Finalists for the 1992-1993 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes : BIOGRAPHY

THE WIVES OF HENRY VIII by Antonia Fraser (Alfred A. Knopf). With her objective “to discover the women behind the stereotypes” Fraser has written a biography of six women based on scrupulous research and informed interpretation that portrays their individual complexity and intelligence despite the subordinate roles they fulfilled in the shadow of the central life that controlled them. This popular history provides colorful period detail of the rituals and details of daily court life, including the appalling lack of privacy that royal life required of wives.

The Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalists and winners are selected in each category by an independent panel of judges. Winners will be announced in the Book Review issue of October 31.