Paperback, 944 pages
English language
Published Sept. 15, 1998 by St. Martin's Griffin.
The Autobiography of Henry VIII is the magnificent historical novel that established Margaret George's career. Evocatively written in the first person as Henry VIII's private journals, the novel was the product of fifteen years of meticulous research and five handwritten drafts.
Much has been written about the mighty, egotistical Henry VIII: the man who dismantled the Church because it would not grant him the divorce he wanted; who married six women and beheaded two of them; who executed his friend Thomas More; who sacked the monasteries; who longed for a son and neglected his daughters, Mary and Elizabeth; who finally grew fat, disease-ridden, dissolute.
Now, in her magnificent work of storytelling and imagination Margaret George bring us Henry VIII's story as he himself might have told it, in memoirs interspersed with irreverent comments from his jester and confident, Will Somers. Brilliantly combining history, wit, dramatic narrative, and an extraordinary grasp …
The Autobiography of Henry VIII is the magnificent historical novel that established Margaret George's career. Evocatively written in the first person as Henry VIII's private journals, the novel was the product of fifteen years of meticulous research and five handwritten drafts.
Much has been written about the mighty, egotistical Henry VIII: the man who dismantled the Church because it would not grant him the divorce he wanted; who married six women and beheaded two of them; who executed his friend Thomas More; who sacked the monasteries; who longed for a son and neglected his daughters, Mary and Elizabeth; who finally grew fat, disease-ridden, dissolute.
Now, in her magnificent work of storytelling and imagination Margaret George bring us Henry VIII's story as he himself might have told it, in memoirs interspersed with irreverent comments from his jester and confident, Will Somers. Brilliantly combining history, wit, dramatic narrative, and an extraordinary grasp of the pleasures and perils of power, this monumental novel shows us Henry the man more vividly than he has ever been seen before.
The book might as well be called King Henry the Fool. It's rather one-note, but a worthwhile read if you like historical fiction.
Some of the history is pretty questionable, but it's a good read, although certainly not a quick one. It was interesting to see Henry attempt to explain his reasoning behind his behavior. It unfortunately seemed to lose focus after Anne's death, though, and large chunks of time seem to be skimmed over with little information given about what is happening during them.
The focus is mainly on the wives, which seems curious in a book that is supposed to be about Henry himself. I won't speak to the characterizations of each, as it's probably spot on to what Henry felt, justified or not. Will's notes were interesting and helped to clarify certain things, but were too few and far between to make up for the oddness of the pacing and for Henry's narrative simply ignoring things.
All in all it's a good book about an interesting time period.
There isn't a lot of violence or suspense in this novel, but Margaret George excels at the detail to make this a fascinating psychological look at the transformation of a man.
