I really enjoyed learning more about the Howards as a family and reading about their whole story. I also liked the author's take on Katherine. She presents her neither as a helpless victim nor a vicious wanton, but instead as a young girl who was rather foolish in her actions. I felt that was the balanced take I was looking for... this was very informative and enjoyable and definitely a good fit for Tudor fans or those looking for a biography of the Howards.

NetGalley, Amelia Edwards

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Henry the 8th, the war of roses, his wives and all things that go on during this time are ones that I love to learn about. Catherine Howard was a young girl, manipulated, persuaded, forced into a marriage that would serve to allow her family to gain prosperity, but eventually it would cost her her life. I enjoyed being able to learn more about this momentary queen. It is all too often that she is just kind of pushed under the rug or casual mention of her and what happened with her but rarely do you get a more of a raw in depth look. Being able to see how the rumors changed and surrounded her, how easily the walls closed in and the greed of the family was heartbreaking at times. I just wanted to help her stop and see before her tragic end.

Although the book does not just cover the queen and her time as consort. You’re able to see a good amount of what led her to become who and how she was, the rise and the fall and the drive behind the Howard family and how it all came into being. If you go into reading this book, not knowing much about the time. Or about the Howard’s then there is so much to learn and gain. The book is about more than just a temporary queen, but also about the family and how messed up, hungry for all the court could offer and the expandability of different members authorize in the court of Henry the eighth.

NetGalley, Jamie Fortier

For those ready to dig into the Howard family's power, influence, and road to disaster under Henry VIII, this is the perfect book. Excellent research and writing, and I'm already looking forward to checking out some of the books in the bibliography for more reading!

NetGalley, Anne Morgan

If you would like to learn about the dynamics and impact of this influential Tudor family, I highly recommend this book. Roberts interweaves many first-hand sources that bring to life the Howards in an entertaining and interesting way.

NetGalley, Shana Needham

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Marilyn Roberts digs deep into the entire Howard clan, putting Katherine in context of her crazy soap-opera worthy family.

For starters, her father, Edmund Howard, never had an opportunity he couldn't screw up royally. It technically is a tragedy that he did so poorly in life, but something about the way things went so bad - the only loser at the successful Battle of Flodden, angering Henry VIII by daring to beat him at jousting, being told he would be useless in the New World, and pissing the bed so bad his wife beat him, all come off as ridiculous and comic.

And there's there drama of the Dukes themselves - constantly swinging back and forth from highest courtier in the land to the Tower and back again, over and over throughout the Tudor era. All of their closes family are part of the drama, as we follow along with what part wives, mistresses, children and in-laws played in these dramas.

Katherine herself gets the spotlight as we follow in real time with close detail how she went from nothing to queen to the block. Marilyn Roberts digs deep into the interrogation records to get everyone's voice- the ladies, the maids, the servants, the stable hands, the courtiers - who were swept up in the investigation and many locked up for what they possibly knew - a fascinating detail that is often overlooked as most historians focus just on Katherine Howard and Jane Rochford.

After those two meet their ends, the book keeps going, showing just what happened to all those other people tainted by the same brush. And then goes even further, showing the further ups and downs of the Howard family, making it quite clear they can't put all the blame for their troubles on their Howard queens.

An excellent biography of Katherine Howard and a great family biography of the Howards.

NetGalley, Kara Race-Moore

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

In this brilliantly written history of Katherine Howard and the Howard Dukes of Norfolk, Marilyn Roberts brings the history behind Henry VIII’s fifth wife and her politically powerful family to life. Exploring the family’s rise to nobility and power in fifteenth and sixteenth century England and the life of Katherine Howard and her doomed reign as Queen of England, this book brings original research and primary sources into the conversation to discover the significance of this young woman and her political connections and the eventual fall from grace of Katherine and her relatives. With an incredible amount of historical research and some fascinating primary documents from the sixteenth century present throughout this book, Roberts has used her historical knowledge and expertise to develop this immersive and interesting text. The different sections and storylines brilliantly combine to bring the Howards’ historical significance to the forefront of the book, and Roberts keeps all of the historical figures separate and easy to identify. The different sections within the book outline different elements within the Howard family history that really make the family’s rise and fall apparent, and the chapters really break down the history into manageable chunks that readers and Tudor fans will love.

NetGalley, Lily Amidon

Yes, my friends, my Tudor obsession is back in full swing, and I’ve continued my education on this time period with a book about Queen Katherine and the Howard dynasty. I was very grateful to receive this ARC shortly after I had finished reading a fictionalized version of Katherine Howard’s life; to be able to then immediately compare fiction and fact was very interesting and helpful.

In Queen Katherine and the Howards, author Marilyn Roberts puts the biggest focus on the time when Katherine became Henry VIII’s fifth queen, but she also paints a bigger picture, exploring the Howard family at large and explaining their role at royal court; the struggle for power between the different families is truly mind-boggling. Henry VIII’s behavior was also erratic most of the time, so it could happen that you could be one of his most trusted advisors one morning and find yourself imprisoned in the Tower for treason the very same evening, losing your head the next day. (Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard, both of the Howard dynasty, lost their lives that way.)

In her book, the author also discards some of the stories surrounding Katherine Howard that have falsely persisted throughout the centuries (maybe because they make for more dramatic and fascinating tales) - for instance, the last words she spoke before her untimely death.

Queen Katherine and the Howards is very well researched but will probably be more appealing to the academically-inclined and those who still feel enthralled by everything Tudor. I, for one, particularly enjoyed learning more about Thomas Howard, the 3rd Duke of Norfolk (uncle to Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard) - he’s such a prominent, important player during Tudor times and yet I only knew so little about him. Marilyn Roberts successfully closes that gap.

NetGalley, Katrin Figge

For those interested in Katherine Howard, fifth wife of Henry VIII, this book is a must-read.

NetGalley, Dianna Raiche

Queen Katherine and the Howards offers a richly detailed exploration of Katherine Howard’s life and the political web that surrounded her.

NetGalley, Stefani Riker

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

This is a very good and comprehensive (as far as Ms. Robert’s was able), telling of the story of Katherine Howard’s brief life and death. It is easy to read and accessible for all ages. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who loves Tudor history, medieval history or the lives of Kings and Queens.

NetGalley, Joyce Fox

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

An excellently researched and detailed study of the Howard family from their roots in East Anglia through to the elevation but subsequent death of Katherine at the hands of her husband Henry VIII - and even beyond for those she left behind.
The author does not shy away from criticism of several 19th and 20thC historians who not only confused some of the facts but adhered to unproven ideas and suggestions regarding this Tudor family. Marilyn Roberts puts the record straight.
An excellent read.

NetGalley, Stephen Dale

The fates of the Howard family are knitted in with the wider history of Tudor England and indeed sixteenth-century Scotland, too. I knew some of the Howards from my research into the period, for example Katherine Howard, Henry VIII's young fifth queen; and Lord Thomas Howard, who embarked on a relationship with Margaret Douglas when she was a relative newcomer at Henry VIII's court. But in general, my knowledge of a family that had been so prominent during the Tudor age was hazy, and so I looked forward to finding out more in Marilyn Roberts' book, Queen Katherine and the Howards published by Pen and Sword Books.

The books starts with the rise of the family - so if you're looking for a book purely about Katherine Howard this is not, in all honesty, it, although it does delve deeper into the queen's story from the second third of the book. However, to understand Katherine you have to appreciate where her family came from: their beginnings, their earlier struggles and their relationships with the early Tudor monarchs.

I enjoyed reading the book - which contains 19 chapters read in a few evenings - along with many of the tales that filled it holes in my existing knowledge of the age. It also focuses, to some degree, on the women of the Howard family and the influence and effect they had on events of the period. I feel as if I got to know Agnes Howard a little bit while reading and the author has taken care to analyse and explore aspects of her personality. They are not just names and dates, but explored as the three-dimensional women they once were. The fall of Katherine Howard and her family's reaction to the events of the early-1540s is also explored, often in great detail from surviving court records. We also learn about the shady figure of Edmund Howard, Katherine's father, and gain an understanding of how the future queen's early years may have contributed to the events of her queenship.

Generally, it's a book I'd recommend to any Tudor history fan, because to understand the age you need to have a knowledge of one of its most prominent families and their involvement with the Crown, in their success as well as their challenges and fall.

NetGalley, Jo Romero

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

As a keen reader of Tudor history Queen Katherine’s story is not new to me, however Marilyn Robert’s’ new book kept me enthralled.
She lays down the facts and disputes many of the long-standing opinions and ‘facts’ about Katherine Howard’s life. But in addition to this she tells the story from before and after Katherine’s rapid rise and fall in Tudor society. Setting her short life in the middle of her much longer lived step grandmother and uncle helps to put this period of history in context and also highlights how the events of her very short reign impacted her family, the mighty Howard’s, well into the future.
I would recommend Queen Katherine and the Howard’s to those interested in Tudor history and I feel that anyone who likes a drama filled true life story would relish reading this book.

NetGalley, Nicola Hall

I have read other biographies on Queen Katherine but this is the most complete history of her life and her families that I have ever read. The author has written it in a way that is informative, colorful, truthful and never dry (which is sometimes hard to do with any biography). In my opinion, the author presents Katherine honestly and erases a lot of the misconceptions that history and historical fiction novels and television has cast upon her. A must read for any Tudor fan or anyone who loves reading about English monarchy history. Comes with pictures which is always a bonus for me.

NetGalley, Christine Cazeneuve

A really interesting read about Henry VIII youngest bride.
The Howards were a family that wanted to remain in the favour of the king and did many things to stay as a prominent family at that time at a cost to many people.

NetGalley, Angela Thompson

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

This was a strong look at Katherine Howard’s final days, it had that element that I was looking for and thought worked as a historical nonfiction book. It was researched well and learned a lot about this. Marilyn Roberts has a strong writing style and am excited to read more.

NetGalley, Kathryn McLeer