The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
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Book Reviews of The Other Boleyn Girl
Book Review: Sibling rivalry and a spoiled brat
Summary: 5 Stars
The well known story of the scandalous romance of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn is told this time through the eyes of Mary Boleyn, Anne's younger sister who was the first Boleyn girl to catch the king's eye and become his mistress. Mary, like all the Boleyn girls, was a commodity for the family to trade for things of value - titles, estates, connections. Their only worth was as wives or mistresses to the wealthy and powerful, only as valuable as the children they could produce.
Mary had been forced into a marriage as a young teenager before she was old enough to fully understand all that was expected of her, and while she felt affection for her husband the only pleasure she got from her marriage was that it was something her sister Anne did not have. The two were only a year apart and had spent their entire lives in intense rivalry with each other. When Anne returned from the French court to join Mary as a lady in waiting to Queen Katherine the two quickly resumed their old relationship of defending each other against the world while competing with each other.
When Mary becomes the King's latest conquest her chief allies are Anne and their brother George. They help her with the practical aspects of attracting and maintaining the King's attentions to further the directives of their father and uncle. Inevitably Henry's attentions turned elsewhere, this time to Anne beginning their long and scandalous courtship that lead to the overthrow of Rome and Queen Katherine - an act that meant that no English wife would be safe any longer. As Anne and Henry's story continued to it's well known conclusion Mary struggled to carve a place for herself and her children in the dangerous climate of the Tudor court.
Gregory has based her story on the facts that are known about the times, filling in the gaps with her conjectures. Therefore Mary and the rest of the characters all existed and their actions are consistent with the accounts available from the times. By her skillful blending of the known facts and her speculations, Gregory has woven an exciting tale of life in the Tudor court as in the years that Henry began to change from charming young prince to cruel spoiled tyrant. The precarious life of the women is particularly emphasized, that while all women were at the mercy of the men in their lives perhaps the wealthy, privileged women were the most vulernable of all.
This is an excellent, enthralling read. Gregory gives the reader both an exciting, sensational story of a love and tragedy in these interesting times. It would be a good introduction to the period for anyone unfamiliar with the story as well as a fresh interpretation for those who are. There are also sources cited in the back for anyone who wants to learn more.
Book Review: This book fills in the blanks with well-written fiction....
Summary: 5 Stars
If you missed the beautiful film, "Anne of the Thousand Days", its probably because you were born after 1969, the year of the film, and watch videos on DVD (the film has only been released on VHS). The film, a historical piece, is a treasure, illustrating with some historical inaccuracy the schism between the Catholic church and the throne of England, which fathered the Reformation and the rise of the Church of England. To think that it was all caused by a fiery young girl that the King (Henry VIII) simply had to have, in the belief that she would bear him a son.
Richard Burton shines in the role of Henry VIII, and makes you believe that the women in his life all married him for reasons other than queenship. He creates unbelievable chemistry with the then unknown young actress, Genevieve Bujold, who went on to some success in Hollywood in the next decade. She is bewitching as Anne, and gives one of the finest speeches on film ever made by a woman, when she vents her anger and fear at Henry in the tower before her death, and pledges that her daughter will become a great leader one day (Elizabeth I); a vision that came true.
Phillipa Gregory may have been inspired by that film, because her Anne (in a secondary role in this story of Mary Boleyn)is just as conniving, feisty and beautiful as was Bujold's. She captivates all of the court, but her need for power (encouraged by the grasping Boleyn & Howard families) and lust for vengeance at a lost love turn her from the center of the kingdom to one of its most despised residents.
Gregory's genius in writing her tale is point of view - that of Mary Boleyn, who was spurned by the king after giving birth to two of his children out of wedlock. Mary is a complicated woman who learns what Anne cannot; that happiness is more important than position in life. Gregory completely holds the reader's interest through good times for the Boleyns and bad, and populates the tale with strong characterization of supporting players, particularly Katherine of Aragon, Henry's first queen.
George Boleyn, Uncle Howard, Wolsley the Cardinal, Jane Seymour,
William Carey and Mary's children are all convincingly drawn, and Gregory makes it hard to know where fact ends and fiction begins, so compelling is her rationalization of the events that played out on the world's stage.
The character of Jane Parker, George's wife, is perhaps the only false or shallow note -- too vapid to be believed.
What a wonderful tale and a wonderful author! It will hold your interest, despite its length, and you'll remember it as every bit as well written as the historical fiction given us by Jean Plaidy some years earlier.
Bravo!
Book Review: A quality read -- and solidly researched
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm glad so many readers appreciate this book's terrific pacing and riveting narrative. Anne Boleyn's rise and fall is one of the great, intriguing stories of English history, and Philippa Gregory does it ample justice. An extra spin and spice is gained by viewing events through the eyes of Mary, Anne's sister and predecessor in sexual intrigue with Henry VIII. Gregory's portrayal of life in an ambitious, rapacious family is vivid and chilling. Mary Boleyn is ambivalent about the costs of her family's high ambition but absolutely vulnerable to its every demand. It says much about Gregory's persuasiveness as a storyteller that Mary remains a sympathetic figure even as she participates in schemes that run counter to her own conscience.
Regarding the assertions that Gregory gets her historical facts wrong, it should be noted that recent scholarship does indeed place Anne as the elder sister and Mary the younger (the birth order used by Gregory).
There is no contemporary record as to when either Boleyn girl was born. However, the family's decision to send Anne -- not Mary -- to be educated abroad at the court of Margaret, regent of the Netherlands, is cited by recent biographers as important evidence that Anne must have been the elder sister: "By contemporary custom, the younger child would not have been favored with such a splendid opportunity to the detriment of her older sister..." (Anne later spent additional time abroad at the court of France.)
Mary Boleyn was the first sister married, something that would normally indicate she was the elder sister. But Anne was still abroad at the time, and her family may have been hoping for a more splendid match for her with a European nobleman. There is also evidence that the Boleyns were trying (ultimately without success) to betroth Anne to the heir of the earl of Ormond. Both circumstances would explain why they were willing to defer the marriage of an elder daughter and go ahead with an advantageous, though not as splendid, union for their younger girl. These observations come from Retha Warnicke's scholarly study of Anne's life, which Gregory cites as one of her major sources.
Sorry if I made eyes glaze over with all this, but it really is unfair to assert that Gregory (whose books are in general distinguished by careful craftmanship) fouled up her facts or distorted them for the sake of a better story. She definitely makes artful conjectures -- impossible to avoid with subjects of whom very few hard facts are known. But her conjectures fall within a solid historical framework.
If you enjoyed Gregory's fluid, page-turning touch in this book, take a look at some of her other historical fiction, such as her "Wideacre" trilogy.
Book Review: A Machiavellian Masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
Much has been written about this turbulent time in English history, the reign of Henry VIII, when the English Court changed course, breaking from the Roman Church in order to dissolve Henry's marriage to Katherine of Aragon, who could not bear a living heir to the throne.The fortunes of the great aristocratic families, who fill the courts and fawn upon the King, are immensely enriched when they gain the King's favor and attention. Comely as a young king, Henry VIII is accustomed to garnering the flattery of the young women who serve as the Queen's attendants. The Boleyn/Howard family holds a prominent position in Henry's court in the early 1520's, as Katherine of Aragon becomes ever more desperate in her need to supply an heir and keep the King's affection.
The Howards and Boleyns have many young women available to the court, and when Henry first takes note of Mary Boleyn Carey, she is already married. It is acceptable behavior for the King to tryst with her as a paramour, which would be scandalous if she were not married. Mary's sister, Anne, recently returned from the French Court, is one of the clever minds pushing Mary to prominence. The third Boleyn, George, their brother, is also a pet of the Tudor Court, forming the family triumvirate that is to be part of the intrigue surrounding the eventual dissolution of marriage to Katherine of Aragon that will set a precedent and change history.
Eventually Mary is replaced in the King's favor by her sister Anne, and George and Mary are instructed to hold their positions, this time in support of the clever, if unlikable, Anne. For five long years Anne tempts and challenges Henry, until she herself is crowned Queen. Never beloved, Anne's temperament is equal to Henry's and she hasn't the wisdom or patience to turn the other cheek on dalliances as Katherine did. Eventually, Henry tires of Anne's scolding and constant demands, his attention newly captured by the seemingly docile and pure behavior of a simpering Jane Seymour. Anne must live with the precedent she's established, swept aside by the King in his desperate pursuit of another to provide a male heir.
Gregory's characters are incisive, the story masterfully told, the plots and counter-plots necessary for political viability fascinating to follow. No less complicated than modern day affairs, the degree of scheming is truly of Machiavellian design. Engaging and thought provoking, Gregory's beautifully crafted novel overflows with intrigue and ambition, with scheming characters who bet everything of the whims of a puerile King. The result is magnificent.
Book Review: Probably my Favorite Book Ever
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this book in a desperate attempt for more Anne Boleyn reading material. In all honesty, I didn't even read the book cover, I had only heard that it was a good book and saw the word "Boleyn" on the cover. I didn't even know it was about Mary until I picked it up to read the next day.
From what you hear about Mary Boleyn in random books is that she was an air-head whore who was simply placed aside when Anne took over. The entire preception of Mary Boleyn is altered in this book while maintaining minor charcter descriptions. Many are upset that many historical facts were altered as well, but it is "Historical Fiction" I believe you must take it with a grain of salt and simply enjoy it for what it is.
The book opens at the execution of a distant uncle of the Boleyn's after openly claiming the King would never be able to have a legal heir. This is where Mary learns and realizes the hard way that "there is no room for mistakes in the King's court."
When Mary was around 12 or 13 years-old she made a marriage to benefit her family to William Carey, but when she catches the eye of King Henry of England, she must change her life again to furthur benefit her family. She becomes the King's mistress for three years giving him two illgeimate children, all the time being envied by her older sister, Anne.
After giving birth to her second child, Mary finds out she has been replaced by her older sister, Anne. Slowly but steadily Mary witnesses the incredible rise of her sister Anne and watches how her beloved Queen Katherine is replaced, and finally the crown is placed on Anne's ambitious head. Afterwords, Mary then watches in comparison to her slow ride, her fast downfall.
Philppa Gregory is...a beyond words amazing author. She weaves an incredible story where you day-dream of wearing the beautiful clothes and dancing at the court banquets, you practically fall in love with the charms of Mary and Anne's brother, George Boleyn. You learn to both love and hate King Henry as Mary does, her enemies are yours, her husbands you love as well. Sounds corny, but its so true!!! Also, its easy to relate to if you have sisters with the entire "Friends, Rivals, Sisters" point of view.
"The Other Boleyn Girl" is an interesting title, because while reading, you are never quite sure who the other Boleyn girl is, exactly. Even if you are not a fan of History, as I am, you will still enjoy this as a novel. This is truly a must read.