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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
The format of "The Boleyn Inheritance" does away altogether with third person narrative and is conducted entirely in first person through the thoughts of the protagonists. Whilst Gregory still at least makes some effort at showing us personality and development through actions, the first person nature of the text allows her to "tell" most of the things she has to say about the character of the protagonists, without ever backing it up through demonstrable actions. The three protagonists aforementioned are Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard and Jane Boleyn, and the book's chapters rotate between their first person perspectives on the events that occur. However, the writing style is exactly the same for all three of them; you can only tell who is narrating that chapter because it tells you at the beginning of the chapter, and because you would have remembered the situation that each woman found herself in. Other than that, their voices were identical. One exception is that on no less than nine occasions, Katherine's chapters begin with; "Now let me see - what do I have now?" This gem of literary skill is Gregory's ham-handed attempt at trying to convey a materialistic persona for Katherine, followed by a list of her most treasured possessions. Not only is it as subtle as a Challenger II battle tank, it goes back to the redundant repetition problem in "The Constant Princess". This book comes two years after "The Constant Princess", and was written directly after that novel, but the existence of the same problems implies lack of improvement in writing skill and quality.
The chapters from Jane Boleyn are by far the most boring. Her inclusion as one of the three protagonist-narrators is one of the oddest decisions of this book, as the other books in Gregory's Tudor series focus on the experiences of queens, or at least future queens as princesses, with the exception of Mary Boleyn who was sister to a queen and mistress to a king. The impression is that "The Boleyn Inheritance" is meant to be telling the stories of Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard, so why Jane Boleyn should be included as a first person narrator at all is a bit of a mystery. Her chapters are the most dull and uninspiring of the three women, and I often found myself reading them impatiently, to get to the next Anne or Katherine chapter. In my opinion, Jane Boleyn was not a good choice for a protagonist. As with so many of her characterisations, Gregory doesn't succeed in untangling the subtleties of the historical figure. The idea that Jane would team up with the Duke of Norfolk in some kind of plot to make sure Katherine has a baby by Thomas Culpeper is entirely implausible, as is the idea that the Duke would have spoken to her as an equal and revealed all his plans to her. Far more likely Jane operated independently and alone in aiding Katherine's meetings. The final word on the idea of it all being a plot between Jane and the Duke of Norfolk is the plain historical fact that the Duke of Norfolk never said a word to Jane after the downfall of Anne Boleyn.
In "The Boleyn Inheritance"'s favour, despite its use of first person throughout its entirety, is that unlike "The Other Boleyn Girl", no character emerges as a Mary Sue type. Katherine Howard's character is obviously spoilt and showered with gifts by Henry, but her greed, lust and flightiness are equally as plainly her major flaws and cause of her ultimate downfall. Gregory dances close to making Anne of Cleves one, portraying her as clever and intelligent and only seemingly stupid because she can't speak English fluently - and she even pegs Henry as a madman and does her best to scupper rumours of them getting back together, when in fact historically Anne was the one who attempted to reconcile whilst Henry rejected the plan - however, Anne is a long way from being overpowered compared to the other characters because she is in fact in a position of incredible vulnerability, and she still makes terrible blunders which put her life in danger. However, one should point out that turning out realistic plausible characters is something that every reader should demand as a matter of course. The narrative proceeds apace, with each chapter, barring Jane Boleyn's dull tirades, tempting the reader to continue turning the page.
The chapters from Jane Boleyn are by far the most boring. Her inclusion as one of the three protagonist-narrators is one of the oddest decisions of this book, as the other books in Gregory's Tudor series focus on the experiences of queens, or at least future queens as princesses, with the exception of Mary Boleyn who was sister to a queen and mistress to a king. The impression is that "The Boleyn Inheritance" is meant to be telling the stories of Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard, so why Jane Boleyn should be included as a first person narrator at all is a bit of a mystery. Her chapters are the most dull and uninspiring of the three women, and I often found myself reading them impatiently, to get to the next Anne or Katherine chapter. In my opinion, Jane Boleyn was not a good choice for a protagonist. As with so many of her characterisations, Gregory doesn't succeed in untangling the subtleties of the historical figure. The idea that Jane would team up with the Duke of Norfolk in some kind of plot to make sure Katherine has a baby by Thomas Culpeper is entirely implausible, as is the idea that the Duke would have spoken to her as an equal and revealed all his plans to her. Far more likely Jane operated independently and alone in aiding Katherine's meetings. The final word on the idea of it all being a plot between Jane and the Duke of Norfolk is the plain historical fact that the Duke of Norfolk never said a word to Jane after the downfall of Anne Boleyn.
In "The Boleyn Inheritance"'s favour, despite its use of first person throughout its entirety, is that unlike "The Other Boleyn Girl", no character emerges as a Mary Sue type. Katherine Howard's character is obviously spoilt and showered with gifts by Henry, but her greed, lust and flightiness are equally as plainly her major flaws and cause of her ultimate downfall. Gregory dances close to making Anne of Cleves one, portraying her as clever and intelligent and only seemingly stupid because she can't speak English fluently - and she even pegs Henry as a madman and does her best to scupper rumours of them getting back together, when in fact historically Anne was the one who attempted to reconcile whilst Henry rejected the plan - however, Anne is a long way from being overpowered compared to the other characters because she is in fact in a position of incredible vulnerability, and she still makes terrible blunders which put her life in danger. However, one should point out that turning out realistic plausible characters is something that every reader should demand as a matter of course. The narrative proceeds apace, with each chapter, barring Jane Boleyn's dull tirades, tempting the reader to continue turning the page.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A dark, intense passionate Tudor drama filled with pageantry and danger
This is my eighth Philippa Gregory novel and I was a bit skeptical at first about having three different narrators. I didn't think it would work. But she did have three distinct voices. I was impressed at how Jane Boelyn flits between sanity and madness. However I got a little tired of her constantly saying such and such would drive her mad. Katherine Howard was a sympathetic character. I never thought about how her youth effected her at court. Overall I would give it 3.5 stars. It dragged a bit at the end.
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
funny
informative
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really enjoyed this trip back into the time of the Tudors and Henry VIII; 3 stars rather than 4 mostly because The Other Boleyn Girl outshone it quite a bit. That being said, I loved Anne of Cleves as she was portrayed, and grew to feel sympathy for both Katherine Howard and Jane Rochford Boleyn, shockingly. I never expected to like either of them, but as the story progressed, you couldn't help feeling badly for "Little Kitty Howard," who was, at the end of the day, perhaps one of the only *real* children in this time and in that family.
Props to Gregory for making me go to wiki last night and try to learn a bit more (mostly trying to discover if Thomas Howard, the Duke of Norfolk, ever got what was coming to him) of history and for making me at least consider picking up some biographies rather than just more historical fiction!
Props to Gregory for making me go to wiki last night and try to learn a bit more (mostly trying to discover if Thomas Howard, the Duke of Norfolk, ever got what was coming to him) of history and for making me at least consider picking up some biographies rather than just more historical fiction!
The three perspectives of this book provides an interesting insight to the events of the time. Each of these ladies shows a different part of the court of Henry VIII and how the standing someone has with the King can change everything. Anne of Cleves starts the book desperately wanting to be Queen of England and ends it thankful that she has escaped Henry VIII with her life, something that few of his wives managed. Jane Boleyn attempts to convince herself that she has done what was necessary to save her family and that her punishment afterwards is unjust, that people simply hate her for other reasons. Katherine Howard is a silly girl who is indulged far too often, those that allowed this are just as guilty of her later actions as she was.
Anne of Cleves was stuck in a horrible situation, both at home in Cleves and once she arrived at the English court. She was completely unable to be herself until the King had released her, even then she had to be careful not to anger him. Anne was unfairly set aside by the King. But her agreeableness is what saved her life. By not insisting that their marriage was valid and allowing him to set her aside, she escaped his wrath and was able to live a comfortable life outside of the court. Only when the King was truly gone was she able to relax, she lived in constant fear that he would change his mind about her and decide that he must kill her as he had done with other wives.
Jane Boleyn is a curious person to follow, especially seeing how her mind worked. The author chose to make her mad from the beginning, at least in my opinion. It appeared that Jane was delusional from the start of the story. She genuinely believed that she was trying to save her husband, George, and her sister-in-law, Queen Anne, when she gave witness against them. She insists upon this whenever she is questioned about her past. That stays with her until the very end when she refuses to acknowledge her own fault in the events that occurred with Queen Katherine.
Katherine Howard is a sad woman to follow, especially if you know the outcome of her life. She was allowed to run wild as a child and teenager, never seeing any real punishment for her mistakes. This was only worsened when gained the King's favor and later became Queen. She was every bit the spoiled child that Jane Boleyn describes her as. She should have been surrounded by ladies that could teach her grace and decrease her wild behavior. Instead her ladies were similar to her, that is what ultimately led her down a bad path. She is one of the few Queens who caused her own downfall and was not unjustly accused of crimes.
All of these women were dealt unfair hands because of King Henry VIII. Katherine may have caused her own downfall and was genuinely guilty but she was a product of her upbringing. She was raised without a guiding hand and allowed to become a spoiled brat, something Henry enjoyed until it turned her into an adulterer. Anne was a bartering chip for her brother and treated as such, she only found true freedom in her life once Henry was dead. But she was lucky in escaping his ire when she wisely agreed that their marriage was not a true one. Others would have argued and gotten themselves killed on whatever charged he could imagine but she managed to survive. Jane was lucky to survive the deaths of George and Anne by giving witness against them but she still found herself caught up in an actual plot this time. She was so blinded by proving that she could be useful to the Howards that she damned herself.
Reading about the Tudor court always brings a little sadness. So many of these women were stuck in situations that they did not want and were actively trying to escape. But they were women and were at the mercy of the men in their lives, especially their family members who often used them as pawns. That is how this entire book felt, like a chess game between Thomas Cromwell and Norfolk. They were just using the women of the court as their pawns instead of treating them with the respect they deserved.
Anne of Cleves was stuck in a horrible situation, both at home in Cleves and once she arrived at the English court. She was completely unable to be herself until the King had released her, even then she had to be careful not to anger him. Anne was unfairly set aside by the King. But her agreeableness is what saved her life. By not insisting that their marriage was valid and allowing him to set her aside, she escaped his wrath and was able to live a comfortable life outside of the court. Only when the King was truly gone was she able to relax, she lived in constant fear that he would change his mind about her and decide that he must kill her as he had done with other wives.
Jane Boleyn is a curious person to follow, especially seeing how her mind worked. The author chose to make her mad from the beginning, at least in my opinion. It appeared that Jane was delusional from the start of the story. She genuinely believed that she was trying to save her husband, George, and her sister-in-law, Queen Anne, when she gave witness against them. She insists upon this whenever she is questioned about her past. That stays with her until the very end when she refuses to acknowledge her own fault in the events that occurred with Queen Katherine.
Katherine Howard is a sad woman to follow, especially if you know the outcome of her life. She was allowed to run wild as a child and teenager, never seeing any real punishment for her mistakes. This was only worsened when gained the King's favor and later became Queen. She was every bit the spoiled child that Jane Boleyn describes her as. She should have been surrounded by ladies that could teach her grace and decrease her wild behavior. Instead her ladies were similar to her, that is what ultimately led her down a bad path. She is one of the few Queens who caused her own downfall and was not unjustly accused of crimes.
All of these women were dealt unfair hands because of King Henry VIII. Katherine may have caused her own downfall and was genuinely guilty but she was a product of her upbringing. She was raised without a guiding hand and allowed to become a spoiled brat, something Henry enjoyed until it turned her into an adulterer. Anne was a bartering chip for her brother and treated as such, she only found true freedom in her life once Henry was dead. But she was lucky in escaping his ire when she wisely agreed that their marriage was not a true one. Others would have argued and gotten themselves killed on whatever charged he could imagine but she managed to survive. Jane was lucky to survive the deaths of George and Anne by giving witness against them but she still found herself caught up in an actual plot this time. She was so blinded by proving that she could be useful to the Howards that she damned herself.
Reading about the Tudor court always brings a little sadness. So many of these women were stuck in situations that they did not want and were actively trying to escape. But they were women and were at the mercy of the men in their lives, especially their family members who often used them as pawns. That is how this entire book felt, like a chess game between Thomas Cromwell and Norfolk. They were just using the women of the court as their pawns instead of treating them with the respect they deserved.