Young and Damned and Fair
The Life and Tragedy of Catherine Howard at the Court of Henry VIII
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Young and Damned and Fair
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Narrated by:
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Jenny Funnell
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By:
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Gareth Russell
About this listen
SHORTLISTED FOR THE SLIGHTLY FOXED BEST FIRST BIOGRAPHY PRIZE 2017
A Daily Mail Book of the Week
Born into nobility and married into the royal family, Catherine Howard was attended every waking hour – secrets were impossible to keep. In this thrilling reappraisal of Henry VIII’s fifth wife, Gareth Russell’s history unfurls as if in real time to explain how the queen’s career ended with one of the great scandals of Henry’s reign. This is a grand tale of the Henrician court in its twilight, a glittering but pernicious sunset during which the king’s unstable behaviour and his courtiers’ labyrinthine deceptions proved fatal to many, not just to Catherine Howard.
©2017 Gareth Russell (P)2017 HarperCollins PublishersCritic Reviews
‘A stunning reappraisal of the tragic life of Henry VIII’S fifth wife’ The Times
‘A timely and powerful re-examination of Henry's fifth queen … Gareth Russell has done some beautiful new research to indicate that Catherine was not as foolish as some historians have suggested, and that her death was managed and manipulated by her offended husband, purely for his own revenge … I love it when historians take the women who have been neglected by history seriously and study their lives rather than accepting stereotypes’ Philippa Gregory
‘“Young and Damned and Fair” is everything a historical biography should be’ Kathryn Warner, author of "Edward II: The Unconventional King"
‘Russell marries slick storytelling with a great wealth of learning about sixteenth-century personalities and politics. The result is a book that leads us deep into the nightmarish final years of Henry VIII's reign, wrenching open the intrigues of a poisonous court in a realm seething with discontent. At the heart of it all is the fragile, tragic figure of Catherine Howard, whose awful fate is almost unbearable to watch as it unfolds. This is authoritative Tudor history written with a novelist's lightness of touch. A terrific achievement’ Dan Jones
‘A magnificent account of the rise and fall of Henry VIII's tragic fifth queen – compelling, thought-provoking and above all real. In Russell's meticulously researched narrative Catherine Howard and her household are brought to life as never before. Hugely enjoyable’ Adrian Tinniswood
‘This fascinating and ultimately heartbreaking account of Henry VIII's doomed fifth wife brings to life the cruel, gossip-fuelled, back-stabbing world of the court in which Catherine Howard rose and fell. The uncommonly talented Gareth Russell has produced a masterly work of Tudor history that is engrossing, sympathetic, suspenseful, and illuminating’ Charlotte Gordon, author of Romantic Outlaws
What listeners say about Young and Damned and Fair
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sarah Williams
- 27-05-2022
Brilliant
Engrossing, and intriguing, I was sad to finish! Gareth Russell’s writing is brilliant - can’t wait to read more of his work and I hope he does more on Tudor times. Jenny Funnell’s narration was just perfect.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Liz
- 10-11-2017
Wonderful!
Just when you think you know the reasons for the behaviour of some people, along comes a story like this, and it makes you realise how far some of us are willing to go... or more to the point, how far your own family will take you for their purposes... Catherine Howard is a victim of circumstance, at a time when God might have forgiven you, but the ruler of your realm would not... a time when a woman's opinion counted for nothing and her only reason for living was to procreate, even though it could cost the lives of mother and child... and you would never consider disobeying your parents whose efforts are dedicated to placing you in a marriage of convinience for the whole family and discribed as 'a goodly match'...promised to a man at the age of eight, married to him at the age of twelve, and could deliver your first child at 13... you are not to contradict your husband, especially if your husband is Henry VIII, or you will lose your head... What a world! Gareth Russel does one hell of a job, with his details and descriptions, making you cringe, suffer and empathise with Our Lady Katherine, Queen Consort and temporary resident of The Tower. Jenny Funnell has a voice that I can hear coming out of Katherine, just beautiful. And the story is guaranteed to rival her cousin's, Anne Boleyn. Five Stars right across the board!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Angipoo123
- 15-04-2022
Brilliantly researched and written
This is the best book I’ve ever read on Katherine Howard. Gareth brings Katherine, her family and peers, as well as the entire Tudor period of that time to life.
I liked that this book did not vilify Katherine but presented her as a young woman who was too young and and not mindful enough of the real dangers of her actions with Thomas Culpeper… a very sad tale of young young lives snuffed out before they even lived.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Sue
- 11-11-2018
A well researched book for the history buffs
A balanced and well researched book on one of Henry VIII's lesser known queens. A fascinating look into the Tudor world.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Elizabeth Finch
- 22-03-2024
My favourite Tudor book of all time
I have listened to his beautifully crafted and elegantly narrated book so many times, I’ve lost count.
It’s well balanced, well supported and entertaining
I particularly appreciate the way the author gave a multi faceted perspective of Catherine. She was portrayed as a human with flaws. This piece didn’t fall into the trap of defending or demonising the characters. Too often historians use absolutisms and deliberately omit facts as a counter argument to the previous fashionable hypothesis. This book is one of the few examples of balanced historical writing that wasn’t peddling a political ideology or agenda.
It presented a perfectly imperfect and therefore extremely likeable Catherine along with all the characters around her and the court. All of which made it totally real, understandable, and imaginable
I just wish there were more like this. Especially of Mary 1, and Mary queen of Scot’s. I’m so bored with the saintly female 2 dimensional stuff out there.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Jacquelyn
- 28-03-2022
Insight into the life of Henry VIII's lesser known
A fascinating insight into Henry VIII of England's fifth wife. Catherine Howard is often dismissed as a young, promiscuous bimbo yet Russell makes a compelling argument of a young girl caught in an unavoidable situation.
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