Katherine Parr was among the brightest of Henry VIII's wives, her life was a cavalcade, and she left a modest wealth of documentary sources in her wake. Someone ought to write a decent biography of this neglected queen. Linda Porter's book sometimes sails close to achieving this elusive goal. It is elegant and tolerably well-researched but it falls short when it comes to exploring a host of vital issues.
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I enjoy Jonathan Wright's reviews--and thought his disappointment in this biography interesting. That Porter failed to engage thoroughly in the details of Henry's Court and country in the 1540's is regrettable but I think Robert Hutchinson, in his book on the last days of Henry VIII, covers some of that factionalism pretty well.
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