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The Fifth Queen: A Novel of the Court of Henry VIII
Ford Madox Ford
#UE7872 Paperback, 607 pages; 2011 (1984) $15.95
Members' Price: $13.56

  A sweeping historical romance with a highly literary pedigree, Ford Madox Ford's ambitious novel portrays Katharine Howard as beautiful, intelligent, and dangerously outspoken-- qualities that catch the eye of King Henry VIII when the young woman enters his court and lead to the pair's improbable marriage. A devout Catholic who yearns for a return to the old ways after England's break with Rome, Katharine becomes enmeshed in the machinations of the court--eventually facing off with the feared Lord Privy Seal, Thomas Cromwell, who sees his vision for the country threatened by the tenacious young woman's increasing influence over the king. Filled with sinister plots, ruthless power moves, and romantic liaisons with deadly consequences, Ford's vivid fictional rendering of the inner workings of the Tudor court and the political upheaval during the English Reformation is rich with suspense and intrigue. (AG)