Six Queens

King Henry VIII and his six wives are probably the most well-known and recognisable royals from English history, with the majority of people knowing at least a little about his first and second wives. Whether from school or with the popularity of the musical Six, many younger people will now know the ‘divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived’ rhyme too, but do we know the full story and how much do we really know about the ‘other wives’ (other than that they were mainly called Catherine or Anne)?

With her latest title Six Queens, her non-fiction debut, award-winning author/illustrator Lydia Monks has brought these infamous wives to life in a wonderful easy to read fashion with her usual distinctive coloured and clever illustrations.

In the foreword by award-winning historian Suzannah Lipscomb, we learn the difficulty of piecing together information on Henry’s wives, coming as they did from a time when there were not many official records and women were treated very much as second class citizens, whose details were not deemed as important as their male counterparts.

Throughout the main body of the book, Monks explores each wife in turn with a bright and colourful synopsis of their life, followed by a more detailed look at their history, from birth to death, in a mixture of text and comic strip graphics, including fascinating details of the many supporting figures in their families and the royal court at the time. We meet the champions and the plotters surrounding each queen and the circumstances that led to each marriage and death, some more untimely than others.

Since I was a child, I have always been fascinated by the Tudor dynasty and Henry’s many wives and found this book to be a real treasure, enabling me to discover so much more behind each of the wives’ rhyming moniker. Each wife had their own very important part to play in the history of this glorious time in history, including events which changed the course of religion in this country, the lasting effects of which still remain today.

Although aimed at upper primary school ages, this glorious book will be of interest to older children and adults alike. A definite must for all libraries and history bookshelves.