I Can't Stop Thinking About...Katherine Parr

Hello friends!

Happy very belated 2024! This is the first newsletter of the new year and with it, some housekeeping and an announcement! While I previously sent newsletters every other week, I am going to shift to 1-2x a month. You also may find older recommendations and topics here than what you’re used to seeing.

Why the change? I’m going to grad school! In January, I started my master’s in English through the university where I work. It’s only one class, but seeing as I haven’t taken a college course in approximately eight years, I’m giving myself a lot of time to adjust to my new schedule.

I’m also looking to shift the focus of my freelance work a bit and do more essays instead of the reporting I’ve been doing on the side. This is the kind of writing I’d like to do be doing, but it does take a bit more of my time.

All this is to say that between this and wedding planning, I have a little less time for reading and writing, but this space is still my priority which brings me to the theme of this newsletter.

As longtime readers know, I have a soft spot for Tudor historical fiction. So when I was preparing for a beach trip last month and needed something that could hold my attention during a three-hour flight, the answer was simple: Alison Weir’s “The Sixth Wife,” a novel about Katherine Parr.

As much as I love all the wives, Katherine Parr is my favorite. She wrote and published books, she was fierce in sticking to her Protestant beliefs even if they got her in trouble, she pursued love where she could, and just generally seemed to command respect while keeping a level head.

Unlike Henry’s previous wives, Katherine was married twice before wedding the king. Both of her husbands died and with both parents also dead, she was essentially a free agent when it came to choosing her next husband. Before Henry came along, she set her sights on Thomas Seymour, brother of the late Jane Seymour in what was seemingly a love match—basically unheard of at a time where women were essentially trading pawns for business deals through their marriages.

The story goes that once Henry became interested in Katherine, she had no choice but to marry him. But she used her situation to her advantage and persuaded the king to consider more Protestant reforms that aligned with her personal (and generally frowned upon) beliefs. Reading Weir’s book was the first time the English Reformation actually held my attention and I couldn’t help but deeply admire Katheryn for sticking to her guns and using her position for good while being savvy enough to survive a tyrant of a husband (and a near-arrest for her faith).

As I read “The Sixth Wife,” I couldn’t help but think back to “Six.” I fell in love with this musical version of the story of Henry VIII’s wives before going to England two years ago. It was through this Katherine Parr became my favorite of the wives: Her solo number is about how she’s more than just her love affair. “Remember that I was a writer,” she sings. “I wrote books and psalms and meditations/Fought for female education/So all my women could independently study scripture/I even got a woman to paint my picture/Why can't I tell that story?”

That first part—”remember that I was a writer”—has been stuck in my head since I first heard it. I hope for the same thing.

Like many women, I struggle balancing my ambitions. It’s hard for to divide my time and energy between the writing I do for my job (which I love!) with the writing and reading I want to do. Add onto that having a personal life where I’m trying to be a good fiancée, sister, friend, etc, and I basically never feel like I’ve hit equilibrium. A lot of times it’s my personal writings and the things I do for just me that take the hit.

I’m entering a chapter where I know I’m often going to focus more on my relationships, especially as my fiancé and I think about starting a family. I’m so excited for what’s a head, but at the same time, the idea of only being a mom and wife frightens me just as much as the idea of only having work in my life. Matt and I talk a lot about what kind of parents we want to be and I know my kids will see me first and foremost as their mom. But I hope that as much as they see me as someone who is, well, a writer, some who goes to see plays by herself sometimes and got a master’s in English just because she could.

Katherine Parr reminds me I can be more than just my relationships. Until I read her story, I never understood how people could feel inspired by historical figures. I mean, what do we really know of how anyone back then was? (Ok, this is not totally true—Katherine of Aragon’s stubbornness is something I can only dream of.) But reading about all the things Katherine did in a time when women couldn’t do much moved me. I want her grit, her fearlessness, and most importantly, to embrace and be remembered for all parts of my life. If she could manage it in the 1500s, I can too.

One of the reasons I’ve loved grad school so much is because it’s a part of my life that’s just for me. For three hours each week, I get to just talk about writing. I get to be a writer. Then I get to go home and be with my partner, who supports me in my degree, and then go to work the next day and write cool stories for a place that lets me study there for free. All things considered, my conditions are better than Katherine Parr’s (no disgusting husband with a rotting leg), so I’m hoping I can succeed in managing all parts of me (however unequally) in this next chapter.