The Secret Bride (In The Court of Henry VIII, Book 1)

by Diane Haeger

Book Overview

For fans of The Tudors comes a captivating drama about the only woman who could defy Henry VIII -and keep her life. Mary Tudor, the headstrong younger sister of the ruthless King Henry VII, has always... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451223136
• Release Date: April 2008
• Publisher: Berkley
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 0.82 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.2" x 0.9" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

Wonderful Read!

I really enjoyed this book. I was hesitant to buy it after the mixed reviews but after I read Ms. Haegar's The Courtesan and loved that I gave The Secret Bride a chance. I am glad I did. It is a great book and she is a very good author!

Secret Bride in the Court of King Henry VIII

Like Intrigue, romance,and history? Wonderfully written novel about the times and doings in the court of Henry VIII as seen thru the eyes of his sister Mary. A time when women were pawns; their lives and futures decided on the whims of men. Countries, governments, wars all decided on who would marry who(and who was actually sleeping with who). Decidedly better reading then a dusty history tome. Excellent for Henry VIII history buffs to round out images of the people surrounding Henry at court during a period of historic change.

An enjoyable read

I really enjoyed this book. I liked reading about history from the point of view of a woman in this period of history

excellent biographical fiction

Being the sister of King Henry VIII, Princess Mary understands that she will one day be a political pawn marrying someone to further her brother's reign. However that does not prevent her from falling in love with the Duke of Suffolk Charles Brandon; nor he with her. She begs her sibling to allow her to marry Charles, but he refuses as she is intended to wed King Louis XII of France. However, feeling some guilt as he likes and trust Charles as a loyal friend of his and cares for Mary, Henry agrees she can marry her beloved if he is single and she is a widow. In the fall of 1514, Mary marries fiftyish King Louis XII of France. Less than three months later he died allegedly from too much exertion trying to begat an heir on his teenage wife. . Not asking permission as she knows her capricious brother might pawn her off on someone else, Mary persuades Charles to marry her as he and others escort her back across the Channel. However, they time their nuptials perfectly as Henry has no time to deal with either of them as he struggles to obtain papal approval of his divorce from Catherine of Aragon THE SECRET BRIDE is an excellent biographical fiction tale of the sister of King Henry VIII, who comes across as intelligent, compassionate, and sly. She has to if she is to survive her checkmating her manipulative political keen sibling. Fans of Tudor tales will appreciate this deep character driven look at Princess Mary though her romance with Charles takes center stage over the historical perspective. Harriet Klausner