Review: An imaginative retelling of the story of King Henry VIII and his six wives in a modern setting
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 13, 2014
Having enjoyed the other Terry Tyler novels that I've read, I was intrigued by the premise of this one: rewriting the tale of Henry VIII and his six wives as if it was taking place in the modern era. She also dethrones him, making him a property magnate instead of a regal one, and follows his story from just before his first marriage to his last. Although we all know the history, at least in outline form, this makes for a compelling, thought-provoking story which had me gripped from start to finish.Unlike some of the other reviewers, I didn't fall in love with Harry (the Henry VIII equivalent) but I did take to many of the other characters in the book. The story of Hannah Cleverley (Anne of Cleves equivalent - as you can see, Tyler had fun with the names too) was particularly poignant, and for me she was the one who emerged as the most laudable of all.With the story kicking off in the 1970s, the author uses iconic popular culture references to guide us through the changing times, and as I have lived through those times too, these references chimed with me and added another layer of enjoyment.The structure of the story is ambitious, with a lot of head-hopping going on - the narrator changes every few chapters, sometimes a "wife", sometimes another player, but never Harry himself. This made the story more powerful and interesting than a single narrator or omniscient narrator, and it was enjoyable to see each character slowly reveal their nature. It is interesting to speculate how the story might have differed with an alternative narrative mix e.g. Harry or his children. The permutations are endless!But we know the plot - how can it hold our attention? you might ask. Yes, we've all had the basic story drummed into us at school ("divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, outlived" as the version I remember), but there are sufficient variations to keep the plot engaging, and lots of small in-jokes with names and places that liven it up, too. It was interesting to see how each wife was despatched, too - no beheadings here! But the end for one of them - I won't say which for fear of spoiling the plot - was a masterpiece of poetic justice.All in all, a good fun read, whether or not you're especially interested in history, and I'm sure this book will win Tyler new fans as well as delighting her many established ones.