In grand royal palaces, Prince Harry grows up dreaming of knights and chivalry – and the golden age of kings that awaits his older brother. But Arthur’s untimely death sees Harry crowned King Henry of England. As his power and influence extends, so commences a lifelong battle between head and heart, love and duty. Henry rules by divine right, yet his prayers for a son go unanswered. The future of his great dynasty depends on an heir. And the crown weighs heavy on a king with all but his one true desire.
A note from Alison Weir…
After writing the Six Tudor Queens series of novels on the wives of Henry VIII, all written from each queen’s point of view, I thought it would be interesting to give Henry himself a voice in fiction. The result is this novel, Henry VIII: The Heart and the Crown, which imagines the story of his life as he saw it. My aim was to explore not only his relationships with his wives from a very different viewpoint, but also his interactions with the men who dominated his reign: Cardinal Wolsey, Thomas Cromwell, Thomas Cranmer and a host of others who were close to the King. I also wanted to show what made Henry the man he later became, whom some perceive as a tyrant or even a monster; my aim was to draw a more balanced portrait, and to analyse and understand Henry’s complex character.
So meet Harry, golden prince and legendary king, the product of a fractured childhood and later a victim of a cruel fate that denies him the heirs he needs to secure the succession of the Tudor dynasty. The book begins when he is eleven years old and has been dealt the most painful blow of all. It follows him through his youth and reign, taking an epic journey through forty-four years of one of the most turbulent periods in history – as seen by England’s most famous, or (for some) notorious, King. It’s a riveting tale, but ultimately a poignant one, and my hope is that readers will be left with a more sympathetic – and empathetic – view of a man who is all too often portrayed as a caricature of his true self.
Alison Weir, No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling author, imagines the story of his life as Harry himself saw it.
Weir is excellent on the little details that bring a world to life.
Guardian
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