The King's Rose
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
Witness the rise of Catherine Howard—a young girl who goes from being a pawn to a queen in the lavish world of King Henry VIII’s Tudor court—in this thrilling historical fiction novel.
When fifteen-year-old Catherine Howard’s youth, beauty, and noble birth are enough to make her the envy of every woman in Tudor England . . . and now she has caught the eye of the king.
But life in the court of King Henry VIII is a complex game. Catherine finds herself quickly transformed from a carefree teenager with dreams of romance and riches to queen of England. Even luxury beyond imagination loses its luster as young Catherine finds her life—and her heart—threatened by the needs of an aging king and a family hungry for power. Catherine begins to fear that their agendas will make her a sacrifice on the alter of family ambition, delivering the young queen to the same fate as her infamous cousin, Anne Boleyn.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Libby's lush historical novel chronicles the intense period during which 15-year-old Catherine Howard became Henry VIII's fifth wife. Starting when the king disposed of his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, by annulment, and taking readers through the moment of Catherine's death for treason against the king, the story captures her powerlessness, despite her title. "You are little more than flesh and blood," her grandmother, the duchess of Norfolk, tells her. "You are the vessel by which the Howards lay claim to the greatest power we can wield." Catherine feels intense pressure to be the king's "rose without a thorn" and produce an heir, but she struggles under the weight of her own past and the machinations of her family: deceiving the king about her virginity, suppressing her love for one of the king's courtiers, Thomas, and contending with the arrival of a former lover and friends seeking positions in her court. The gripping story crackles with the anxiety of the young queen her lack of control over her own life and desires will resonate most with readers. Ages 14 up.
