This woman is fast becoming my favourite-of-the-month author. Instead of starting on the books I bought earlier, I borrowed this from my sister during my short trip back to KL. My verdict? A good historical romance that would leave you crying and asking yourself: Is this for real?
It is the story of Katherine of Aragon, Henry VIII's first wife and mother of Mary Tudor. The story starts with a fire in a battlecamp, when Katherine - or Catalina as she was known in Spain - was five years old and her mother, Isabella of Castille, was fighting against the Moors of al Andalus. Catalina, the Infanta of Spain, was the youngest and spent her first years of childhood on the campaign trail. She shares the wonderment of the Alhambra as the conquering Christian monarchs make it their home:
Betrothed at a young age to Arthur, the 'Rose of England', Catalina grows up with an intense purpose to fulfill her destiny as the Princess of Wales, and later Queen of England. Her determination takes her to England where she faces her future father-in-law Henry VII, her timid husband-to-be, his domineering grandmother Lady Margaret Beaufort and meets charming young Prince Harry, who would later become the Prince of Wales and Catalina's husband after the death of Arthur.But the little doorway is like a keyhole to a treasure chest of boxes, the one opening out from another. The man leads us through them like a slave opening doors to a treasury. Their very names are a poem: the Golden Chamber, the Courtyard of the Myrtles, the Hall of the Ambassadors, the Courtyard of the Lions, or the Hall of the Two Sisters. It will take us weeks to find our way from one exquisitely tiled room to another. It will take us months to stop marvelling at the pleasure of the sound of water running down the marble gulleys in the rooms, flowing to a white marble fountain that always spills over with the cleanest, freshest water of the mountains.
The book is built on the premise that Catalina lied when she said her marriage to Arthur was never consummated, hence allowing for the marriage to Arthur's younger brother after his death. As the story goes, Catalina and Arthur were a passionately loving young couple and made great plans to rule England together. The name Katherine was given to her by Arthur, who made her promise, on his deathbed to become Queen of England by marrying Harry.
Katherine, as a historical figure, is obviously a favourite of the author. Throughout the book she is depicted as a woman of strong faith and courage, with hardly any faults. Certainly a contrast to how Anne Boleyn was represented in 'The Other Boleyn Girl'. The last chapter of the book covers the events in 1529, when Henry sought an annulment to their marriage so he could marry Anne instead. Even then, Katherine insisted that she was the rightful Queen of England, holding fast to the promise she made to her true love, Arthur.
'I shall do this for you,' I say fiercely in my mind, to my beloved. 'You wanted this lie. I shall do it thoroughly. If it is going to be done, it must be done thoroughly. It has to be done with courage, conviction; and it must never be undone.'
