The Last of Days

by Paul Doherty

'In the final days of Henry VIII, one man is there to witness the demise of a legend... In his 100th novel, master historian Paul Doherty weaves his magic in an epic tale of murderous schemes and a bloody political order.

King Henry VIII, a fearsome figure of power and stature, lies upon upon his deathbed diminished by sickness and haunted by ghosts from his past. Only Will Somers, long-serving jester and confidant, sees all. While Henry is confined to his chamber, Will begins a journal that will document his king's last turbulent days.

The country is fraught with tension. The king's son and heir just nine years old, there are many power-hungry councillors who will stop at nothing to better themselves. Now as the king's health falls, rebellion threatens amidst widespread rumours of plots against him. With few allies remaining, will Henry himself become the final victim of his reckless, bloody reign?'

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical, British Literature, 16th Century, Tudor Period

341 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

He has been published under several pseudonyms: P.C. Doherty, Celia L. Grace, Paul Harding, Ann Dukthas, Vanessa Alexander, Michael Clynes and Anna Apostolou but now writes only under his own name.

Paul Doherty was born in Middlesbrough (North-Eastern England) in 1946. He had the usual education before studying at Durham for three years for the Catholic priesthood but decided not to proceed. He went to Liverpool University where he gained a First Class Honours Degree in History and won a state scholarship to Exeter College, Oxford, whilst there he met his wife Carla Lynn Corbitt. He continued his studies but decided that the academic world was not for him and became a secondary school teacher.

Paul worked in Ascot, Nottingham and Crawley West Sussex before being appointed as Headmaster to Trinity Catholic School in September 1981. Trinity is a large comprehensive [1700 on roll] which teaches the full ability range, ages 11-18. The school has been described as one of the leading comprehensives in the U.K. In April, 2000 H. M. Inspectorate describe it as an 'Outstanding School', and it was given Beacon status as a Centre of Excellence whilst, in the Chief Inspector’s Report to the Secretary of State for January 2001, Trinity Catholic High School was singled out for praise and received a public accolade.

Paul’s other incarnation is as a novelist. He finished his doctorate on the reign of Edward II of England and, in 1987, began to publish a series of outstanding historical mysteries set in the Middle Age, Classical, Greek, Ancient Egypt and elsewhere. These have been published in the United States by St. Martin’s Press of New York, Edhasa in Spain, and Eichborn, Heyne, Knaur and others in Germany. They have also been published in Holland, Belgium, France, Italy, Romania, Estonia, Czechoslovakia, Russia, Bulgaria, Portugal and China, as well as Argentina and Mexico.

He has been published under several pseudonyms (see the bibliography): C. L. Grace, Paul Harding, Ann Dukthas and Anna Apostolou but now writes only under his own name. He recently launched a very successful series based around the life of Alexander the Great, published by Constable & Robinson in the U.K., and Carroll and Graf in the U.S.A., whilst his novels set in Ancient Egypt have won critical acclaim. Paul has also written several non-fiction titles; A Life of Isabella the She-wolf of France, Wife of Edward II of England, as well as study of the possible murder of Tutankhamun, the boy Pharaoh of Egypt’s 18th Dynasty, and a study on the true fate of Alexander the Great.

Paul and Carla live on the borders of London and Essex, not far from Epping Forest and six of their children have been through his own school. His wife Carla currently owns two horses and is training, for showing and dressage, a beautiful Arab filly named Polly.

Paul lectures for a number of organisations, particularly on historical mysteries, many of which later feature in his writings. A born speaker and trained lecturer Paul Doherty can hold and entertain audiences.

His one great ambition is to petition the Privy Council of England to open the Purbeck marble tomb of Edward II in Gloucester Cathedral. Paul believes the tomb does not house the body

Reviews

[Clemens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book in 2014, and its a standalone book about the Last Days of the Life of King Henry VIII, seen and told through the eyes and ears of the jester, Will Somers.

This tale is set in the years AD 1546-1547, and with King Henry VIII, on his deathbed with a wasting sickness and haunted by demons from the past, and with many courtiers scheming and plotting for power, and Will Somers sees all.

Witnessing these turbulent last days, Will decides to make a journal and document these last turbulent days of the King's life.

With the King's son as a nine-years-old heir, many at court see there chance to take power, while at the same time the country is in turmoil.

What is to follow is an intriguing and exciting story of King Henry VIII's Last Days as a King, and what will happen after his death and downfall from power, beginning with a turbulent atmosphere as well as various plots hanging in the air against the King, and all that is brought to us in a very thrilling manner by Will Somers, the long-serving confidant and jester of the King.

Very much recommended, for this is a truly masterly telling of the Last Days of King Henry VIII, and what is known about it historically, and that's why I like to call this great book: "A Very Entertaining Final Days"!

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is prolific author, Paul Doherty's, 100th novel and he turns his attention to the final days of Henry VIII. The story is told through the eyes of Will Somers, the king's long serving jester and confidant (coincidentally, author Margaret George also uses Will Somers as the narrator in her book about the life of Henry VIII - The Autobiography Of Henry VIII).

The main part of the story takes place over the winter of 1546 and into the beginning of 1547. The king is sick, bloated and unhealthy - his eyes "bright with malice". As he sits, ulcers festering, swollen and suffering, he reminisces and justisfies his actions to Somers - his friend, enemy, confessor and whipping boy; who both loves and hates his master. Doherty recreates those times with deft ease, describing the fear, gossip and rumour that surrounds the king's sickness and worries about the succession. Around the Court, everyone begins to circle, waiting to see whether the king is really dying. Is his power waning, or is he still able to strike as he used to? There are a cast we are familiar with - the Howards, the Seymours, the Norfolks. The Queen, pining for Thomas Seymour, the king's daughters, unsure and waiting for news, and everyone jostling for power and position, making allegations, scheming and waiting for the king to die.

This is another great historical novel from a master of the genre. Highly enjoyable, well written, atmospheric and about an aspect of the Tudor story we are, perhaps, less familiar with. Let's hope that there are many more novels to come from this excellent author.

[Lise · Rating 2 out of 5]

Doherty 100th book, but by far one of the weakest one, at least based on those I read before. Over long, with innumerable descriptions that unnecessarily slow down an already meandering narrative. An extremely poor plot that goes nowhere very slowly, there is not much to rescue this over-bloated book. Shame as both the historical context of the court in the last days of Henry VIII with all its intrigues and the idea of having the story told by his fool had all the ingredients necessary for a great novel.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

An intriguing look at the final days of the malignant monster-king Henry VIII in the words of his jester Will Somers. As everyone scrambles to hang onto power, not to mention their lives, in these days of madness, it becomes clear that the men about the dying king may be as unscrupulous and dangerous as their master.

A fast, light read that would have benefitted from a greater depth of characterisation and more substance, in general.

[Sylvia Warhurst · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve read and seen a lot about Henry VIII, but bought this book because it relates to the weeks before his death, and is related by Will Somers, Court jester. I’m afraid it was a chore to read, and quite boring. The latter pages are more interesting as they describe a plot involving the cover up of Henry’s death for many days after it happened. The reasons for this are not at all clear. Gory descriptions of the body exploding in its coffin. I wouldn’t recommend this book

[Helene Harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review - The characterisation was brilliant. Will Sommers has been used before in The Autobiography of Henry VIII: With Notes by His Fool, Will Somers but not to this effect. It posed an interesting insight into the workings of the council and into Henry VIII's mind at this crucial point. Stories are often written about the divorce and executions of important people, but I believe that this is the first writing about this period. Not brilliant, however. What let it down was that sometimes the description was a little overwhelming.

Genre? - Historical / Drama

Characters? - Will Sommers / Henry VIII / William Paget / Jane Bold / Mary I / Katherine Parr / Elizabeth I / Henry Howard Earl of Surrey

Setting? - London (England)

Series? - N/A

Recommend? - Yes

Rating - 16/20

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit disappointing considering how much I generally enjoy this author's works. The story was a rehash of other novels I have read about Henry and his vindictiveness and altho his theory of the king's demise is interesting, and his introduction of mysterious characters, there is no real catch to the story. I am sure there are other great books in this author's imagination. This just wasn't one of them.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very enjoyable book recounting the tale of Henry VIII's court jester, Will Sommers during the last days of that tyrant's last days.

It catches the mood of the cruel, brutal but always facsinating time that Henry was King. I liked that the author had researched the part that jesters/fools played in court, poor Will was probably the most cruely treated of all the Royal Fools. That he is subjected to physical and mental torture by the King himself is quite astounding, on several occasions almost killing Will. But this particular story focuses on those last few weeks of Henry's life and makes some startling reading on what could have happened.

I have always found the author's books to be interesting, a very good read and very well researched and this book is no exception to that finding.

[GBC · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was a very tough book to get into, it was more than halfway through before it got mildly interesting. I found the style of writing confusing and although I understand that people of this era and rank had multiple names it wasn’t clear to me until almost the end before I had them sorted out. I would not recommend this book to a friend, I’m sure there are better books surrounding the death of Henry VIII.

Not an enjoyable read.

[Christine Russell · Rating 1 out of 5]

I find the author is just stretching the word count in this book. It's just dragging on and on. Ivery heard good things about Paul Doherty. Sorry, this book just doesn't do anything for me.

[pamela titterington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting

I was gripped, as I always am, by Paul d. Books, and really makes you think , for me he can do no wrong, he knows his subjects well

[WIlliam Hill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Horror Story

I like Paul Doherty,an excellent story teller but I found this rather hard going ,rather to much gore,I was looking for an ending and I did not quite grasp it.

[Nikki Dennis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finished. Absolutely brilliant book, an interesting and plausible version of the last few years of Henry VIII’s reign.

[Dayle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Took 200 pages to get going and still didn't get interesting. Not boring enough to put me off the author, but definitely dissapointed

[Brian Carrigan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book

[Josephine (Jo) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is written in the form of the journal of Will Sommers, court jester or fool in the court of Henry VIII. The novel is a mixture of historical fact, conspiracy theory of the day and fiction. We see,through the eyes of Will the extreme cruelty of Henry VIII even to those who have served him well in the past. Parts of the story are really harrowing, the hideous tortures and dreadful deaths suffered by those who either intentionally or in complete innocence cause offence to either Henry or any of his toadies. The author takes us on a journey through a stinking, filthy London of the times, I could almost smell what it was like in the back streets or prison cells at the tower. My stomach was lurching at the description of what went on after the death of Henry as we see it through Will's eyes.
A really Goodread!

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting plot about the last days of Henry VIII and the securing of the succession. It takes a little getting in to as the story is told by the king's fool, Will Somers. Doherty gives an excellent portrayal of assorted Tudor monsters in Henry's court beginning with Henry himself - we see Henry desperate to secure Edward's future and tormented by the ghost of his conscience. He even talks to the corpse of James IV - a macabre encounter in a series of macabre encounters. I shall be looking for more Doherty.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very good and will make a fine capstone or coda to Hilary Mantel's three Thomas Cromwell novels when they are completed. Recommended to anyone interested in detail.
Note: I wrote a detailed evaluation of this novel some minutes ago and Saved, but for some reason what I wrote vanished. I simply don't have the time now to reenter what I wrote, but will try to recapture it at a future date.

[Anne Vaughan · Rating 3 out of 5]

usually cant put a paul doherty book down but really struggled with this to the extent i could not finish it which is a virtual unknown for me

[Sarah Hearn · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting view of the last days of the monstrous king, Henry VIII, by his Fool, Will Somers.