In this brilliantly written history of Katherine Howard and the Howard Dukes of Norfolk, Marilyn Roberts brings the history behind Henry VIII’s fifth wife and her politically powerful family to life. Exploring the family’s rise to nobility and power in fifteenth and sixteenth century England and the life of Katherine Howard and her doomed reign as Queen of England, this book brings original research and primary sources into the conversation to discover the significance of this young woman and her political connections and the eventual fall from grace of Katherine and her relatives. With an incredible amount of historical research and some fascinating primary documents from the sixteenth century present throughout this book, Roberts has used her historical knowledge and expertise to develop this immersive and interesting text. The different sections and storylines brilliantly combine to bring the Howards’ historical significance to the forefront of the book, and Roberts keeps all of the historical figures separate and easy to identify. The different sections within the book outline different elements within the Howard family history that really make the family’s rise and fall apparent, and the chapters really break down the history into manageable chunks that readers and Tudor fans will love.

Marilyn Roberts digs deep into the entire Howard clan, putting Katherine in context of her crazy soap-opera worthy family.

For starters, her father, Edmund Howard, never had an opportunity he couldn't screw up royally. It technically is a tragedy that he did so poorly in life, but something about the <i>way</i> things went so bad - the only loser at the successful Battle of Flodden, angering Henry VIII by daring to beat him at jousting, being told he would be useless in the New World, and pissing the bed so bad his wife beat him, all come off as ridiculous and comic.

And there's there drama of the Dukes themselves - constantly swinging back and forth from highest courtier in the land to the Tower and back again, over and over throughout the Tudor era. All of their closes family are part of the drama, as we follow along with what part wives, mistresses, children and in-laws played in these dramas.

Katherine herself gets the spotlight as we follow in real time with close detail how she went from nothing to queen to the block. Marilyn Roberts digs deep into the interrogation records to get everyone's voice- the ladies, the maids, the servants, the stable hands, the courtiers - who were swept up in the investigation and many locked up for what they possibly knew - a fascinating detail that is often overlooked as most historians focus just on Katherine Howard and Jane Rochford.

After those two meet their ends, the book keeps going, showing just what happened to all those other people tainted by the same brush. And then goes even further, showing the further ups and downs of the Howard family, making it quite clear they can't put all the blame for their troubles on their Howard queens.

An excellent biography of Katherine Howard and a great family biography of the Howards.

This is a forensic, detailed and well-researched examination of Katherine’s life but quite dry and hard-going, I felt. I’ve been mad about the Tudors since I read JeanPlaidy’s children’s history books at 11 so it suited me. However, I suspect that most people who will enjoy it will be fellow Tudor tragics!

There are many questions about Katherine? Was she really a silly, simpering teenager? Was she abused when she was young? Why did Henry fancy her? Were the Norfolks using her? This book certainly answers them.

What I liked most about it is that it restores her reputation somewhat. She was still unbelievably reckless and silly to secretly meet a young man after she married the King. What was she thinking? However, she was not ill-educated and she was well-behaved and dignified. She also faced her death very bravely. She has been badly treated in most of the TV series about the Tudors and deserves to have the truth told.

I received this free ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Yes, my friends, my Tudor obsession is back in full swing, and I’ve continued my education on this time period with a book about Queen Katherine and the Howard dynasty. I was very grateful to receive this ARC shortly after I had finished reading a fictionalized version of Katherine Howard’s life; to be able to then immediately compare fiction and fact was very interesting and helpful.

In Queen Katherine and the Howards, author Marilyn Roberts puts the biggest focus on the time when Katherine became Henry VIII’s fifth queen, but she also paints a bigger picture, exploring the Howard family at large and explaining their role at royal court; the struggle for power between the different families is truly mind-boggling. Henry VIII’s behavior was also erratic most of the time, so it could happen that you could be one of his most trusted advisors one morning and find yourself imprisoned in the Tower for treason the very same evening, losing your head the next day. (Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard, both of the Howard dynasty, lost their lives that way.)

In her book, the author also discards some of the stories surrounding Katherine Howard that have falsely persisted throughout the centuries (maybe because they make for more dramatic and fascinating tales) - for instance, the last words she spoke before her untimely death.

Queen Katherine and the Howards is very well researched but will probably be more appealing to the academically-inclined and those who still feel enthralled by everything Tudor. I, for one, particularly enjoyed learning more about Thomas Howard, the 3rd Duke of Norfolk (uncle to Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard) - he’s such a prominent, important player during Tudor times and yet I only knew so little about him. Marilyn Roberts successfully closes that gap.

Thank you to @penswordbooks, @netgalley and Marilyn Roberts for the advanced reading copy. Queen Katherine and the Howards will be published on January 31!

This book explores the exploits of the Howard family during the Wars of the Roses and the Tudor era. It re-examines the life and death of Katherine Howard, Henry VIII’s fifth wife, challenging conventional narratives and using primary sources to explore her family’s history, her own choices, and the political machinations that led to her execution.

Worth reading and easy to understand, this book has more breadth than depth. I wish it had assumed that the reader has a basic understanding of the historical era and had focused more on the Howard family themselves. Still, I learned a great deal about the Howards and Queen Katherine.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

ARC Review - A comprehensive novel of the rise and falls of the Howard family. The research is excellent, yet the writing is a bit dry and rather academic. If you're unfamiliar with the major players from The War of the Roses and the Tudor dynasty, you may find this book overwhelming. For those interested in Katherine Howard, fifth wife of Henry VIII, this book is a must-read.

248 pages

5 stars

Although very little is known about Katherine Howard’s early life, not even her birthdate is absolutely known, Ms. Roberts has pieced together a comprehensive portrait of the young Queen’s life.

Aging, ailing and obese, King Henry VIII fell hard for the charming, somewhat immature Katherine. She was an attractive teenager. Perhaps he was trying to recapture his youth and athleticism.

Katherine’s step-grandmother, Agnes, the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk was ostensibly her caretaker and protector. Katherine lived in a dormitory-type setting with several other young women. There were also men and boys in the residence. This is where Katherine’s reputation suffered. Whether Agnes did not notice, was careless or perhaps duped, Katherine got into all sorts of dangerous situations with the men of the residence. Her very reputation was at stake.

When she caught Henry’s eye, nothing about Katherine’s past was revealed to the King or his court.

When the story was told to a relative of one of the young women who lived with Katherine, the relative felt duty bound to report it.

Initially, King Henry disbelieved the report, but ordered Archbishop Cranmer and others to question Katherine and as the story expanded, they also questioned the men involved. The scandal spread to several men.

Henry was livid.

A fact I found interesting is the vitriol Henry poured in the Howard family. The Duke of Norfolk was a loyal and excellent soldier. Agnes, perhaps naive, was loyal to the crown. Perhaps she believed that if she claimed to have turned a blind eye, she would be safe. Although she did go through Francis Dereham’s belongings, and might have gotten rid of some of his things. I don’t understand why Henry hit the Norfolk/Howard family so hard.

Ms. Roberts covers the investigation, Katherine’s stories, Culpeper, Dereham and Mannox’ interrogations, torture and Culpeper and Dereham’s horrible ends.

This is a very good and comprehensive (as far as Ms. Robert’s was able), telling of the story of Katherine Howard’s brief life and death. It is easy to read and accessible for all ages. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who loves Tudor history, medieval history or the lives of Kings and Queens.

I want to thank NetGalley and Pen & Sword History for forwarding to me a copy of this remarkably good book for me to read, enjoy and review. The opinions expressed in this review are solely my own.

Marilyn Roberts’ “Queen Katherine and the Howards”dives into the complex, tumultuous world of Tudor England, focusing on Katherine Howard, Henry VIII’s ill-fated fifth wife. As someone who enjoys British history but has limited knowledge beyond an American perspective, I found the book both enlightening and challenging.

The story of Katherine Howard—only 17 when she married a nearly 50-year-old Henry VIII—is tragic and fascinating. I didn’t realize Katherine was not only Anne Boleyn’s first cousin but also a third cousin to Jane Seymour, further illustrating how intertwined the Howard family was with Henry’s court. This proximity to the king, however, was less a privilege and more a high-stakes gamble. Roberts does an excellent job capturing the treacherous environment where alliances could turn deadly, and treason was a charge leveled for reasons as arbitrary as loving the wrong person or supporting the wrong queen.

While the book is impressively well-researched, it’s not the easiest read for someone without a solid grounding in Tudor history. The prose feels like an academic lecture, dense with detail and assuming a level of familiarity with the period that I didn’t quite have. At times, I struggled to follow the intricacies of the political and familial connections, which made the narrative less engaging than it could have been.

That said, Roberts’ meticulous attention to historical accuracy is evident, and for readers with a strong background in Tudor history—or a willingness to do some supplementary research—it’s a treasure trove of information. For casual history buffs like me, however, it may feel cumbersome and a bit inaccessible.

In short, Queen Katherine and the Howards offers a richly detailed exploration of Katherine Howard’s life and the political web that surrounded her, but its academic tone may make it a better fit for historians or dedicated enthusiasts than for the average reader.

My thanks to NetGalley and Pen & Sword for this ARC in exchange for an unbiased and honest review..

Really interesting read, but it was so difficult to read on my kindle that I found it hard to keep my concentration.
I will buy the physical version as soon as I see it as the parts I was able to read were brilliant with a clear understanding for the research and the history overall

An excellently researched and detailed study of the Howard family from their roots in East Anglia through to the elevation but subsequent death of Katherine at the hands of her husband Henry VIII - and even beyond for those she left behind.
The author does not shy away from criticism of several 19th and 20thC historians who not only confused some of the facts but adhered to unproven ideas and suggestions regarding this Tudor family. Marilyn Roberts puts the record straight.
An excellent read.
My thanks to NetGalley and Pen & Sword for this arc in exchange for an unbiased and honest review.

The fates of the Howard family are knitted in with the wider history of Tudor England and indeed sixteenth-century Scotland, too. I knew some of the Howards from my research into the period, for example Katherine Howard, Henry VIII's young fifth queen; and Lord Thomas Howard, who embarked on a relationship with Margaret Douglas when she was a relative newcomer at Henry VIII's court. But in general, my knowledge of a family that had been so prominent during the Tudor age was hazy, and so I looked forward to finding out more in Marilyn Roberts' book, Queen Katherine and the Howards published by Pen and Sword Books.

The books starts with the rise of the family - so if you're looking for a book purely about Katherine Howard this is not, in all honesty, it, although it does delve deeper into the queen's story from the second third of the book. However, to understand Katherine you have to appreciate where her family came from: their beginnings, their earlier struggles and their relationships with the early Tudor monarchs.

I enjoyed reading the book - which contains 19 chapters read in a few evenings - along with many of the tales that filled it holes in my existing knowledge of the age. It also focuses, to some degree, on the women of the Howard family and the influence and effect they had on events of the period. I feel as if I got to know Agnes Howard a little bit while reading and the author has taken care to analyse and explore aspects of her personality. They are not just names and dates, but explored as the three-dimensional women they once were. The fall of Katherine Howard and her family's reaction to the events of the early-1540s is also explored, often in great detail from surviving court records. We also learn about the shady figure of Edmund Howard, Katherine's father, and gain an understanding of how the future queen's early years may have contributed to the events of her queenship.

Generally, it's a book I'd recommend to any Tudor history fan, because to understand the age you need to have a knowledge of one of its most prominent families and their involvement with the Crown, in their success as well as their challenges and fall.

As a keen reader of Tudor history Queen Katherine’s story is not new to me, however Marilyn Robert’s’ new book kept me enthralled.
She lays down the facts and disputes many of the long-standing opinions and ‘facts’ about Katherine Howard’s life. But in addition to this she tells the story from before and after Katherine’s rapid rise and fall in Tudor society. Setting her short life in the middle of her much longer lived step grandmother and uncle helps to put this period of history in context and also highlights how the events of her very short reign impacted her family, the mighty Howard’s, well into the future.
I would recommend Queen Katherine and the Howard’s to those interested in Tudor history and I feel that anyone who likes a drama filled true life story would relish reading this book.
Thanks to Netgalley and Pen and Sword for the opportunity to read and review an advanced copy of this book.

I have read other biographies on Queen Katherine but this is the most complete history of her life and her families that I have ever read. The author has written it in a way that is informative, colorful, truthful and never dry (which is sometimes hard to do with any biography). In my opinion, the author presents Katherine honestly and erases a lot of the misconceptions that history and historical fiction novels and television has cast upon her. A must read for any Tudor fan or anyone who loves reading about English monarchy history. Comes with pictures which is always a bonus for me. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was a strong look at Katherine Howard’s final days, it had that element that I was looking for and thought worked as a historical nonfiction book. It was researched well and learned a lot about this. Marilyn Roberts has a strong writing style and am excited to read more.

Queen Katherine and the Howard's by Marilyn Roberts

A really interesting read about Henry VIII youngest bride.
The Howards were a family that wanted to remain in the favour of the king and did many things to stay as a prominent family at that time at a cost to many people .