The Children of Henry VIII
I wanted to read a good biography so turned to one of my favorite authors, Alison Weir. Her trilogy of biographies on the Tudor period are some of my favorites: “The Wives of Henry VIII,” “The Children of Henry VIII,” and “The Life of Elizabeth I.” I decided to re-read “The Children of Henry VIII” because for some reason, one day out of the blue, I was wondering to myself, “if Mary was Catholic (she of Bloody Mary fame) and hated her sister, the Protestant Elizabeth, so much, why didn’t she just kill her like she did countless others?” Yes, I know it’s random, but these are the sorts of questions that run through my mind at times. So instead of turning to my trusty go-to (Google) for the answer, I decided to re-read the book. It covers the reigns of Henry’s son, Edward VI, who died at just 15; Jane Grey, the Nine-Days Queen; and Mary I. The book ends when Elizabeth ascends the throne, leading to the final book in the series.
What I like about Weir and this series in particular is that she doesn’t focus so much on the politics as she does the personal lives of her subjects. She looks at why Mary hesitated when it came to Elizabeth but was willing to burn so many others? Why Jane took the throne and what happened on that fateful Day 9? What did Edward die from? I know these are probably boring questions to some, but this is one of my favorite historical periods told by one of my favorite authors, so when I want to read a biography, I usually find myself returning to these books again and again.