Cor Rotto: A Novel of Catherine Carey

Cor Rotto: A Novel of Catherine Carey
Adrienne Dillard
Made Global Publishing
Lexington, Kentucky
ISBN: 978-84-937464-7-6
Trade paperback
2014
306 pages



How many illegitimate children have been born who had royal fathers? Kings who misused their wealth, power, and influence to impregnate a woman is not unusual even in present times. Surprisingly many have been known throughout history and many were acknowledged or accepted by their royal cousins and step-families.

Catherine Carey believed her parents were Mary Boleyn and William Carey. Being that her family had fled to Calais when trouble began with her aunt, Anne Boleyn, she was not aware of her probable lineage. Mary had been a mistress to King Henry VIII before he had a relationship with her sister while married to William. When Catherine was born, most people realized that Henry was her father being that both shared the same shade of red hair. She did not know of her true lineage until she was summoned to court.

Now that Henry was marrying Anne of Cleves, Catherine was invited to return to court to serve the new queen. How would the young woman who was a niece to Anne Boleyn fit into this new court where intrigue and gossip reigned?

Catherine Carey served many queens during her life at court and survived through the reign of others from Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard, Katherine Parr, Edward VI, Jane Grey, Queen Mary and into the reign of her cousin, Queen Elizabeth. Cor Rotto is a possible and likely tale of what could have happened between the documented historical events. Being that with some of these rulers, not being at court or even out of the country was much safer.

Cor Rotto in Latin means "heart-broken". Obviously much of story of this novel is romantic focusing on Catherine's marriage and relationship with her husband. Even though there were some "heartbreaks" in her life, Catherine led a privileged life of wealth with a stable and loyal marriage complete with numerous children.

Historical fiction relies on documented events and creates a fiction logically filling in the undocumented sequences. The author, Adrienne Dillard chose to write Catherine's story as a historical romantic novel.

Cor Rotto is an intriguing, fast-paced story of a time period in England that resulted in major changes for the country and how many who survived of the time actually were forced to live.