The next in Alison Weir's masterful series covering each of Henry VIII's six wives. This time the focus is on Anne of Cleves, or Anna of Kleve, as she is here. Weir throws us into the Tudor world as usual, and encourages to imagine the difficulties of being a royal woman at that time.

For this tale of Henry’s briefest and least known of queens, Weir takes us back to 1530 to meet the young Anna, the second daughter of John III, Duke of Kleve and his wife Maria, Duchess of Jülich-Berg, who has grown up secluded, in comfort and instilled with duty, in a small German duchy. Well that is until a couple of chapters in, when Anna is led into a scandalous mistake, that truly shocked me (not in a good way) and will have repercussions for the rest of her life. So when her betrothal to Francis, the future Duke of Lorraine is annulled, Anna resigns herself to a quiet, spinster life.

However, in 1539, a truly unexpected and extraordinary marriage proposal is made to Anna, from non other than the mighty Henry, King of England; who at forty-six, overweight and unwell, and with only one weak infant son, realises he must marry again to insure the royal succession. Being much taken with her portrait, Anna soon finds herself setting off in full splendour for the long, arduous journey by land and sea to an utterly foreign land to become its new queen, but this is a doomed marriage from the start!

Neither partner is what the other was expecting physically and they come from two very different worlds; plus Henry’s roving eye has already alighted upon the pretty Katherine Howard, one of the maids in Anna’s wedding train. So only months after their glorious wedding, with all its pomp and ceremony, Henry calls for an annulment and Anna has little choice but to wisely except his will. Yet this is not the end, in fact it is only the beginning, as so grateful for her peaceful acquiescing, Henry bestows upon Anna palaces, wealth, and the title of ‘most beloved sister’.

Anna will go on to live as an independent woman of means and witness the downfall of Cromwell and Katherine Howard; the marriage to Katherine Parr; the death of Henry; and the succession of Edward and then Mary. And yet always, Anna is plagued by fear of the secrets she is hiding. I loved how Weir was able to vividly bring alive the Tudor world and I loved getting to know Anna better. I didn’t enjoy, find believable or feel Anna’s so-called ‘secrets’ enhanced the story though. Usually I would be praising how well Weir was able to merge historical fact with her imagination, but this time there was perhaps too little material to go off and/or Weir was trying too hard to add more drama.

That being said, I still thought Anna of Kleve: The Queen of Secrets by Alison Weir was a beautifully written historical-fiction, which, while not as strong as the previous books, was still a very enjoyable read.

This is the fourth book in Alison Weir’s Six Tudor Queens series which aims to retell in fictional form the stories of all six of Henry VIII’s wives. I enjoyed the previous three – on Katherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour – but I was particularly looking forward to reading this one, on Henry’s fourth wife, Anne of Cleves. Before I began, all I really knew about Anne was that Thomas Cromwell was instrumental in arranging her marriage to Henry, that the King was disappointed when he saw her in the flesh as she didn’t live up to the Hans Holbein portrait he had seen, and that after their divorce she lived in comfort and was given the honour of being described as the King’s ‘beloved sister’. I knew there must be more to Anne’s story than this and I hoped to learn more about her from this new novel.

Alison Weir refers to Anne as Anna, so I will do the same for the rest of this post. She also uses the spelling Kleve rather than the Anglicised version, Cleves, and tells us that this should be pronounced to rhyme with ‘waver’. The duchy of Kleve, in what is now Germany, is the setting for the first section of the novel, which describes Anna’s life prior to her marriage. Her journey to England and brief time as Henry’s wife follows, and finally an account of the period after the divorce, taking us all the way through to her death in 1557 at the age of forty-one.

I’ve always considered Anna to be much luckier than most of Henry’s other wives: she wasn’t beheaded, she didn’t die in childbirth while providing the king with an heir, and unlike the other divorced wife, Katherine of Aragon, she was treated with respect and generosity (at least while the king still lived). Of course, this doesn’t mean that life was always easy for her – it can’t have been very nice, after all, to have to leave your family and friends behind and travel abroad to marry a man you’ve never met, only to be rejected by your bridegroom almost on first sight. As portrayed here by Alison Weir, she is a sensible, pleasant and good-natured woman and I did have a lot of sympathy for her, but her story is certainly less tragic and turbulent than some of the other wives’.

Bearing in mind that this is a novel with around 500 pages and that there isn’t really a lot of factual information available on Anna von Kleve, I felt that there was too much padding and at times I found the book quite tedious and repetitive. Because Weir takes us right up to the time of Anna’s death, towards the end of the book a lot of attention is given to the next two queens, Katheryn Howard and Catherine Parr, as well as various incidents and plots that took place during the reigns of Edward VI, Lady Jane Grey and Queen Mary. Unfortunately, by this point Anna is living away from court on her various estates, so she has little personal involvement and most of these events are described from afar which made them less exciting to read about than they should have been.

To flesh out Anna’s story and make it more interesting, Weir has imagined a romance for her in Kleve before she marries the king and this has repercussions that affect the rest of her life. I won’t go into too much detail, but looking at other reviews of this book, some readers liked this imaginary storyline while others hated it. It’s not beyond the realms of possibility as Henry did allegedly tell people that he ‘doubted Anna’s virginity’, but that could have just been an excuse for not consummating the marriage and demanding a divorce. However, even if it was true, there is no evidence to suggest who her previous lover may have been, so this aspect of the novel is entirely fictional.

Although this is my least favourite book in the series so far, I have a copy of the next one, Katheryn Howard, the Tainted Queen, on my NetGalley shelf and am anticipating a more entertaining read – and hopefully, given Katheryn’s much more dramatic life, one that needs to rely less heavily on fiction.

So part 4 of Alison Weirs wonderful Six Tudor Queens series and I'm not bored yet. Listen, if you want historical accuracy be away with you and read her fantastic Six Wives of Henry VIII - there you'll find historical facts. Here Weir is going all The Crown on us and using artistic licence to weave a great story. And so little is known about Anna that she's got a lot to weave with. Luckily she never strays into ridiculousness - I remember with pain a book I read that had Anna and Katheryn Howard having a lesbian affair. My mind still struggles with that one. This is merely bends some facts and conspiracy theories to make a great story. I'm looking forward to Katheryn Howards part with anticipation.

Brought up in the constricted and pious homes of her family, Anna is shocked when a marriage proposal comes from the notorious King of England. Henry has already had three wives and has scoured Europe for a fourth to try to get more sons, seeing Anna's portrait he decides upon her. However when they meet Henry is not so enamoured and Anna is fearful that her closely guarded secret will mean her downfall.
This is the fourth book in Weir's series about the wives of Henry VIII and here she has far less to work upon in terms of documentary evidence. That has afforded her the chance to really expand on the fictionalised part of the novel by introducing a lot of potentially scandalous plot lines with little evidence in the historical record. To that end I found this book more fiction than biography. However Weir is an eminent historian and her learning, though worn lightly, shines through. Managing to balance a keen sense of detail and fact with a genuine ability to tell an interesting tale, Weir has pulled off another great tale.

I am a huge fan of Weir both as a historian and as a writer of historical fiction so I am absolutely chuffed as chips that her event at the upcoming Bradford Literature Festival is one that is being held in the shop. I'll be the one leaning on the till and hanging on her every word: most of which will probably be about this, the fourth in her series about the wives of Henry VIII. In the first three books we saw the overlapping stories of Katherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour and that intertwining was one of the things I enjoyed most about the books. We could see each of the women from the point of view of at least one of the others and this was just as important as their perception of Henry himself. I think we've always been aware of his transformation from dashing young prince to irrational tyrant via illness, obesity and an overwhelming need for a son and heir but the women have always seemed much more one dimensional. The joy of this series has been the fleshing out of these women (even Jane, who I've often found a bit wishy-washy) and I was really looking forward to seeing what Anne Cleeves, stereotyped by history as the 'Flanders Mare', could have been like.

It turns out we had just about everything wrong - starting with her name. Anna, not Anne: and rather than Cleeves (rhyming dully with sleeves) it should be Kleve (to rhyme with waver...). Her faith is soundly Catholic rather than the Reformist - much to the dismay of Cromwell - and she is a young and attractive woman. In many ways there seems to be no reason why Henry should reject her but, as history itself tells us, he does. Weir has created for Anna a back-story full of family loyalty, duty and a certain amount of fear - she has secrets which could have caused the King's rejection but we can never be sure he has uncovered them. We do share Anna's fear that, if she should be fully rejected and sent back to her brother, her life could be the price she pays. So, although Weir does create the story with some well-researched speculation about Anna's girlhood, the sense that a noblewoman's role was as a pawn to further the cause of her male relations is based very strongly in fact. Which means that as well as an enjoyable piece of historical romance we have a book which made me consider the growth and development of women's position as individuals with their own rights: and why they are still important today. Entertaining and thought-provoking and it is the first part of a second trio of books with overlapping stories: just a year to wait for poor Katherine Howard...

We all know Henry VIII had 6 wives, we all know the names of some in particular or even all. But Henry's fourth wife Anna of Kleve seems to be the least discussed. Who was she? Why did Henry divorce her? What happened to her? These are all answered in this book, yes it's historical fiction and not all aspects are factually supported but it's a fantastic read! Weir has implemented her own theories which work well to give us insight in to the wife that outlived Henry and all of his wives.

The book begins im 1530 with Anna as a child in her home of Kleve. She is the eldest daughter of the Duke Johann III of Kleve. Anna as a child was betrothed to the heir of the Duke of Lorraine. As a reader we discover her childhood, family and her early adult life before she was betrothed to Henry VIII.

There is loss, heartbreak and a huge secret which I won't share and spoil but which goes on to impact the rest of her life. Personally I am unsure if I believe this secret but it fits in so well with the story Weir has provided that it did not take away any enjoyment! This is after all fiction.

We follow her journey to England which results in a bit of embarrassment for her and Henry. Was this embarrassment the beginning of the end for their marriage? Or was what happened on their wedding night to blame?
They were married in 1540 but the marriage only lasted months and remained unconsummated. Weir refreshingly looks at what we already know and gives a new idea on what could have been the reason for the marriage remaining uncomsummated.

Following her divorce we follow Anna through her life as she remains in England. Henry's subsequent marriages to Katheryn Howard and Katherine Parr are also covered in this book from Anna's point of view which is refreshing! As is her relationship with Henry's children.

Weir is fantastic at providing an idea of how Anna must have felt leaving her family, moving to a country where she could barely speak the language and her impression of Henry VIII and the Tudor court.

These novels are fantasticly written and Weir paints the Tudor world so well that you can almost see the palaces and rooms as they're described.

I really enjoyed this and look forward to book 5, the story of Katheryn Howard.

Anna of Kleves is the fourth book in Alison Weir's Six Tudor Queens series.

I've heard Weir speak about previous books in the series - she's an absolute expert in the subject.

Less is known about Ana ad this give Weir a chance to use her imagination to create an interesting back story about her life before reaching the Tudor court.

My favourite parts of the book were Anne's relationship with the King. He may not have fancied her, but her certainly likes her and their friendship is fascinating.

Like the other books in the series, this is detailed and descriptive and helps the reader immerse themselves into the Tudor Court.

A must read for fans of the Tudors and historical fiction and I'm looking forward to book 5.

Thank you Netgalley for the advanced copy in return for an honest review

Six Tudor Queens: Anna of Kleve, Queen of Secrets by Alison Weir

In 1540 Henry VIII married his fourth wife, here named Anna of Kleve, but it was a marriage that was to last mere months. Henry had fallen in love with Anna's portrait, painted by the master Holbein, but the reality was, so legend tells us, not so pleasing to the ailing King's eye. Alison Weir's marvellous fictional retelling of the stories of Henry's wives once more takes a fresh look at what is very familiar history. She questions what we know and puts forward an alternative interpretation. Henry famously compared Anna to a Flemish mare but perhaps there was more to it than that. That there were other reasons why the marriage remained unconsummated.

Queen of Secrets begins in 1530 in the court of Duke Johann III of Kleve, a fair city located on the Rhine. Johann's daughter Anna is fifteen years old, betrothed to the son of the Duke of Lorraine, and very ready to fall in love. And so begins a sequence of events that will overshadow the rest of Anna's life. I think that the degree to which you enjoy the novel may depend on how far you accept the author's somewhat controversial interpretation of Anna's early years. I didn't necessarily believe it but I wasn't ready to dismiss it entirely either. This is, after all, a work of fiction and as long as it rings true with the Anna that Alison Weir presents - which it does - then I'm ready to fall once more into the pleasures of Weir's richly painted Tudor world.

This is the novel of the six that I was looking forward to the most, largely because so little is known, relatively, about this fourth wife. I've visited Anna's home in Lewes, East Sussex, and I've always been fascinated by her. It's hard to imagine how frightened she must have felt to arrive in England only to be rejected by a King with a history of killing his wives. The novel puts all of this in its context, showing us a court torn apart by power struggles as Thomas Cromwell fights for survival.

I found that the most interesting sections, though, are those in which we see Anna and Henry together, forging a friendship, surrounded by all of the little details of the Tudor period. The descriptions of rooms, houses, journeys and so on are painted so visually, benefitting from the knowledge of Alison Weir the historian. Once again in these novels Henry grabs the attention. He isn't quite the Henry we're used to from other novels. We're made to feel some sympathy for him - although I must say this is against my will! It's intriguing to see a different side to him. It's also interesting to contrast Anna with Henry's previous wives as well as spend time with Henry's daughter, Mary.

Another of Henry's wives makes her appearance in Queen of Secrets, Katherine Howard. It is as if the story of Anna of Kleves is a respite before the Tudor trauma picks up again with young Katherine.

This series is such a joy. I look forward to its novels each year. You'd have thought that there is little new to give readers with these familiar lives but Alison Weir proves that assumption wrong. She finds so much to fascinate us with and I am filled with expectation for the novel on Katherine Howard. Surely, this could be the most heart wrenching book of the sequence. I long to read it. And I must repeat once more, these are the most beautiful hardbacks!

Other reviews
Six Tudor Queens I: Katherine of Aragon, the True Queen
Six Tudor Queens II: Anne Boleyn – A King’s Obsession
Six Tudor Queens III: Jane Seymour – The Haunted Queen

Alsion Wier is writing a novel about each of Henry VIII's Queens, Anna of Kleve is the fourth. Divorced, ugly, smelly ..... that was the limit of what was taught about Anne of Cleves at school. I didn't even know where Cleves was. Alison Wier gives life to Anna, I confess that I find one of the big plot devices to be a tad implausible but enjoyed reading about the process of bartering royal brides and the way in which Anna's household was managed. I am really enjoying this series for adding character to the previous cardboard cutout nature of five of the six wives.

We're onto wife #4 and perhaps the least-well known: Anne of Cleves, as her English designation has her. Perhaps the sources are limited in comparison with, say, Anne Boleyn as there seems to be more novelistic licence on Weir's part than the first two books. There is a massive imaginative leap taken which proves the foundation of the book: even if it were true, I found it very hard to believe it could have happened *in this way* given Anna's status, her upbringing, her family expectations and so on.

Other than that, the strengths and weaknesses remain the same as the previous books: on the plus side, Weir knows the sources and the places (in fact, at times this sounds like 'Home and Gardens: The Tudor Edition!) so the setting and context is well coloured in, but the prose and psychology is very simple and straightforward, almost YA in terms of vocabulary and understanding. Every time there's a tense moment we're told Anna's heart is thumping, she's almost fainting, lightening flashes before her eyes and all kinds of other romantic clichés (there are even men with 'devastating' smiles!).

Despite my misgivings I can't resist this series: it's perfect commute/holiday/bath-time reading.

The King is in love with Anna's portrait, but she has none of the accomplishments he seeks in a new bride. She prays she will please Henry, for the balance of power in Europe rests on this marriage alliance. But Anna's past is never far from her thoughts, and the rumours rife at court could be her downfall. Everyone knows the King won't stand for a problem queen. 

The fourth instalment in Weir's Six Tudor Queens series and we have a book that feels different to the others in the series. Of course, for the first time we have a queen that takes us beyond Henry VIII, instantly providing a fresh feel to the book, we follow Anna to her death and with this, the tribulations she faced in a world without Henry. As well as this, we have Weir using her imagination and historical licence a lot more. There are story-lines that are fabricated throughout this and as she states at the end, knows they will be controversial. 

At the end of the day, the reader knows this is historical fiction and I accept a bit of licence going into a book. With this, I think the story-line made for enjoyable reading and certainly gave the book a more entertaining feel, whilst I do not necessarily agree with it, Weir puts up a good explanation and I do not think the book is ruined by the decisions she has made. Creating a debate about the queen who always seems overlooked is only a good thing in my eyes.

If I am being brutally honest this is not my favourite in the series, this has a particularly slow, laborious start and I was not immediately enamoured with the book or Anna. As the read progresses, of course Weir casts her magic and I was engrossed in the read, this is not as thrilling as other books, but then again Anna did not have the most thrilling life out of Henry's wives. Overall I still enjoyed the book and found myself engrossed in the world of the queen of secrets. 

'Anna of Kleve' is another enthralling read from Weir. I enjoyed the characterisation of Anna throughout, the reader really gets a sense of who she was and what she stood for. There are controversial decisions made but they aided entertaining reading and get the reader thinking more about Anna's life. I can only say that I now eagerly anticipate the next instalment in Weir's splendid series. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Headline for an advance copy.

~ I was given an advance reader copy of this title in exchange for an honest review, I'm not associated with the author or publisher in any way and the views expressed are completely unbiased and entirely my own. ~

My rating: 2.5*

I am absolutely fascinated by Anne of Cleves as a historical figure as she outlived all of Henry VIII's other wives, and theirs was the only marriage that seemed to end amicably. They in fact went on to form something of an unlikely friendship and she became honorary member of the Royal family, given precedence over all women in England other than his wife and his daughters and he's known to have reffered to her as his "beloved sister."
Just what was it about her that set her apart and how did she avoid his wrath?
I was hoping that this would all be brought to life in this novelised version of her story, but sadly 'Anna of Kleve: Queen of Secrets' was more of an information dump that suffered from having too many characters, that weren't really characterised so much as listed off one by one. It became difficult to keep track of at times.

Well written and well researched, it would have been interesting as non-fiction, but as a novel not very captivating unfortunately.

~ Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this title ~

Six Tudor Queens: Anna of Kleve - Queen of Secrets, Six Tudor Queens 4,  Alison Weir

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre: Historical Fiction

I've only read the previous novel, from this series, and adored that. Alison did what I thought was impossible and made me feel sorry for Henry, a man I'd previously though of as simply arrogant and selfish. Sadly in this book we're back to the man I really don't like. He's older, in ill health and yet still sees himself as he was in his prime, and ensures everything revolves around him and what he wants. People, places, church, state, all have to bow to the whims of Henry.

I know little of Anna, except that famous Flanders Mare quote, something Alison says actually appears to have no basis in fact, yet has endured through school teachings.
I really felt for Anna, typical of the time, women had little say in their future, and those with Royal blood were subject to the whims and needs of their families and country. Whether the line Alison has spun for her was true or not ,its very believable, and its easy to see how it could have happened.
I empathised so much with Anna, wanted to do right by her family, by her country, a lady in her prime married off to an ill tempered King,. He's far older, overweight, poor hygiene, and yet who saw himself as almost Godlike, beyond any reproach, and who expected her to be thankful he'd chosen her. Even doing that he really did her a disservice, with all his exacting demands of which sister to choose.
It meant leaving her family and country for a man who's already divorced one wife and had another beheaded before being widowed from wife number three. She must have feared, been terrified of getting on his wrong side and yet she accepts her fate, and does her best in every way to please him. She is a genuine Lady, treated her people well, was kind and loving to Henry's three children, and would have made such a wonderful Queen.
Yet within a short time his wandering eye had lead to him seeking ways of getting rid of her. She's stuck, accept what he wants, and live, but possibly be killed by her brother if she returns, or stand up to him knowing from past wives experiences he will get his way, whether by divorce anyway and shaming her if she objects, or possibly finding ways of getting rid of her the same way as he did Anne Boleyn.

Its a story that moved me, but I didn't enjoy it as much as Jane Seymour's story. I found it dragged in parts, and the huge cast of characters, most of which were unknown to me, became very confusing. Though I loved Anna, and admired the careful path she trod, trying to do right by Kleves and her family, even what was right for England, she had no real hope of success, and that's clear almost from their first meeting. Its so sad, she just wanted a husband she loved and family of her own, yet was prevented from that very thing by her place in society. Henry, he was horrible here, and the man I felt empathy for in Jane's story has degenerated into a bitter, surly and lascivious old man.
Much of this story is pure speculation, maybe because she is such a hidden figure in history, barely getting a mention in most places, but it does feel very possible. Sadly apart from that one big thing the rest of the story didn't really resonate with me, and I felt the story was lost in the morass of characters.

Stars:Three, a well written story which I'm sure many will love, but for me it was a bit of a slog, and not one I'd re-read.

ARC supplied by Netgalley and publisher