Perspective

In her introduction, the author suggests that her reason for writing The Six Wives was to bring a realistic, thoroughly researched perspective to bear on a much mythologized part of British royal history. She comments that while there have been several books about Henry's reign and his many marriages, none (in her opinion) have fully and/or thoroughly explored the essential human character of each of Henry's six wives. This would seem to be her core intention—to bring these well known women to fuller life beyond the historical stereotyping that has portrayed, for example, Anne Boleyn as an ambitious bitch and Jane Seymour as a near-saint. Her intention is supported by what is evidently a significant amount of research—her bibliography is over thirty pages long, and lists a large number of actual documents as sources. That said, there is the very clear sense that...