** spoiler alert ** 
 2.5/5 stars (very minor spoilers)- I have conflicted feelings about this book. It starts strong and it ends strong but pages 200-500 are a long, boring, redundant mess. 
 I found Margaret Pole interesting at first. I would be interested to learn more about her actual life. However, I think the author wrote her too wishy washy and not very like-able. 
 For example- she doesn't seem to like or appreciate her husband until after he's gone. At which point she says how wonderful and what a good husband he was. Also, she sends one son away. Understandable the first time, but as she continues to keep him away from the family I can't help but wonder why she would keep a boy, who so clearly wants to come home, away? How can she not even attempt to bring him home? How can she continue to encourage him to do "what's best" when he doesn't like it or desire it at all? She often reminds me of Mrs. Bennett from Pride & Prejudice- using her children for her own benefit and nothing else. 
 Aside from that she often talks about how powerful her family once was or currently is, but she never really seems to do anything about it. I understand surviving to fight another day but she just never seems to really fight. She talks about it a lot, but never does anything. Quite frankly it was exhausting to read because by page 300 I knew nothing she thought or felt mattered because she wasn't going to do anything about anything. Why bother even complaining about a fate you have so obviously accepted? 
 My last complaint about this book is something I think could have been easily fixed and made the book a better read. I once read that when a writer revises their work, they should take out any and all writing that does not advance the story. Gregory didn't do this and the book suffered immensely for it. I remember reading one "chapter" which was essentially: "The summer had returned and with it the sweats. The king is on the run from the Tudor disease again." Or the fourth detailed account of Katherine's fourth dead baby. (Seriously? Have I not read this exact story three times already?) I was dangerously close to giving the book up at that point. This was pointless. This seems to make up the entire middle of the book. Absolutely pointless words that add nothing to the story. 
 All that aside- I did enjoy some parts of it. I thought Katherine or Aragon and her daughter were well written and I wish there had been more of them in the book. The details of the period are well written and I appreciated that as well. If the book had been trimmed down by summarizing some of the less relevant plot details I'd have appreciated it much more. (As a point of reference- I actually enjoy long books that tell detailed and complex stories- but I guess I just can't appreciate detail for detail's sake. I don't know- it just didn't work here.)