Book Recs But They're Based on the Six Wives of Henry VIII

Hello, Book Nerds! Welcome back to Reading Has Ruined My Life or welcome if you are new. As always, my name is Hannah and I am your captain on this journey into my bookcases.

Today I have a wild post for y’all. This one goes out to the theatre kids and book nerds. This one is for the history girlies who want a laugh. Yeah, I’m giving out book recs based on the six wives of Henry VIII. More specifically, book recs based on the six wives as they’re seen in Six the Musical. Historical accuracy? Yeah, she’s not really with us today. This is purely based off vibes and the archetypes the queens are given in the musical.

If you do actually want to learn about the six wives of Henry VIII, then I highly recommend you give a listen to Queens Podcast. The show has covered all six wives along with countless other amazing women of history. I highly recommend you listen to the show. The hosts, Katy and Nathan, are hilarious and I love that the show feels like you’re having a gossip session with your besties. Except the gossip is about historical figures.

Now I will tell you a little bit about each of these six women. That way you’ll have some reason as to why I picked the books I did. But again, I’m going off of the fictionalized versions of them as seen in Six. So let’s crack in!

Catherine of Aragon

Catherine of Aragon, where to begin. An absolute queen. Six the musical portrays her as regal, resilient, loyal, and done with everyone’s shit; especially with the men in her life. In life, she was also a devout Catholic and lived in strong accordance to her beliefs. And lest we forget just how fierce she was? I mean, she wanted to send the severed head of her husband’s enemy to him when said enemy was slain in battle. That’s pretty metal. Anyway, here are some Catherine of Aragon inspired reads. 

·      The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

·      The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

·      The Life and Love of She Devil by Fay Weldon

·      Seven Blades in Black by Sam Sykes

·      The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

Anne Boleyn

Perhaps one of the most controversial women in all of history. Anne Boleyn kinda is that girl. In Six she is intelligent, opinionated, and full of sass to cover up her insecurities and vulnerabilities. Anne Boleyn was always one step ahead…until she wasn’t. Here are my book recs inspired by her.

·      Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

·      Mary Anne by Daphne du Maurier

·      Clarissa, or, The History of a Young Lady by Samuel Richardson

·      And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliott

·      Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Jane Seymour

Where the other queens are fiery and defiant, Jane Seymour is presented as a soft-spoken, gentle, virtuous woman defined by her duty to her family. History and Six the musical have written her as the ideal woman of the 16^th century. Jane is dutiful and maternal. Yet she is determined and did what she had to do in order to survive. Here are some book recs inspired by her.

·      The View From Half Dome by Jill Caugherty

·      Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellman

·      Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

·      Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

·      The School For Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

Anne of Cleves

The true survivor of Henry VIII’s wives if you ask me. She accepted the divorce, she took the generous stipend, and she lived her best life after Henry. In Six, Anne of Cleves is a bit of a diva, she’s unwaveringly confident, resilient, and focused on her own self-worth and love. So here are five reads all about resilience, self-worth and self-love that I think Anne of Cleves would appreciate.

·      Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding

·      Untold Resilience by Future Women

·      The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani

·      Ex-Wife by Ursula Parrott

·      Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner

Kathryn Howard

Oh sweet baby angel Kathryn Howard. In Six the musical, she is presented as a bubbly, flirty, pop-star. She’s sweet and sassy. She’s attention seeking and carefree. All this to hide her trauma. She was sexually abused her entire life, as told through her song “All You Wanna Do.” And as seen in the show, under her pop-star facade she is incredibly broken. You will find a mix of book recs here. Some upbeat titles and some that match Kathryn Howard’s life more closely. 

·      Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

·      The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes by Elissa R. Sloan

·      Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli

·      Scattered Pearls by Sohila Zanjani

·      I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

Katherine Parr

Katherine Parr, Katherine Parr, Katherine Parr. The final wife. The one who survived. She is playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers. With her, you can expect a highly intelligent woman fighting for female empowerment. So here are some books about strong female characters, strong real life women, and some lovely historical fiction titles; all inspired by Katherine Parr.

·      We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

·      Educated by Tara Westover

·      The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish

·      Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

·      The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee

Thus endeth our lists!

With that, I shall bid you all adieu. Thank you very much for joining me today, Book Nerds. I hope you enjoyed your time here this week, and I will see you all again next Wednesday with a new review. If you can’t wait that long then I highly suggest giving Reading Has Ruined My Life a follow over on Instagram (@ReadingHasRuinedMyLife). I post there almost daily so come back often to revel in literary goodness. You can also follow the blog on Twitter and BlueSky (@RHRMLBlog). If you’d like something not related to books then may I suggest my podcast Nothing to See Hear? The show stars me and two of my dearest friends as we talk everything and anything. We have a playlist on awesome women of history, and playlists on some weird people and moments from history, too. You can currently listen to the show on Spotify and YouTube. And of course go check out Queens Podcast as well. They recently published an episode on the mother of science fiction Mary Shelley, and an episode on Mexican poet Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz. I highly recommend listening to both episodes.

Until next time, stay safe, wash your hands, and read some good books for me.

See y'all then, bye!