Cor Rotto

Cor Rotto is an historical fiction account of Catherine Carey Knollys, niece of Anne Boleyn. She is also rumored to be the bastard daughter of Henry VIII. Per Webster's dictionary the title means corrupt, depraved, immoral or, in my opinion, rotten to the core. However, the author gave a different definition: heartbroken.

The publisher's summary:

Catherine Carey has been dreaming the same dream for three years, since the bloody execution of her aunt Queen Anne Boleyn. Her only comfort is that she and her family are safe in Calais, away from the intrigues of Henry VIII’s court. But now Catherine has been chosen to serve Henry VIII’s new wife, Queen Anne of Cleves. Just before she sets off for England, she learns the family secret: the true identity of her father, a man she considers a monster. One she will shortly meet.

This compelling novel tells the life story of a woman who survived being close to the crown and became one of Queen Elizabeth I’s closest confidants.

I loved Catherine's story.  I view her life as charmed given her wealth, loving husband and large family that got along with each other. Serving five queens of England, she had great jobs.  She worked for Anne Boleyn, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, Mary 1 and Elizabeth 1. The character who used the Latin phrase cor rotto in a letter to Catherine was Princess Elizabeth who was heartbroken over the death of her mother many years earlier. I also view Princess, then Queen, Elizabeth as having a charmed life. However, the author tells us that both of these characters were heartbroken. We all can agree that Elizabeth's early life was difficult but Catherine had heartbreak too as she lost two of her children and was frequently separated from her husband and children. 

Religion plays a big role in the novel as it covers all of Henry VIII's wives, son Edward, and sisters Mary and Elizabeth. Our heroine Catherine, however, does not care how others practice their religion. She accepts whatever faith tradition a person wishes to follow and because of that she never spread gossip either against the Catholic Church or against the reformers. Consequently, everyone liked her. Her conduct was always exemplary. By the way, she was a reformer. 

The Tudor setting was exotic. The ladies wore sumptuous dresses and the men of the court wore velvet. In this book the reader gets the full perspective on what it was like to wear these dresses. While beautiful to look at, getting dressed was cumbersome because of all the layers and for Catherine, who was pregnant sixteen times, too heavy to wear. It wasn't all exotic for the ladies who lived during this era as they were required to spend the last three months of pregnancy confined to their rooms and another two months of confinement after the birth until they were churched, that is, allowed to go to church for a purification rite and to thank God for their newborn child.  

The writing itself was fast paced as many chapters covered several years and the chapters were short. There is a ton of detail in the novel so it was definitely well researched. Given that the author has, to date, only written about Boleyn family members, she must be an expert on the family. The story begins when Catherine is 15 and ends with her death at age 47. It seemed to me that Catherine lived to be much older because we read about the minutiae in her life as well as the big events. However, per Wikipedia, Catherine died at age 47. She led an incredible life.

5 out of 5 stars.