On January 9 the Duchess of Cambridge celebrates her 40th birthday. With the pandemic still raging, it’s unlikely there will be a big party for the anniversary but it is, I think, a notable milestone. When The Queen was 40, she had already been on th

      4 min read

    • Article

      The Queen SECRETS of her REIGN

      Jun 17, 2020

      The Queen SECRETS of her REIGN
      13 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Katherine of Aragon, The True Queen

    4/5

    154 ratings12 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      If you love Tudor history, give this series. It's exceptionally well-researched, and written
    • 5/5
      i cannot believe i finished this book, very good, historical and dense
    • 5/5
      This is the first in the author's six novel series tracing the lives of Henry VIII's six wives. Katherine of Aragon's marriage to the Tudor monarch was longer than all the other five marriages put together and far more significant in its longer term impact than any of the others, only Anne Boleyn's coming anywhere close. It finished in a hugely protracted divorce, the consequences of which were surely more far-reaching than those of any other divorce in history, certainly in British and arguably European and world history, as it gave rise to an irrevocable split in the Christian church, the most powerful international force of the time. Katherine's profound sense of duty comes across very clearly here, as does her almost unbelievable levels of personal sense of love and loyalty to Henry, amounting to what comes across to the modern reader as utter naivety at the time when her successor Anne Boleyn is already married to the King and crowned Queen, when Katherine even believes she will be recalled to court and reinstated after the Pope eventually after years of delay pronounces Katherine's marriage to the King legitimate. Katherine does nevertheless come across as a noble, if somewhat irritatingly stubborn, character and I felt sadness at her eventual death in the quietness of an isolation in the countryside amounting effectively to imprisonment. Alison Weir writes the Tudors like very few other authors and I think in particular is one of the very few who is equally effective at both fiction and non-fiction.
    • 3/5
      Insightful, tragic, and educational, but not fun. I didn't know much about Katherine of Aragon, and only a little about her awful second husband Henry VIII. The story of her life was interesting throughout, though very sad. I really appreciated the way that the values and priorities of the characters reflected their own time and were so out of place with modern sensibilities. Katherine was so often painfully naïve and failed to act in what seemed to me to her own best interests, but her reasoning was consistently sound and clearly rooted in her clearly-expressed emotions and deeply-held beliefs. I don't know if there would be a way to tell this story that was heartwarming or exciting, but the (real-life) depressing and frustrating elements of the story kept me from enjoying it all the way through.
    • 3/5
      I've been wanting to read this series for a long time, because I have been interested in British Royalty since a child and read the Last Plantagents by Thomas Costain. The BBC series on the 6 Wives of Henry VIII in the 70's was fantastic and only fueled my interest. So why did I have such a hard getting through this book? I got it out of the library 3 times and just couldn't get very far. But this time I promised myself that it would be different and I would finish it because I have the next 4 wives waiting to be read. I knew a little about Katherine of Aragon, but I'm not sure that I wanted to know as much as was included in this book.I know that this author is very well thought of for historical accuracy and for bringing to life the people of the past, but this Katherine, IMHO, should have stayed buried. She was constantly complaining to people that she was put upon by Henry VII and when she did marry Henry VIII, she was constantly whining about how God wouldn't bless her with a healthy child and how Henry had a roving eye.So many times while I was reading I just wanted to say "Suck it up, princess!"Would I recommend this book, maybe if you know nothing of the period or the people, but otherwise it was extremely repetitive throughout.
    • 3/5
      Very long read!!!!

      Wow! Six hundred pages detailing the life of Katherine of Aragon. As the first wife of Henry the Eighth, she was married to him the longest and I do believe that she loved him better than his subsequent wives. The pressure to bear an heir was tremendously overwhelming in her time. Imagine having the future of your own country riding on you. She bore the pressure as well as she could, but it obviously was not enough. Henry's treatment of her is appalling. Putting her away and breaking away from the church sounds very extreme. But in this book, Henry proves that he will do anything for a son. It's a long long book that is well researched and very informative. However I don't think I am going to reread this book again.
    • 3/5
      Sometimes I wonder why I bother to read any new books on the Tudors. Yes, I am rather a Tudor junkie But the point is: what is there to learn that's really new? And in fictional accounts, most new approaches are highly unsatisfying, usually sexing up the heroines and adding a lot of anachronistic 20th-century feminism. At least Alison Weir did not fall into that pit; thankfully, she's too much the historian first. That, however, creates another stumbling block for the reader: Truth be told, Katherine is makes a boring protagonist. She is too good, too righteous, too oppressed, too long-suffering, and, sadly, just too darn attached to that loser Henry. It would be pitiful to see her on her deathbed, praying for Henry's eternal soul and mooning over memories of the honeymoon days, if only I didn't want to slap her and scream, "It's over, capiche? Snap out of it!"Of course, one can't totally blame Katherine, the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, for not wanting to give up her rights and title as queen and for refusing to be locked away in a convent, as Henry wished. But in Weir's depiction, she never once gets angry at Henry for rejecting her, whine as she will about being his "one true wife" in God's eyes. When the Catholic church has been dissolved and your ex sets himself up as the head of the new Church of England whose archbishop declares your marriage invalid, it's over in everyone's eyes but your own (and maybe the Pope's, but his only intervention was to excommunicate Henry, to whom it no longer mattered). History is history, however, and it would be pointless to hope for Katherine to turn over a new leaf and either fight harder or start a new life--that just wouldn't have happened.So here we are, with yet another dull novel about a dull woman. Weir just came out with a novel about Anne Boleyn, so apparently she plans to walk us through all six wives. (And unfortunately I bought this one before I started on her Katherine novel. At least Anne is more inherently interesting, so there's so hope.)
    • 3/5
      OK, I like reading novels about the wives of Henry VIII, but I have read quite a few of them and maybe it's time to stop. This particular book about Katherine of Aragon (and there's 5 more coming in this series) will immerse you in what seems to be every single conversation that Katherine ever had with anybody - it just goes on and on and on. Particularly at the end of her life, when Katherine has been "divorced" by the King and is in exile, being moved from castle to castle while her hopes are raised up and then dashed by Henry again and again and again, the book just seems interminable. For these reasons, I give it a mediocre rating.
    • 4/5
      I am familiar with Alison Weir’s work, both fiction and non-fiction. I have also read several biographies of Katherine of Aragon as well as books that cover the reign of Henry VIII. Yet I was surprised. It is refreshing to find new information in a subject I thought I knew so well. So hats off to Ms. Weir for the surprise concerning Arthur, Prince of Wales. Once I finish writing this review, I am off to find more information.

      Having read Ms. Weir’s fiction and nonfiction books, I have to say I prefer her nonfiction. This novel is a good example of why. In the nonfiction books, Ms. Weir’s exhaustive research produces a feeling like total immersion for the reader. You get lost in the detail. You can see and feel and touch what Ms. Weir is describing. I have not found that in her fiction writing. It is comparatively flat. I just did not get lost in the story.

      This is still an enjoyable book. Anyone who enjoys historical fiction or Tudor related books, will enjoy this novel.


      I received an advance copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for a fair review.
    • 3/5
      Too long and nothing new.
    • 5/5
      I never really had an interest in British royal history, however, Henry VIII surely intrigues everyone. This book is the first in a planned series of books about Henry VIII’s wives. And who better to tell these stories than Alison Weir.Ms. Weir has spent her life doing research and writing books on British royalty. Her nonfiction works include: “Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy”; The Six Wives of Henry VIII”; “Lancaster and York – The Wars of the Roses”; “Eleanor of Aquitaine: By the Wrath of God, Queen of England”; “The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn”; and “Elizabeth of York – A Tudor Queen and Her World”.“Katherine of Aragon, The True Queen” is her sixth historical fiction book based on British royalty. The book is a fascinating read. I learned so much about this period of history from reading it. She includes a timeline and list of characters in the back of the book – great tools since there are so many characters and events for someone not well-read on this historical topic. All the historical figures are brought to life in the telling of the marriage between Henry and Katherine and their ups and downs. Anne Boleyn is portrayed as a marvel manipulator, Henry is besot and controlled by her, while Katherine bears the brunt of both Anne’s and Henry’s attempts to do away with her. I was thoroughly intrigued with how Anne’s schemes led to long-term historical changes. I am definitely looking forward to the next book in the series.Thank you to Random House for sending me an Advance Copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
    • 4/5
      *I received this book through GoodReads First Reads.*Alison Weir treads familiar ground in this novel about Henry VIII's first wife Katherine of Aragon. (How many books has she written on the Tudors, fiction and nonfiction?) A few times while reading this book, I thought I was rereading some books written by an older historical fiction writer on royalty - Jean Plaidy. While I did enjoy this book (who doesn't love the Tudors?!), I must admit that the author doesn't truly provide much that is new in this very familiar story, nor does the approach vary from many other novels set in the Tudor period. I would recommend this book primarily for dedicated fans of the Tudor era.