Fifth Queen

<p>The Fifth Queen is trilogy of historical novels by English novelist Ford Madox Ford comprising The Fifth Queen: And How She Came to Court (1906) Privy Seal (1907) and The Fifth Queen Crowned (1908). It presents a highly fictionalised account of Katharine Howard's arrival at the Court of Henry VIII her eventual marriage to the king and her death.</p><p><br></p><p> The main strengths of this trilogy are considered by many writer admirers and critics - notably Graham Greene Alan Judd and William Gass - to be its impressionistic qualities its creation of a believable approximation of Tudor English and its successful creation of atmosphere.</p><p><br></p><p>One critic stated that it was clearly a work of literary fiction inescapable and should be avoided by any reader who prefers a more opaque style.</p><p><br></p><p>Graham Greene has written that in The Fifth Queen Ford tries out the impressionist method. He likens the King to a shadow with the story focusing on the struggle between Katharine and Cromwell. Begging the question of whether the King's lighting is more like a stage production than novel again alluding to a fictionalisation rather than truly historical style.</p><p><br></p><p>Alan Judd in his 1991 biography of the author states that this version does not hinder the sense of reality in its effective style portraying a contrivance of Tudor English. He likens the author's dialogue to poetry. (wikipedia.org)</p><p><br></p>