The Other Boleyn Girl

Customer Reviews

MARY VS. ANNE

Historical Fiction fanatics (I'm one) love to split the hairs on the accuracy of the various books they read. It's almost as if they live for the sleuthing of gaffs and I've been guilty of that myself, but I'm trying to get better. Alison Weir, the notable Tudor historian - and credited source - for this book has described Mary Boleyn (my words) as a rather loose and promiscuous individual, especially during her stay at the French Court. Gregory, however, paints her as a virtuous girl thrust into the Tudor court by the political ambitions of her family. The reason for this liberal change of personality seems to be only to draw a starker difference between Anne and Mary. The central plot line still involves Anne Boleyn and her obsessive rise to the top, and only uses Mary the voice of the narrative. Gregory does not paint a very pretty picture of Anne and at times I felt that Anne was rather two-dimensional, and incapable of any real tenderness. This is okay I suppose, but Gregory keeps pounding the point to show the stark differences between Mary THE GOOD, and Anne THE BAD...a little heavy handed, but since Gregory is such a good writer it does not pull you from the story. I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys this subject and has a small working knowledge of who the Boleyn's were - especially Anne. One other minor historical difference is that Mary was actually Anne's older sister, not younger. If you're interested in the subject, but don't have a good resource book - try Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII - a good place to start. Enjoy!

More Than You Wanted to Know About the Boleyn Family

Years go I was addicted to historical novels but haven't read many in the last couple of years and really looked forward to reading The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory when it was selected for a book club read.

The other Boleyn girl of the title is Mary Boleyn, whom little if anything has been recorded about in history books. But Philippa Gregory has taken thsi young woman and drawn a vivid picture of her, first as a young woman and then a maore matrue woman who not only suffers at the hands of Henry but then at the hands of her sister, Anne, in her quest for power.

Married at 12, Mary is a lady in waiting for Katherine of Aragon, wife of Henry VIII, when Henry expresses a lively interest in Mary. Despite that Mary, now 14, already has a husband her parents, uncle and brother George are pleased at the idea that in time and if she plays her cards right she will become Henry's mistress. And what if she gives him a son? They can only imagine all of the good things which will come to their family if this happens, never considering what Mary's opinions or feelings are about all of this. Then Mary's sister Anne arrives from the court of France and she becomes Mary's chief advisor and confidante in the pursuit of the King's affection and love for Mary. But outward appearances may be one thing and despite how kind Anne seems towards helping Mary, she really has her own agenda in mind concerning Henry. Even the birth of Henry's two illegitimate children -- a daughter and son, makes no difference to Henry and in time he does spurn her for Anne. Mary is once again relegated to being a lady in waiting when Henry divorces Katherine and Anne becomes his mistress and Queen of a very different England.

I often say as a reader that its not the destination that matters but the journey. In the case of The Other Boleyn Girl, I'm sure that most readers know the fate of the famous Anne Boleyn to say nothing of what becomes of her daughter Elizabeth I. But before I read this book I knew very little about Mary Boleyn or her family in general. Therefore I looked forward to reading this book from both a historical viewpoint as well as the fictional characterizations the author penned. Unfortunately I was somewhat disappointed in this title considering the raves I heard about from other readers. At over 650 pages, I found this book quite repetitive and at times downright boring. I thought early on it could have used a better editor and some pages might have been eliminated as well. While many of the passages describing court life, the entourage of Henry's court traveling from one place to another set the stage for the book, it was the scenes between Anne, her sister Mary and their brother George which at times became most irritating. As I read on, Anne became more and more of a shrew, being abrasive and abusive towards her silently suffering sister and at one point I wondered if I wanted to continue the book to the end. I did persevere but did think that the book could have been shorter and none of the tale would have been compromised. In addition, despite the amount of research, there were some pretty obvious inaccuracies which took away from my reading pleasure.

Ultimately I did give this book a B rating based on the authors efforts in writing a book about this woman and her family and there were some parts which I really did enjoy. Finally in closing, recently a sequel of sorts to The Other Boleyn Girl was recently published called The Queen's Fool. As I am scheduled to read this with a book club shortly, I do hope I enjoy this title more than The Other Boleyn Girl.

Great work of historical fiction

The Other Boleyn Girl tells the story of Mary Boleyn, sister to the infamous Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII. Mary becomes caught up in a series of political intrigues, as her family plots to become more powerful, especially against the Seymour family. Mary gives birth to Henry's child; in the meantime, Anne swoops in to take her place as Henry's mistress.

Serving as backdrop is Henry VIII's court in the 16th century, where Henry and Katherine of Aragon's marriage is coming to an end. Tired of Katherine for not being able to produce a male heir, Henry breaks away from the Catholic Church in England and starts his own, so that he may divorce his wife. Philippa Gregory describes all of this in startling detail, as we watch Anne and Mary Boleyn vie for the King's affection. Power and status is what drives everybody involved. Its a fascinating look into life at court under the reign of Henry VIII.

We get to see what Anne Boleyn was really like. Of course, we've heard stories, but I was amazed to see just what kinds of things she could do. Mary was the best kind of narrator for this novel, as we got to see firsthand the court and its going-ons. We often see Katherine of Aragon depicted in the history books as the frumpy, housfrou; here she becomes a real, genuine, loyal woman, who wouldn't give up her religion, no matter how much she loved her husband. That spoke of real character and courage on her part.

The book takes us up to Anne's beheading. Again dissatisfied with the fact that he does not have a male heir, Henry trumps up charges of adultery against Anne. The ending is frightening, an account of what such a gruesome moment might have been like. It is said that, when the executioner lifted up Anne's head afterwards, the mouth moved. Gregory uses exquisite details to describe this event, and many others throughout the book.

I've read many other works on historical fiction, and none other compares to The Other Boleyn Girl. It is very definitely a book worth reading.