Henry

“With relentless intelligence Caroline Wray’s Henry wonders how much we will do, and how far we will go, to be loved. Wray is an unsparing observer of the human heart.”—Susan Choi, National Book Award Winner

A blazing contemporary reimagining of the six wives of Henry VIII, exploring how you become the main character of your own life when you’ve been cast opposite the anointed star

New Orleans, 1966. Eighteen-year-old Lina Aragon, a reluctant Mardi Gras queen, dances with the local golden boy, unknowingly stepping onto the path that will rewrite her future into the role of devoted wife.

New York, 1982. Anne, a headstrong ballerina, has a drink with a married real estate tycoon and embarks on the affair of a lifetime.

England, 2024. In a crumbling castle, reality TV producer Hannah Cleves orchestrates twelve women competing for one man’s affection. But her illicit romance with Katy Howard, a contestant, resurrects memories of her first love and evangelical youth in Mississippi.

Then there’s hard-nosed Jane and end-of-life health aide Parker. Together they peel back the veneer of one “great man” and discover what it means to love – and to leave – a Henry. From first love to death bed, in Wray’s bold and expansive prose, these six women orbit each other, their lives irrevocably altered by this man’s gravitational pull… unless they can finally break free.