The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory

From the author's website: Katherine of Aragon (also known as Catalina) has known her destiny since childhood: to wed Prince Arthur of England. The daughter of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain, 16-year-old Katherine leaves behind her beloved home to forge a new life in a foreign land and take her place as Princess of Wales and, ultimately, Queen of England.

To Katherine’s surprise, her marriage to Arthur is a passionate love match as well as a political union. As the Prince and Princess of Wales, they eagerly plan for their future reign—until tragedy strikes five months into their marriage. Arthur falls ill, and before he dies the young prince extracts a vow from his wife. She is to marry his brother, Harry, and become Queen of England. She is to rule England in Arthur’s stead, fulfilling their dreams and her destiny. But to take the throne, Katherine must deny her true love and tell the world that she and Arthur never consummated their marriage.

The Constant Princess is the story of a young girl who was raised to be a queen, the lengths to which she goes to fulfill a deathbed promise, and the crucial lie that changed the course of history.

This is probably my first historical fiction of the kind of historical fiction that seems to personify the genre for me. I joined the Historical Fiction book club on Facebook but our first few selections were not romantic "princessy" books like I have come to associate with Historical fiction. I think that is because I am the only person left who has yet to read The Other Boleyn Girl! It was a little bit difficult to read at first because both the setting and time period are pretty unfamiliar to me and they used some Spanish names for people I might have known in English such as Cristóbal Colón for Christopher Columbus.

I loved Catalina's mother, Queen Isabella, she was a force to be reckoned with. I was disappointed in her father, he was certainly not one to spoil a daughter, he left her hanging on more than one occasion. The idea of the princess having relationships with the first son and the father and the second son is a plot line I think I remember from daytime soap opera (do you know Reva from the Guiding Light?)- apparently some themes can withstand the test of time. There was a peripheral character - another princess, Juana - that caught my interest and I am looking forward to reading a story with her as the main character that has been selected for the Facebook book club this summer. Overall, I think my first foray into the "princessy" version of historical fiction would be called a success - I enjoyed the book and I am looking forward to reading others.