Katherine of Aragon, the true queen

At sixteen, Catalina of Aragon leaves Spain to marry Arthur, Prince of Wales, heir to the English throne. When Arthur dies months into the marriage, Catalina — now known as Katherine — is left in limbo for years while England's court debates whether she will marry his younger brother, the future Henry VIII.

Once Katherine finally becomes queen, her marriage to Henry is, for a long stretch, a genuine partnership. But her failure to produce a male heir who survives infancy, combined with Henry's growing infatuation with her own maid of honor, Anne Boleyn, sets in motion the political and religious crisis that will end their marriage and reshape England.

Alison Weir, a historian by training, builds the novel on extensive documentary research, presenting Katherine not as the passive, wronged wife of popular memory but as a resolute and politically capable queen who fought for her marriage, her daughter's legitimacy, and her faith to the end.