The Sixth Wife: Amazon.co.uk: Suzannah Dunn: Books

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Review
'My, what a story!delightfully vulgar and utterly compelling.' The Times Praise for 'The Queen of Subtleties': 'Suzannah Dunn is, as ever, a mistress at describing the material world through which her characters move.' Guardian 'A boisterous historical recreation.' Independent '"The Queen of Subtleties" offers a stunningly refreshing way of retelling an old story. I often abandon historical novels nowadays, but I really could not put this one down. It brings Anne Boleyn to life as never before, and, probably for the first time ever in fiction, Henry VIII emerges as a truly credible character in an authentic setting.' Alison Weir, author of 'The Six Wives of Henry VIII'

The Telegraph
'...moving and believable. This is the Tudor world as seldom
seen...historical chick lit at its most charming.'

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Customer Reviews

18 Reviews

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

Average Customer Review

2.7 out of 5 stars (18 customer reviews)

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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A terrific idea but unfortunately very badly implemented, 22 Sep 2007

By	Klaus van Amelrode "kmcva" - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Sixth Wife (Paperback)

I believe it is quite difficult to approach as a subject of one's novel the life of Katherine Parr, the sixth and last wife of King Henry VIII, as most of us know about her. But it is not impossible as so many great writers of historical novels prove.

Therefore I think it was a terrific idea to do this through the perspective of Catherine Willoughby, Baroness Willoughby of Eresby in her own rights, a woman who shares much of Tudor drama herself. She was the last wife of Charles Brandon, the famous Duke of Suffolk, closed friend and brother in law of Henry VIII and much older husband to Catherine. She was the daughter of Maria de Salinas, the closest and most loyal friend of Queen Catherine of Aragon, first Queen Consort of Henry VIII. She was a lady-in-waiting to Katherine Parr and a prominent Protestant, close enough but not too close to the drama of the time.

However, I found this book a disappointment as both a historical and fictional novel. He story never takes off, is erratic and just has no flow too it. The dialogues are very often strange, in tone too modern, without the subtleties of Royal Tudor court life and most of the entire book does not created the personalities in a a way that one gets an idea about them. Historic novels are a unique tool to approach a historic personality without being too much tied to the historic documents and give them life and flesh. Great historic novelist do that, Susannah Dunn unfortunately does not. She simply does not know how to write convincing and compelling historical fiction.

Her first book "The Queen of Subtleties3 was a disappointment and unfortunately she keeps in line with her first book.

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7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A weird perspective, 16 Oct 2007

By	daisyrock "sharonsworld" (nottingham) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: The Sixth Wife (Paperback)

Suzannah Dunn tries two very interesting approaches to her fictionalisation of the last years of Katherine Parr's life. Firstly, she tells the whole tale through the eyes of someone else; someone who, for the purposes of Dunn's take on the story, is remote from the real goings-on in the Queen's mind, bedroom or life. So it always seems as if we are looking at the story through misty glass, not really sure of what's happening. Secondly, the language is very modern - an attempt it seems to connect the 21st century reader with the real emotions of the characters (indicating these were real people, just like us), but one which I don't think really comes off. Yes, these were just human beings, with human emotions, but they weren't like us. They were from a very different time, place and culture. It didn't ring quite true to me. So ultimately, I thought this was an innovative and intriguing novel, but - I hate to say it - not a particularly interesting or moving one.

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7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A terrific idea but unfortunately very badly implemented, 24 Feb 2007

By	Klaus van Amelrode "kmcva" - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

I believe it is quite difficult to approach as a subject of one's novel the life of Katherine Parr, the sixth and last wife of King Henry VIII, as most of us know about her. But it is not impossible as so many great writers of historical novels prove.

Therefore I think it was a terrific idea to do this through the perspective of Catherine Willoughby, Baroness Willoughby of Eresby in her own rights, a woman who shares much of Tudor drama herself. She was the last wife of Charles Brandon, the famous Duke of Suffolk, closed friend and brother in law of Henry VIII and much older husband to Catherine. She was the daughter of Maria de Salinas, the closest and most loyal friend of Queen Catherine of Aragon, first Queen Consort of Henry VIII. She was a lady-in-waiting to Katherine Parr and a prominent Protestant, close enough but not too close to the drama of the time.

However, I found this book a disappointment as both a historical and fictional novel. He story never takes off, is erratic and just has no flow too it. The dialogues are very often strange, in tone too modern, without the subtleties of Royal Tudor court life and most of the entire book does not created the personalities in a a way that one gets an idea about them. Historic novels are a unique tool to approach a historic personality without being too much tied to the historic documents and give them life and flesh. Great historic novelist do that, Susannah Dunn unfortunately does not. She simply does not know how to write convincing and compelling historical fiction.

Her first book "The Queen of Subtleties" was a disappointment and unfortunately she keeps in line with her first book.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Hated This Book
It is VERY unusual for me to say that I hated a book, but this book IS awful - very peculiarly written in a kind of half jokey style - not at all in keeping with the chosen... Read more

Published 2 months ago by Mrs. Judith Lugg

1.0 out of 5 stars Rubbish
This book has to be the worst book I have read. The characterisation and dialogue was poor and the story felt very disjointed and pointless.

Published 14 months ago by Deanne Wildsmith

1.0 out of 5 stars Could do a lot better
This was a romantic idea which the author freely admits has no basis in fact.
The last book I read was Alison Weirs 'Innocent Traitor' and in addition I have read all the... Read more

Published 16 months ago by G. Smith

1.0 out of 5 stars Historical fiction at its worst
I thought this book was really awful. The modern dialogue was at best unconvincing and lazy and at worst utterly cringeworthy - for example, when the narrator talked about Kate... Read more

Published 17 months ago by C. Hughes

2.0 out of 5 stars A Modern Approach to Katherine Parr
In writing this book about Henry VIII's widow and her marriage to Thomas Seymour, Suzannah Dunn is out of her league. I had the P.S. Read more

Published 18 months ago by Graceann Macleod

5.0 out of 5 stars Bringing dead people to life
I don't read much 'chick lit' or historical fiction, but after visiting Sudeley Castle (where much of it is set) I decided to give this a go and it's a fantastic read. Read more

Published 20 months ago by Mr Gladstone

1.0 out of 5 stars Most disappointing
I tried to get into this book on numerous occassions but have now given up and chucked it in the recyling bin to end up its life as something more exciting. Read more

Published 21 months ago by Phillipa Gregory fan

2.0 out of 5 stars A poor effort at historical fiction
I read this book on a very long flight. Had I been reading it at home, I'd likely have chucked it half way through. I had nothing else to read, though, so slogged onwards. Read more

Published 21 months ago by Book Lover

1.0 out of 5 stars An inaccurate, badly written story of Katherine Parr
I hated everything about this book. It was terribly inaccurate and badly written. It was written with a modern twist, which makes it unbelievable.

Published 21 months ago by Ms. Rebecca Dancer

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing
I'm a great lover of Tudor period historical fiction with a "twist" and was therefore looking forward to this novel as I picked it up; but have to say I found it very... Read more

Published 22 months ago by Mrs. P. Carr

› See all 18 customer reviews...

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	76% buy the item featured on this page: The Sixth Wife 2.7 out of 5 stars (18)
	9% buy Innocent Traitor 4.4 out of 5 stars (87) �5.59
	7% buy The Queen of Subtleties 2.0 out of 5 stars (23) �5.99
	4% buy The Other Queen 2.7 out of 5 stars (60) �4.31


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The Sixth Wife (Paperback)

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