Well researched and literately written, enjoyable bio of Henry's sixth and last wife. Porter has taken available sources and put Katherine's life into context of the times in a very readable narrative. Beginning with what is known of her childhood and moving through her first two marriages, the bulk of the book concerns her life with Henry VIII, and the last part concerns her brief time as Henry's widow and then wife to Thomas Seymour before her death in 1548. Porter really did a great job with explaining Katherine's Reformist leanings, her relationships with Gardiner and Wriothesley, with the Duchesses of Somerset and Suffolk, with Elizabeth and Mary, with Prince Edward, and most of all her "walking the tightrope" of a marriage with Henry VIII, who in old age was so irascible and changeable in his attitudes, a monstrous tyrant one minute, a caring husband and father the next. It is quite remarkable that Katherine survived Henry, as he was prone to boredom in his wives and was so dangerous concerning anyone who questioned his policies, particularly as concerned religion. Yet he trusted Katherine enough to make her his Regent while he went to war in France. The author also takes great pains to show how tirelessly she worked to bring Henry's children closer to their father and create a semblance of family life for the fractious Tudors, for which Henry seems to have been genuinely grateful. Porter's description of the power intrigues after the King's death is interestingly done: I never had any idea before that Katherine was such a politically astute woman who wanted to serve as Regent for Prince Edward during his minority but was in fact shut out--even by her friends at Court. The fact that she found some brief happiness before her death with Tom Seymour seems very little reward for this kind and generous woman.This long overdue bio as a whole suited my tastes very well: readable, educational, and informative. For all Tudor history fans.
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