Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Reader Advisory Blog: Dark Underbelly of the Tudor Court

Cheating was often the right of kings with many known to have mistresses. Rarely do we hear of Queens who cheated. In The Unfaithful Queen: A Novel of Henry VIII's Fifth Wife, Carolly Erickson tells the story of Catherine Howard, the vivacious bride who neglected to inform her new husband of her three lovers. This, along with her inability to bear a son, causes Henry to become disillusioned with her and sadly Catherine suffers the same fate as her cousin, Anne Boleyn. Rich with details of Tudor life and bitter rivalries, both Anglophiles and fans of historical fiction in general will find themselves drawn in to the story of the brief life and times of Catherine Howard.

Being Mortal by Atul Gawande

Genre: Adult Non-Fiction
Rating: 5 out of 5

"Being Mortal is about the limitations of what modern medicine can provide for people as their lives draw to a close. Gawande argues that the objective of medicine should not merely be treatment and survival; medical care should also ensure dignity in death and having control over one's final moments. He argues that instead of aggressively fighting the inescapable realities of aging, we should ask the hard questions of ourselves and our loved ones -- What makes life worth living? When should we try to extend our lives, and when should we choose a better quality of our remaining days over extending their quantity?

This book is difficult to read. Not because of the way Gawande writes -- his style is highly engaging, and he never lapses into excessively scientific jargon or overly simplistic explanations -- but because of the tough subject matter. Gawande draws on his own experiences as a doctor and peppers his book with honest and humane stories of his patients, friends, and family; the stories he tells make the book more accessible, and also more heartbreaking. (And that's not a bad thing.)

No one likes to think about their loved ones', or their own, impending mortality. But it's important to have these hard conversations, because as Gawande says, "endings matter." - Amanda

Dark Underbelly of the Tudor Court

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