No Will But His: A Novel of Kathryn Howard

Look out Tudors fans, there's a new powerhouse in town when it comes to historical fiction. Sarah A. Hoyt rocks when it comes to time-period fiction. Her new book No Will But His takes a look at the life of Henry VIII's sixth wife, Kathryn Howard, in an intriguing and can't-put-it-down kind of way. There has been plenty of Renaissance historical fiction on the market in the past few years, but this book is in a class of its own. If you like The Tudors or The Other Boleyn Girl, you can't miss this book. Kathryn Howard was the daughter of a poor aristocrat, whose only chance at wealth and happiness came when her wealthy step-grandmother brought her into her home. A beautiful girl and talented musician, Kathryn was used by her relatives, who schemed how to best employ her to advance their social position in court. This meant sending her to court to marry her distant cousin, with the actual purpose of attracting the eye of the wayward king Henry. It's a dangerous game, as one wrong move means her death and the downfall of her family. Can Kathryn avoid her cousin Ann Boleyn's fate and keep the heart of the king? I chose this book because I love the time period and have read practically every book about the Tudors. No Will But His didn't disappoint. I was instantly drawn in by the character's voice and her vivid surroundings. This is the best portrayal of Queen Kathryn that I've read. I grew attached to Hoyt's version and could sympathize with Kathryn. I loved following her along her adventures and experiencing her romances and trysts with her. Even though I knew from the start what ultimately was her fate, I couldn't wait to find out what happened next in the story. I can't wait to read more of this series! by Jennifer Melville for Story Circle Book Reviews reviewing books by, for, and about women

No Will But His: A Novel of Kathryn Howard No Will But His: A Novel of Kathryn Howard by Sarah A. Hoyt puts us intimately in thoughts and emotions of the fifth of Henry VIII's wives. Kathryn Howard, though of an illustrious family name, was the daughter of the ne'er-do-well of the family. Raised in penury by a succession of step-mothers, none of whom could be bothered to spend the money to educate their step-children, Kathryn is taken at an extremely young age to be part of her grandmother's household. But her education is still neglected, she's raised by the other 'ladies' who are all but ignored by her grandmother, with the result that an extremely intelligent, breathtakingly beautiful child is easily led astray. A mind *is* a terrible thing to waste. Kathryn Howard has left us all but illegible letters, and a skeleton which modern forensics places at seventeen years of age at the oldest. This would, by all modern reckoning, make Henry VIII a child molester, and we are there with the child. Given her poor upbringing, and her tender age, it's no wonder that Kathryn Howard, bright though she was, made the choices that ultimately led to the headsman's block. Sarah A. Hoyt shows us Kathryn Howard as the bright girl who was kept ignorant, perhaps so she could be better used as a pawn by her family -- who would stop at nothing to regain the power they had when Kathryn's cousin, Anne, had been Henry VIII's second wife. Sarah A. Hoyt has used all the letters, forensics, and scholarship available to write a riveting, heart-wrenching story. Even though we know the ending, we travel to that fateful moment with Kathryn, completely in her thoughts and emotions. Start reading it early -- otherwise you'll be up all night, because you won't want to put it down!

There probably isn't an English speaker alive who doesn't know that Henry VIII had six wives. Almost everyone knows something about Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour. But for most people, Kathryn Howard is, at best, a shadow figure. Sarah Hoyt manages to bring young Kathryn out of the shadows, making her someone we like -- and whom we want to shake at times because we know what's going to happen in the end. In short, Hoyt gives us someone in Kathryn whom we wish had found a way to avoid the fate that awaited her. It is easy to see that Ms. Hoyt did her homework on Tudor England, not just in fashions and furnishings, but in how life really was back then. Much as we hate to admit it, adult men did marry girls, children really. This is what happened with Kathryn. If she seems, at times, immature or naive, she was, at best, 17 when she died. How many of us would be ready to wed a monarch, especially one as tempestuous as Henry VIII? No Will But His is a well-written, beautifully paced novel that pulls the reader into the lives and loves of Kathryn Howard, Henry's fifth wife. Ms. Hoyt has brought to life a believable character in Kathryn, a girl doomed to repeat the mistakes and suffer the same fate as her cousin, Anne Boleyn. I recommend anyone who loved Tudor England or historical fiction in general read this book.

Hoping to have learned from her late second cousin Anne Boleyn, ambitious poor orphan Katherine Howard believes she can survive being the bride of King Henry VIII in spite of her bloodlines; even if she wanted to say no, which she does not, Katherine knows no one lives to refuse the King anyway. Thus she shrewdly plans to foster the innocence of youth behind a docile nature that focuses on keeping her ultra proud spouse happy as her philosophy in No Will But His. When the aging Henry is unable to perform in bed, she takes his cousin on as a lover praying for a successor as the monarch's health deteriorates. However, like those before her, she is betrayed and exposed, and in her case imprisoned with her queenly role stripped away just a little over one year on the throne by Parliament before being executed for adultery. The engaging fourth Wives of King Henry VIII biographical fiction novel is an intriguing look at Katherine Howard based on a different premise than the usual perception. Instead of the typical writing of Howard as a moron based on her writings, Sarah A. Hoyt believes the woman was clever, perhaps too cunning. Thus historical fiction fans will relish a different take on the rise and fall of Queen Katherine Howard. Harriet Klausner

Sarah A. Hoyt's "No Will But His" is an excellent historical romance about Kathryn Howard, the fifth wife of King Henry VIII of England. Kathryn Howard has always been given short shrift by scholars because she was young, frivolous, and her letters showed abominable penmanship and little literary craftsmanship; seemingly, Kathryn Howard was the one woman King Henry VIII married without accomplishment. But as Ms. Hoyt's novel shows, Kathryn Howard was far from stupid or silly; she was young, vivacious, somewhat unlettered but bright and ambitious . . . and she attracted the King as a bee attracts honey because of her good qualities, not in spite of them. Kathryn Howard's life has always been an enigma to modern readers, partly because of the motto she chose from the first -- "No One Will Than His," which was a shrewd move on her part as she was the second cousin of his doomed second wife, Anne Boleyn, and Kathryn knew as well as anyone that King Henry VIII's overweening pride must be catered to at all times. So she adopted a somewhat deceptive mask of docility, and played up her best qualities to attract, then keep her husband, the King, engaged and focused. She found it her patriotic duty; she felt it was important, and necessary, and needful, which is why she married the King despite having no love for him. (She did like the King, and she hoped that would be enough. And of course there was no realistic way to tell King Henry VIII "no" in anything, so once Henry's will and focus was upon her, she had to acquiesce. That she enjoyed doing so is a product of her time and mores, as Ms. Hoyt ably shows.) This is an engaging tale that explains why Kathryn Howard would take such a motto; it explains why her penmanship and letters were so bad (she was a disregarded poor relation for the first fourteen years or so of her life, and was educated primarily in music and etiquette once her formidable grandmother took an interest); it explains why she took a lover (partly to provide for the succession, as Henry's health was notoriously bad by this point, and often could "not perform the (husbandly) office"), and how hard she fought to stay alive. Ms. Hoyt makes the case that Kathryn Howard was more unlucky than anything else; she was smart, and wanted to provide for the succession, and had a great zest for life. Even though I knew from history that Kathryn Howard was doomed from the start, I rooted for her; this is an engaging, flawed heroine whose only real faults were that she was young, and vivacious, and wanted to live. Had she lived in just about any other era -- with any other King being her husband -- she would've fared far better, I sensed after reading this novel. At any rate, I enjoyed this novel immensely, and believe readers in historical romance, fiction, or those who love England and/or the life and times of Henry VIII will appreciate and admire this book. The craftsmanship is exceptional, the historicity is authentic, and the story-