The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
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Book Reviews of The Other Boleyn Girl
Book Review: Very good
Summary: 4 Stars
This book is a very creative way of viewing the story of Anne Boleyn through the eyes of her lesser known sibling, Mary. Book Review: Horrible writing, even worse history
Summary: 1 Stars
Upfront, I must confess: I never read popular fiction, don't care for romance novels, and love classical and modern literature. I read 'War and Peace' at age eleven, and as an adolescent, devoured Balzac, Zola, Galsworthy, Hugo, the 'Odyssey' and 'Iliad', Emily Bronte, and a great deal of nonfiction, mostly history.
I read TOBG out of curiosity, being a historian (specialties: Anne Boleyn's early years in the Renaissance courts of Margaret of Austria/France and how they affected her notions of queenship/monarchy; her lost portraits - reassessing a lost image). After forty years of formal (advanced degrees) and informal research, I feel compelled to write a review.
What a disaster: I have no idea how this travesty was foisted upon an unsuspecting public with such extraordinary success.
Let me begin by stating PG is a technically impoverished 'writer'. TOBG is rife with errors: grammatically incorrect sentences, missing commas, changes in point of view from first to third person omniscient; characters exit scenes in which they did not appear in the first place. Moreover, the 'style' - if one can call it that - is simplistic, clich? ridden, and without distinction. Modern idioms; telling, not showing; passive writing - all sins in 'Creative Writing 101', which most learn in grade school.
Regarding character: PG resorts to stereotypical and old fashioned views of women: the bad (assertive/dark) girl meets a horrific end, and the good (passive/fair) girl is rewarded with true love. All rather ridiculous. What we now call the "Madonna/whore" complex. Mary Boleyn is the perfect lover, mother, wife, even tempered, wise, but delightfully sweet and alluringly innocent; whereas Anne Boleyn is a vicious, arrogant, not very bright, sour, manipulative, shallow, vulgar female dog, given to physical altercations. The latter's professions of being in love with Henry Percy? Impossible to believe.
Katherine of Aragon, too, is portrayed as a one-dimensional character, noble and proud. Clich?. Curiously, Henry VIII is passive and easily duped by any pretty face; reduced to little more than a plot device, without a distinct personality.
Beyond the above, I am deeply troubled by PG's deliberate distortion of history, and even more so by her constant insistence of erring on the side of historical facts, not fiction. This Anne Boleyn is utterly unrecognizable to me as a historian - what a slanderous, vicious, assault on a dead person. Like anyone, Anne Boleyn was a three dimensional character: brilliant, intellectual, an able politician, exceptionally loyal to family and friends, dignified, highly educated, elegant, culturally accomplished, known for her cheerful and spirited nature. But under stress, as during the protracted annulment and as queen, became short tempered, aggressive, overly intense and passionate.
Of Mary Boleyn we know virtually nothing. However, PG (in a video interview) confessed to admiring her for bravely following her heart and marrying for love over her horrible family's objections. A modern perspective, a misreading of sixteenth century court mores and standards of behaviour - something she often does. PG claims there is no solid evidence for Mary's reputation for promiscuity at the French court, which I find bizarre. Fran?ois I recalled Mary as "una grandissima ribalda, et infame sopra tutte", which PG downplays/denies. Anne Boleyn and the family assisted Mary as much as possible, but her rash behaviour was perceived as a major embarrassment. Henry VIII was not amused to have, as brother in law, someone from the obscure gentry.
Other errors:
The Boleyn - Howard family never pushed either sister into Henry VIII's bed; horrifying thought. Boleyns always MARRIED well, and virginity was paramount - any whisper of 'reputation' decreased an entire family's stock. Hence, Mary marrying William Carey, a minor noble after her disgrace in France, and it being highly improbable, even impossible, Anne Boleyn consummated her relationship with Henry Percy. Too great a risk for someone with great presence of mind.
Anne Boleyn was the younger of the sisters, born c. 1501; Mary was born c. 1499 or 1500. Evidence? Anne Boleyn's first letter in French, assisted by Semmonet/Symmonet, a male tutor in the household of Margaret of Austria, which is in a mature hand; Lord Hunsdon, Mary Boleyn's grandson, supplicated Elizabeth I for the Ormonde title on the basis of Mary being the elder - to which Elizabeth, significantly, did not object.
Henry Carey was not Henry VIII's son, born several years after Mary's affair with Henry VIII; Catherine Carey, the elder child, might have been Henry VIII's, but it is highly unlikely. The affair has been pushed further back into the early 1520s, shortly after her marriage (1520).
Anne Boleyn never "stole" Mary's son, but rather, arranged a good education for him after his father's death in 1528. The paltry ?100 stipend Anne Boleyn obtained for Mary is actually closer to ?50,000 today. Hardly poor. And Stafford also received an income.
Catherine Carey did not attend Anne Boleyn before the latter's death.
Perhaps most disconcerting is PG's reliance on Dr. Retha Warnicke's legitimate historical revisionism, which has not passed the test of time. Revisionist history is best left to scholarly debate, not used as the basis of a bodice ripper romance novel. To her credit, Dr. Warnicke has vocally and publicly distanced herself from PG.
George Boleyn, an avowed homosexual, in love with a man, lusting after his sister, committing incest? What? There is no evidence for a deformed foetus, incest, witchcraft, etc. in the historical record.
I looked at her 'bibliography': shoddy. Outdated (Bruce - 1972), controversial (Warnicke), negative (Weir - not a historian, and unreliable), general and/or anachronistic works. Elton and Bindoff? I remember these as a first year undergrad. I suspect she skimmed the sources, and not actually read them. PG is no historian, despite protesting otherwise. Where is Dr. Eric Ives (1986)? Hugh Paget's watershed article (1981)? Only secondary sources, no primary?
As for the charges, adultery by a queen was not a capital offense/treason: Anne Boleyn was accused of plotting the King's death, to ostensibly marry one of her 'lovers' after. These charges were deliberately constructed to impugn her moral character.
To give weight to these ridiculous charges, as PG does, is utterly irresponsible. Cromwell and Anne Boleyn, both able politicians, were engaged in a bitter struggle over Church revenues and foreign policy. She would have struck him down, had he not struck first. The charges were sloppy and concocted in great haste - none of the dates and places matched; Henry VIII's behaviour remained curiously passive throughout, an element that puzzles historians even now. Not even Chapuys, the Imperial ambassador and Anne Boleyn's sworn enemy, believed a single charge.
"Most people think the trial was a show trial, but it is an interesting accusation. Anne had three miscarriages by the time of her trial, and she was not a woman to let something like sin or crime stand in her way - she was clearly guilty of one murder. I think if she had thought that Henry could not bear a son she was quite capable of finding someone to father a child on her. If she thought that, then George would have been the obvious choice."
How grammatically incomprehensible! Three miscarriages? Three pregnancies. Not let sin or crime stand in her way? Slander; Anne Boleyn was deeply religious, in the New Faith. Clearly guilty of one murder? Not a shred of evidence. "If Henry could not bear a son" [sic]? Did I miss that possibility in biology? George, the obvious choice?
Why this hatred of Anne Boleyn? Is PG a Catholic in the tradition of Sander, the one who created the six fingers myth during Elizabeth's reign? Well, she at least did not include that, for which deserves one star.
Book Review: Delicious Read!
Summary: 5 Stars
I never had much interest in historical fiction, the Boleyns, or royalty for that matter, until I read The Other Boleyn Girl. I was engrossed from the beginning. Philippa Gregory made me feel like the third Boleyn sister living at court with them. I liked that some of her prose were 21st century because it added spice to the book. It may not be historically accurate, but who cares? This is fiction, afterall. There are plenty of history books out there if you want to read accurate accounts. Overall, this book was hefty and satisfying!Book Review: Easy reading
Summary: 5 Stars
Book is very different than the movie, it's more indept. I enjoyed it, would recommend to fans of the Tudor age.Book Review: Utterly sleep inducing.
Summary: 1 Stars
I just don't see what the big deal is. I received this book as a gift and sat down to read it one night. It nearly put me to sleep so I set it aside and decided to come back to it the next day. Same thing happened. The story is slow moving and I found myself skipping ahead to see if it got better. It didn't. I would not suggest this book to anyone.