Review ~ In the Footsteps of the Wives of Henry VIII by Sarah Morris and Natalie Grueninger

Amberley Books

July 2017

In the Footsteps of the Six Wives of Henry VIII: The visitor’s companion to the palaces, castles houses associated with Henry VIII’s iconic queens.

It's such a refreshing change to read something different about the six wives of Henry VIII. So much has been written about them both individually and collectively that sometimes I feel that there is nothing more to discover about any of them. 

And then along comes .. In the Footsteps of the Wives... which delighted me in a different sort of way. I was thrilled to learn something new, with the added bonus of also being able to picture the wives 'in situ' at their various residences. From the sunshine gardens of the Alhambra Palace in Spain, the childhood home of Katherine of Aragon, through to the cold of Gainsborough Old Hall in Lincolnshire, once the home of Katherine Parr, the book takes us on a real journey of discovery. Also stopping off at Hever Castle in Kent, Wolfhall in Wiltshire and the Schloss Dussefdorf in Germany and points in between, the book is imaginatively and professionally developed so that each individual journey becomes one of discovery.

The book is easy to navigate which is an added bonus if, like me, you tend to dip in and out of factual books. There's a good index of contents which makes it easy to locate whichever wife you have a fancy to follow and a series of clear maps helps to put them in their place.The illustrations both colour and black and white give added depth and help to place the locations in context. There are also some important visitor details so that if you have an interest in visiting any of the residences, and places of interest, you can find out more by following links to websites and using the necessary post codes.

The book is very much more than just a collection of historic houses and castles, it also gives an interesting and concise history of each Queen, so that if you don't know too much about the six wives, then there is more than enough information to get you started.

If you like Tudor history and visiting the sites of Tudor castles and palaces, and also have a fascination for the six wives of Henry VIII, then I'm sure you'll enjoy this one as much as I did.

About the Authors

Sarah Morris runs the website www.anneboleynbook.co.uk dedicated to her non-fiction and fiction writing about England’s most famous queen consort.

Natalie Grueninger is a researcher, writer and educator, and founder of www.onthetudortrail.com, a site about Anne Boleyn and Tudor England.

My thanks to Philip at Amberley Books for my copy of 

 In the Footsteps of the Wives of Henry VIII

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