Rubbish - Rated 
This book has to be the worst book I have read. The characterisation and dialogue was poor and the story felt very disjointed and pointless.
Could do a lot better - Rated
This was a romantic idea which the author freely admits has no basis in fact.
The last book I read was Alison Weirs 'Innocent Traitor' and in addition I have read all the historical novels by Philippa Gregory - I'm afraid this author isn't anywhere near approaching their quality or style. I found the main character poorly painted and unsympathetic, the dialogue was simply dreadful.
I'm not sure that even the author thinks this is her metier but it is the last historical book of hers I'll buy
Don't give up the day job !
Historical fiction at its worst - Rated
I thought this book was really awful. The modern dialogue was at best unconvincing and lazy and at worst utterly cringeworthy - for example, when the narrator talked about Kate "meeting and greeting"people and one character told another "Don't bite my head off!". Maybe the author just didn't credit her readers with enough intelligence to empathise with characters who didn't speak in modern dialogue - in any case she completely failed to recreate the period in her writing - dreadful.
A Modern Approach to Katherine Parr - Rated 
In writing this book about Henry VIII's widow and her marriage to Thomas Seymour, Suzannah Dunn is out of her league. I had the P.S. edition of this book, where she explains that she deliberately avoided "Tudorspeak" because when she picks up a book, uses of the word "prithee" (and the like) immediately take her out of the story. Well, her approach to The Sixth Wife had exactly that effect on me. To hear one of the characters say that he "didn't have a clue" and to have characters speak as if they were living within the 21st Century immediately removed me from the setting at hand. Furthermore, I wanted to know about Katherine Parr, but the story isn't *really* about her. It's more about Catherine, Duchess of Suffolk. It's told from her point of view, and she's not a likable or even tolerable personality. Instead of being happy for her friend, she constantly wonders why she chose Thomas Seymour for a husband. Knowing this, her actions later in the book are even more inexplicable.
The Sixth Wife was "okay," but not a standout or a gripping read by any stretch of the imagination. There is one thing I did get out of it, however. In the endnotes, there is a list of suggested non-fiction books regarding the main characters. I'll be adding those to my ever-teetering pile of books to explore. I just hope those authors are better at their craft than Ms. Dunn.
Bringing dead people to life - Rated 
I don't read much 'chick lit' or historical fiction, but after visiting Sudeley Castle (where much of it is set) I decided to give this a go and it's a fantastic read. So much historical fiction is written as if the long dead nobility s*at marble. But Suzannah Dunn has brought these characters, who really lived and breathed and loved and lusted, back to vivid life in a plausible and exciting story. I loved the way that great historical events are shown by their insignificant effect on the everyday lives of the people who lived then: the way the main character Catherine breezily excuses her destruction of Catholic relics, or feels terror at the thought of an axe slicing through her sons neck, or tries to shake off her attendants (and multiple layers of clothing) to grab a quick shag with the First Lord of the Admiralty. I also loved her descriptions of the running of a great household, how everyone is a family and the responsiblities of the mistress.
The writing is to the point, the plot is really exciting, the relationships, tensions and emotions are recognisable, and she avoids the habit of some women writers to list every smell in a room and to be drearily politically correct (yes Joanne Harris, I'm talking about you).
The language is simply more up to date than usual; you'd think from some of the criticism here that they were talking ghetto slang.
So, well done, I recommend it.
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