Ask the average person about Anne of Cleves, and you'll probably hear "Oh, yeah, she was the ugly one." Allegedly Hans Holbein's portrait of Anne was much more attractive than the real woman and Henry fell in love with the fantasy. Alison Weir turns that around in the fourth of her Six Tudor Queens novels. Anna might be described as plain and the portrait was painted from her most flattering angle, but it's Henry who doesn't live up expectations. Anna fell in love with a vision of a vibrant king and instead finds an obese and ailing man who appears much older than his 48 years. Henry was disappointed as well, but in other ways. Kleve was a serious and sedate court with plenty of scholarship and no dancing or games. Unlike the Tudor court, the daughters of Kleve were only taught to read and manage households, so Anna spoke little English and had little to say about music or literature.
Henry was unable to consummate their marriage (probably due to ill health), but they have an affectionate relationship, dining together and playing card games. When Henry's eye roves towards Anna's lady in waiting Catherine Howard, Anna's only potential reason to regret relinquishing her position is the possibility that Kleve would lose Henry's protection. Once that's negotiated, she gracefully steps aside and becomes the King's Sister, taking precedence over all women at court barring the Queen and growing close to Henry's daughter Mary. The historical record covering Anna's post-consort years is sparse, so Weir fills in what we know (she tended to overspend her income) with what we can assume (battles with scheming courtiers). She also gives Anna a romance, but one which depends on a trope (an early seduction by a man with greater power) which feels even more uncomfortable now than it would have a few years ago. That aside, Anna of Kleve was an enjoyable emersion into the heroine's life.
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