The Sixth Wife is a 1953 historical novel

Historical novel

According to Encyclopædia Britannica, a historical novel is-Development:An early example of historical prose fiction is Luó Guànzhōng's 14th century Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which covers one of the most important periods of Chinese history and left a lasting impact on Chinese culture.The...

 by noted novelist Jean Plaidy. It recounts the tale of Catherine Parr

Catherine Parr

Catherine Parr ; 1512 – 5 September 1548) was Queen consort of England and Ireland and the last of the six wives of King Henry VIII of England. She married Henry VIII on 12 July 1543. She was the fourth commoner Henry had taken as his consort, and outlived him...

, the sixth wife of Henry VIII, King of England. The novel covers the life of Catherine as Queen, and her fearful feeling of being replaced in the King's eyes. Though the novel conveys Catherine's life, several other characters' lives are foreshadowed as well. Catherine's family play a key role including her sister Anne Parr Herbert

Anne Herbert, Countess of Pembroke

Anne Herbert, Countess of Pembroke, Baroness Herbert of Cardiff was lady-in-waiting to each of Henry VIII of England's six wives. She was the younger sister of his sixth wife, Catherine Parr.-Early years:...

, her stepdaughter Elizabeth, niece Jane Grey, doomed friend Anne Askew

Anne Askew

Anne Askew was an English poet and Protestant who was condemned as a heretic...

, rivals Thomas Wriothesley

Thomas Wriothesley

Sir Thomas Wriothesley was a long serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. He was the son of Garter King of Arms, John Writhe, and he succeeded his father in this office.-Personal life:...

, Stephen Gardiner

Stephen Gardiner

Stephen Gardiner was an English Roman Catholic bishop and politician during the English Reformation period who served as Lord Chancellor during the reign of Queen Mary I of England.-Early life:...

, Henry Howard

Henry Howard

-Nobles and politicians:*Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey , English aristocrat and poet*Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton , son of the Earl of Surrey*Henry Howard, 2nd Earl of Norfolk *Henry Howard, 5th Earl of Suffolk...

, Anne Stanhope

Anne Stanhope

Anne Seymour, Duchess of Somerset was the second wife of Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, who held the office of Lord Protector during the first part of the reign of his nephew King Edward VI, through whom Anne was briefly the most powerful woman in England...

, Mary Howard Fitzroy the Dowager Duchess of Richmond and former romantic interest Thomas Seymour

Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley

Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley, KG was an English politician.Thomas spent his childhood in Wulfhall, outside Savernake Forest, in Wiltshire. Historian David Starkey describes Thomas thus: 'tall, well-built and with a dashing beard and auburn hair, he was irresistible to women'...

. The novel unfolds over a period of five years, recounting Catherine's rise as Queen Consort

Queen consort

A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. A queen consort usually shares her husband's rank and holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles. Historically, queens consort do not share the king regnant's political and military powers. Most queens in history were queens consort...

 to her death as Dowager Queen.

Historical inaccuracies

Though the novel is a work of fiction

Fiction

Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...

, it contains minor historical inaccuracies regarding the Six Wives of Henry VIII

Six Wives of Henry VIII

The Six Wives of Henry VIII is an account of Henry VIII's marriages from British historian Alison Weir. Within the book are descriptions of many events in Europe during the first half of the sixteenth century.Publisher Comments:...

. It states that Anne Boleyn

Anne Boleyn

Anne Boleyn ;c.1501/1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536 as the second wife of Henry VIII of England and Marquess of Pembroke in her own right. Henry's marriage to Anne, and her subsequent execution, made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that was the...

 suffered four miscarriages during her marriage to the King yet there were three that were historically confirmed. Also Henry, while reflecting upon his wives, recalls that he married Jane Seymour

Jane Seymour

Jane Seymour was Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII. She succeeded Anne Boleyn as queen consort following the latter's execution for trumped up charges of high treason, incest and adultery in May 1536. She died of postnatal complications less than two weeks after the birth of...

 quickly because she was pregnant and she lost the child shortly after the wedding, something which is entirely fictional. Catherine Howard

Catherine Howard

Catherine Howard , also spelled Katherine, Katheryn or Kathryn, was the fifth wife of Henry VIII of England, and sometimes known by his reference to her as his "rose without a thorn"....

 is also recalled to have lost a child. There is only small historical evidence to suggest that Catherine may have become pregnant during her short term as Queen, but she may have suffered a false pregnancy

False pregnancy

False pregnancy or hysterical pregnancy, most commonly termed pseudocyesis in humans and pseudopregnancy in other mammals, is the appearance of clinical and/or subclinical signs and symptoms associated with pregnancy when the person or animal is not pregnant. Clinically, false pregnancy is most...

 before beginning her menstrual cycle

Menstruation

Menstruation is the shedding of the uterine lining . It occurs on a regular basis in sexually reproductive-age females of certain mammal species. This article focuses on human menstruation.-Overview:...

and not having a miscarriage as stated in the novel.