The Fifth Queen

Ford Madox Ford's novel about the doomed Katharine Howard, fifth queen of Henry VIII, is a neglected masterpiece.<br><br>Kat Howard - intelligent, beautiful, naively outspoken, and passionately idealistic - catches the eye of Henry VIII and improbably becomes his fifth wife. A teenager who has grown up far from court, she is wholly unused to the corruption and intrigue that now surround her. It is a time of great upheaval, as unscrupulous courtiers maneuver for power while religious fanatics - both Protestant and Catholic - fight bitterly for their competing beliefs. Soon Katharine is drawn into a perilous showdown with Thomas Cromwell, the much-feared Lord Privy Seal, as her growing influence over the King begins to threaten too many powerful interests. Originally published in three parts (<i>The Fifth Queen, Privy Seal, </i>and <i>The Fifth Queen Crowned</i>) , Ford's novel serves up both a breathtakingly visual evocation of the Tudor world and a timeless portrayal of the insidious operations of power and fear in any era.