The King's Pleasure

A Novel of Henry VIII

De: Alison Weir

Narrado por: Rosalyn Landor

The New York Times bestselling author of the Six Tudor Queens series explores the private side of the legendary king Henry VIII and his dramatic and violent reign in this extraordinary historical novel.

Having completed her Six Tudor Queens series of novels on the wives of Henry VIII, extensively researched and written from each queen's point of view, Alison Weir now gives Henry himself a voice, telling the story of his remarkable thirty-six-year reign and his six marriages.

Young Henry began his rule as a magnificent and chivalrous Renaissance prince who embodied every virtue. He had all the qualities to make a triumph of his rule, yet we remember only the violence. Henry famously broke with the Pope, founding the Church of England and launching a religious revolution that divided his kingdom. He beheaded two of his wives and cast aside two others. He died a suspicious, obese, disease-riddled tyrant, old before his time. His reign is remembered as one of dangerous intrigue and bloodshed—and yet the truth is far more complex.

The King's Pleasure brings to life the idealistic monarch who expanded Parliament, founded the Royal Navy, modernized medical training, composed music and poetry, and patronized the arts. A passionate man in search of true love, he was stymied by the imperative to produce a male heir, as much a victim of circumstance as his unhappy wives. Had fate been kinder to him, the history of England would have been very different.

Here is the story of the private man. To his contemporaries, he was a great king, a legend in his own lifetime. And he left an extraordinary legacy—a modern Britain.

©2023 Alison Weir (P)2023 Recorded Books

Love this author

I love novels is author wrote about the wives of King Henry the eighth, so I was excited when I found out about this one. It did not disappoint. I do wish they had gotten a male narrator, however.

good perception of Henry's life

I liked that it was from Henry's point of view. I love historical fiction

A Bit of a Letdown After Six Tudor Queens

I've got mixed feelings on this one. While it was a nice way to round out the Six Tudor Queens series, I found that it lacked a lot of depth. It was just too much to cover in any one book (I mean, the author literally wrote six to cover a similar time span).

I also never really found myself clicking with "Harry." It's not that I expected to like him, but I expected to at least get him a little. Maybe I'm just naive, but I can't believe he was truly such a bumbling fool and narcissist to really never understand what was going on around him. If this book is to be believed, he was a downright delusional man-child without an ounce of political savvy or self-awareness, and that just seems like a bit much.

Also, this book did *exactly* what I feared it would and spend close to 75% of the time with Katherine & Anne. I get that that's an important part of his story, but it's also the part that's been told countless times.

Rosalyn Landor was a great narrator, as always. I get why people would be thrown off by it not being a male narrator for a male MC, but I appreciated the consistency with the Six Tudor Queens series. In a series with literal countless characters, that bit of continuity was appreciated.

Humanizes Harry

It was great to get the story from the King's perspective after hearing from his 6 wives. He doesn't seem as creepy or crazy from his side of the story. I kind of wanted more details on some things. It felt like a brief summary in done areas but definitely worth a listen.

Definitely details in writing

I love like this book, in fact we got see Henry VIII side of story.

Surprisingly tepid, and I'm so sick of Rosalyn Landor

I had been hoping she'd shake this horrible narrator for this book, particularly since it's about a male and from his male point of view at times. I actually groaned when I saw it was Landor AGAIN. she really brings Weir's stories down. I still pre-ordered this book last year and will pre-order the Wolsey one but you have no idea how disappointed I am that Landor is narrating that one as well.

Anyway, the story -There's much telling, little showing. The book is weirdly rushed in some places and stretched out in others. Henry is very one dimensional and lacks nuance. He's portrayed as he's usually portrayed in all her books and every book about him. This is disappointing as I was hoping there'd be a slightly different interpretation from his side - as they say in complicated relationships, there's her point of view, his point of view, and the truth. his point of view lacks depth and converges too much with the perception of his ruthlessness and self-righteousness with no depth or even emotion at times. This may have been truly how he thought and felt in his later reign but unlikely as a child and perhaps even early in his reign.
I love all of the other books. This is not one of them. Devastingly disappointing.

Great narration

It was fabulous I didn’t want the book to end. I loved the whole series

Getting To Know You

Getting to know all about you. Boy did I ever! Wonderful book! Amazing man.

Fascinating to hear a different perspective than her usual books!

Wonderfully written. I love so many books from the female perspectives of this time period, I didn’t see how I could sympathize in any way with Henry’s point of view. But I was curious. It paid off! Masterful job of humanizing a larger than life character!

Very cool summary of Henry VIIIs life

I appreciate the organization and development of a story with all this information that is partky incomplete. Very nice work!