Lowri Griffiths on comedy, current events, and Henry’s second act

I read Henry Is Back over a long weekend and kept interrupting my own plans to read another chapter, which for a book about lifestyle and current events, my usual beat, felt like a good sign.

Henry VIII reincarnated as a stand-up comedian gives the novel a strong, sustained engine for comedy, watching a man built entirely for absolute authority try to navigate a modern city that owes him nothing. The chapter involving a chaotic attempt at a lifestyle podcast is genuinely one of the funniest things I’ve read this year, sharply observed and well paced.

There’s real substance under the jokes too, a genuine question about who gets forgiven for bad behaviour simply because they’re entertaining, which felt uncomfortably current more than once.

It’s a properly good read, funny throughout and smarter than it needs to be.

The ongoing bit lives at Henry VIII’s comeback diary, and the book is well worth clearing a weekend for.