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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
I decided that I simply must read the book before I saw the movie. It has been my experience movie versions are typically vastly inferior to the books themselves. With that in mind, let's move on to the book review.
When the book begins, Gregory introduces us to Mary Boleyn, the younger sister of the much more famous Anne Boleyn, or Queen Anne of England and second wife of Henry VIII. Mary was married at the tender age of twelve to William Carey, yet another courtier. As a member of the powerful Boleyn family, Mary's marriage to William Carey was arranged and in reality was not much of a marriage at all. By the age of fourteen, Mary was King Henry's lover and confidante. We learn that she went on to (supposedly) bear him two children: a boy and a girl.
Mary's favor in Henry's court, however, burns out quickly after the birth of her son. She discovers that dancing to the Boleyn family's tune is not what she wants and her disinterest in Henry rapidly turns his interest toward Anne. It is then that Mary becomes the other Boleyn girl.
Anne spends six long years courting Henry, and her efforts clearly exhaust her. Mary is expected to answer her sister's every whim, her every beck and call. She is of no import to her family other than what she can do for Anne.
Anne is not someone you'd wish to know in your daily life. She's scheming, backstabbing, temperamental, witty, charming, clever, and too confident for her own good. All of those traits are what ultimately lead her to her fall from grace. But Mary has a love-hate relationship with her sister. They are each other's best friend but worst enemy as well.
George, Mary and Anne's brother, throws another wrench into the equation. It's clear that he has homosexual desires, which was a deadly sin in those days when the Catholic Church ruled the western European world. Yet he also has a disturbingly close relationship with Anne, and the book implies that it could have been an incestuous one.
Gregory managed to throw so many twists and turns into her historically based novel that I never really knew what was coming next. I knew the Anne Boleyn story from history classes in high school and college, but I actually find her sister Mary's story more intriguing. After all, Mary was the only Boleyn sibling who managed to survive during the period of Anne and George's trials. Was it a survival instinct on her part? Or was it wisdom? Perhaps it was self-preservation?
We'll never know.
Gregory certainly has a gripping writing style, and for most of the book, I felt as if I were reading Mary's intimate diary and not a historically based fictionalized account of her life. Kudos to Gregory. I can't wait to read the second book in the series.
When the book begins, Gregory introduces us to Mary Boleyn, the younger sister of the much more famous Anne Boleyn, or Queen Anne of England and second wife of Henry VIII. Mary was married at the tender age of twelve to William Carey, yet another courtier. As a member of the powerful Boleyn family, Mary's marriage to William Carey was arranged and in reality was not much of a marriage at all. By the age of fourteen, Mary was King Henry's lover and confidante. We learn that she went on to (supposedly) bear him two children: a boy and a girl.
Mary's favor in Henry's court, however, burns out quickly after the birth of her son. She discovers that dancing to the Boleyn family's tune is not what she wants and her disinterest in Henry rapidly turns his interest toward Anne. It is then that Mary becomes the other Boleyn girl.
Anne spends six long years courting Henry, and her efforts clearly exhaust her. Mary is expected to answer her sister's every whim, her every beck and call. She is of no import to her family other than what she can do for Anne.
Anne is not someone you'd wish to know in your daily life. She's scheming, backstabbing, temperamental, witty, charming, clever, and too confident for her own good. All of those traits are what ultimately lead her to her fall from grace. But Mary has a love-hate relationship with her sister. They are each other's best friend but worst enemy as well.
George, Mary and Anne's brother, throws another wrench into the equation. It's clear that he has homosexual desires, which was a deadly sin in those days when the Catholic Church ruled the western European world. Yet he also has a disturbingly close relationship with Anne, and the book implies that it could have been an incestuous one.
Gregory managed to throw so many twists and turns into her historically based novel that I never really knew what was coming next. I knew the Anne Boleyn story from history classes in high school and college, but I actually find her sister Mary's story more intriguing. After all, Mary was the only Boleyn sibling who managed to survive during the period of Anne and George's trials. Was it a survival instinct on her part? Or was it wisdom? Perhaps it was self-preservation?
We'll never know.
Gregory certainly has a gripping writing style, and for most of the book, I felt as if I were reading Mary's intimate diary and not a historically based fictionalized account of her life. Kudos to Gregory. I can't wait to read the second book in the series.
This isn't really my style of book, but it was entertaining enough. The characters weren't likeable, the prose was unsophisticated, and the historical accuracy was questionable at best, but it still kept me interested enough to finish its 600+ pages in just a few days.
After coming out of the Twilight series by Meyer, this book seemed a bit 'Teen' for me. There was nothing wrong with it, it didn't lose my interest, but there was just something missing. Maybe one day I'll figure it out. I do love historical fiction, so it was good there. The 'strong woman in a majorly patriarchal society' part wasn't overdone and worked pretty well, so that was okay. Wonder what it is.
medium-paced
I understand the appeal of this series, and usually I really enjoy reading historical fiction told from the point of view of an outsider or underdog. There were parts of it I really liked--the rich detail about daily life at court, e.g., and the not quite believable but very swoony courtship between Mary and William. Maybe I had too high expectations going in, but there were several things I didn't like so much:
- While the story gained suspense from my knowing in broad outlines what was inevitably going to happen to Anne, the need to follow every historical year made for some pretty repetitive, sometimes boring reading as characters spent yet another season at court with very little happening in the story. There must be ways to convey a sense of historical reality without dragging; Gregory seems more boxed in by history at times than inspired by it.
- Gregory seems a bit torn between wanting her characters to seem modern and sympathetic, and wanting to stay true to the actual historical "facts." The resulting balance felt uneven and confusing. We're supposed to cheer Mary for wanting to control her own life, but then demonize Anne for overreaching. We're sympathetic to George's closeted situation, but then supposed to understand William's historical intolerance for anything that might resemble homosexuality. Maybe we as readers were supposed to leave the book with a renewed understanding of historically complex situations, but I ended up just kind of thinking that William was a jerk.
I think I might just prefer my historical fiction not to be tied to real persons. I'd probably be better reading well-researched scholarly biographies or adventures through the past from the point of view of entirely made-up characters. (Or better yet, time travel!)
- While the story gained suspense from my knowing in broad outlines what was inevitably going to happen to Anne, the need to follow every historical year made for some pretty repetitive, sometimes boring reading as characters spent yet another season at court with very little happening in the story. There must be ways to convey a sense of historical reality without dragging; Gregory seems more boxed in by history at times than inspired by it.
- Gregory seems a bit torn between wanting her characters to seem modern and sympathetic, and wanting to stay true to the actual historical "facts." The resulting balance felt uneven and confusing. We're supposed to cheer Mary for wanting to control her own life, but then demonize Anne for overreaching. We're sympathetic to George's closeted situation, but then supposed to understand William's historical intolerance for anything that might resemble homosexuality. Maybe we as readers were supposed to leave the book with a renewed understanding of historically complex situations, but I ended up just kind of thinking that William was a jerk.
I think I might just prefer my historical fiction not to be tied to real persons. I'd probably be better reading well-researched scholarly biographies or adventures through the past from the point of view of entirely made-up characters. (Or better yet, time travel!)
This was a lot harder for me to get into than the Gregory books I've read before. Much of it didn't ring true for me, but it was an interesting perspective on a familiar story.
This book was a fascinating read! This is my first Philippa Gregory book. I won two of her books from Off The Shelf on Facebook. First of all you have to remember this is fiction. We all know Anne Boleyn married Henry VIII and this is Mary Boleyn's side of the story, but still fiction. My mom is very smart in history so I would ask her things as I was reading about what really happened. This book starts and ends with a beheading which I thought was an interesting way to start and end the book. All I know of Henry VIII's wives is the rhyme: Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. I have been reading A Game of Thrones series and this book would fit right in. Much of the lingo of the time period is the same as A Game of Thrones so I felt right at home. "...And I thought of how it would be to have a baby that was not another pawn in the great game of the throne." This book is sister rivalry to the MAX! The king favors Mary so her family pushes her to the king. Who cares that he is married, it is all about what will raise the family up. The king has Mary so he starts favoring Anne. The family then pushes Anne to the king, because it is all about advancing the family. Who cares what it does to a girl's mental health. I really enjoyed Mary's point of view. She had been the one to steal Henry from a queen and then she had him stolen from her so she could see all sides. "Few of the Howards ever realized that girls were anything more than counters to play in the marriage game." I will definitely read more Philippa Gregory. Loved it!
Oh, Phillipa Gregory. I read anything you write no matter how eye-twitch-inducing. Bonus: your novels get an extra star every time they don't involve incest.
I love historical fiction! This book was a nice combination of scandal (which keeps me turning the pages) and history (which makes me feel smarter, and not ashamed of enjoying all the aforementioned scandal).
I've decided to add a third book to my "Did Not Finish" shelf. I just have too many other (likely better) books that I want to read to spend more time on this. I will thank my friends in Beaver Dreams for talking me down from finishing it.
I don't have much prior knowledge of the actual history of the Tudors, so I can't comment on the historical inaccuracies in this novel. I was, however, mostly underwhelmed by the goings on amongst the characters. I found the characters bland, the world building felt like something the author just assumed readers already knew at baseline, and the storyline just seemed like endless days of spending time at court frittering about in costume and spreading scandalous gossip. Not very gripping if you ask me...
As for the supposed "romance", the scenes that I've read so far between Mary and Henry were not even close to romantic. Perhaps I've come too much to expect real romantic love in novels, and not just some **shole king forcing himself upon his favourite flavour of the week.
Overall, not a book worth pursuing unless it's part of some dull mandatory assignment.
I don't have much prior knowledge of the actual history of the Tudors, so I can't comment on the historical inaccuracies in this novel. I was, however, mostly underwhelmed by the goings on amongst the characters. I found the characters bland, the world building felt like something the author just assumed readers already knew at baseline, and the storyline just seemed like endless days of spending time at court frittering about in costume and spreading scandalous gossip. Not very gripping if you ask me...
As for the supposed "romance", the scenes that I've read so far between Mary and Henry were not even close to romantic. Perhaps I've come too much to expect real romantic love in novels, and not just some **shole king forcing himself upon his favourite flavour of the week.
Overall, not a book worth pursuing unless it's part of some dull mandatory assignment.