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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
Damn book gave me eye strain. It was basically like watching The Tudors, only in book form. Which is not a bad thing, because, well, obviously I had trouble putting it down. A guilty pleasure for all those people out there who think they only read highbrow books.
The book is in the perspective of the 4th and 5th wives of Henry, Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard and Jane Boleyn (the sister in law of Queen Anne Boleyn).
We'll start with Anne of Cleves, chosen to be Queen of England by a portrait of herself, sent from Germany to an unknown county and unaware of what she's got herself into by being Queen, and frightened of what will happen to her due to the not successful prior Queens and wives of Henry.
Then there's young Katherine Howard, a flirtatious girl who started out as one of Anne's ladies maid and ended up Queen of England, until her 'promiscuous' life got the better of her and her head saw the chopping block. (Really Henry another one).
And lastly the Lady Rochford, widowed wife of Thomas Boleyn, who has been witness to the ruthlessness of Henry before and is haunted by the past, who was given the task to guide both Queens, whilst she was their ladies maid.
I enjoyed reading in the difderent perspectives, and how each if them women saw not only themselves but Henry as well as an old man as opposed to the young vibrant king he was in the Other Boleyn girl.
All in all what's left to say is that tall, large, Henry the 8th, supreme head of the Church of England, really didn't need to ruin that many lives with his insane need for beheading.
We'll start with Anne of Cleves, chosen to be Queen of England by a portrait of herself, sent from Germany to an unknown county and unaware of what she's got herself into by being Queen, and frightened of what will happen to her due to the not successful prior Queens and wives of Henry.
Then there's young Katherine Howard, a flirtatious girl who started out as one of Anne's ladies maid and ended up Queen of England, until her 'promiscuous' life got the better of her and her head saw the chopping block. (Really Henry another one).
And lastly the Lady Rochford, widowed wife of Thomas Boleyn, who has been witness to the ruthlessness of Henry before and is haunted by the past, who was given the task to guide both Queens, whilst she was their ladies maid.
I enjoyed reading in the difderent perspectives, and how each if them women saw not only themselves but Henry as well as an old man as opposed to the young vibrant king he was in the Other Boleyn girl.
All in all what's left to say is that tall, large, Henry the 8th, supreme head of the Church of England, really didn't need to ruin that many lives with his insane need for beheading.
I wasn't sure if I would like the three-person perspective here, but because the three of these women were so extreme in their views/bias, it really wouldn't have made a good book to come from one point. I found myself sympathetic to all three, which is a feat because I finished The Other Boleyn Girl wanting Jane to die.
My favorite part of the book was the little section at the end where Gregory lets us in on what is actually known and what she added of her own. Loved the section about Jane. :)
My favorite part of the book was the little section at the end where Gregory lets us in on what is actually known and what she added of her own. Loved the section about Jane. :)
This book was definitely readable, it just seemed too sensationalized/romanticized. This is the story of Henry VIII's wives Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard (there was only one more wife left after these ones before he finally died). The story is told by alternating the points of view of these two women and also the late Anne Boleyn's sister in law Jane, who had married Anne's brother George and gave evidence against them at their trial. I liked that it switched between the points of view. I also grew to like the characters of Anne and Kitty (no one liked Jane). I felt so badly for poor Kitty, she was only 14-16 in this book and, since it's history, and we all know what's happened, it's not a spoiler to say that she was put to death. By all accounts, she was a young fluff teenager, not grown up the way some teens were at that time. Just being alive in the time of Henry VIII was so scary... but something about the book.. the way it was written was that it was dumbed down, I didn't like that. I can't explain it, because it did have all the history in it, but it seemed too much of the time like it was a chick flick romance novel type thing instead of a historical fiction work. I dunno. Still read it, because it's probably not often that you'll see something from the point of view of Kitty and Jane, and maybe not even Anne of Cleves. England around this time was so interesting, but interesting in a i want to read about the past kind of way and not a i wish i lived then kind of way. it sounds horrific.
really enjoyable, i particularly liked how the writing style changed depending on whose perspective the chapter was in.
4.25! Also loved this one though just a tiny bit less than The Other Boleyn Girl. I really enjoyed the varying viewpoints in this and how they overlapped to tell the story. And also how the opinions shifted and are somewhat contrary to the events of the previous book. The authors afterward was incredibly impactful and I loved hearing her very strong opinion of Henry VIII. He was clearly a tyrant and she does not mince words when she states that history has romanticized Henry VIII and villainized the women in his life.
As a big lover of the The War Of The Roses/Tudor era England, reading Philippe Gregory’s books are always a joy for me. I love reading about events from the woman’s perspective and getting to know less infamous characters. I also thoroughly enjoy that many of her book’s timelines over-lap, so you get the full story from multiple perspectives.
This book, as with others that dive into Henry XIII’s rule, I’ve found that it’s a little triggering to read about the horrors that man put so many people through. I often find myself pondering how anyone could have let that absolute madman go on like that.
Overall good book - I wish we knew more about Anne of Cleves to dive deeper into her character. And it managed to make me feel some sympathy for Kitty Howard and Jane Boleyn, when shows like the Tudors made me dislike them.
This book, as with others that dive into Henry XIII’s rule, I’ve found that it’s a little triggering to read about the horrors that man put so many people through. I often find myself pondering how anyone could have let that absolute madman go on like that.
Overall good book - I wish we knew more about Anne of Cleves to dive deeper into her character. And it managed to make me feel some sympathy for Kitty Howard and Jane Boleyn, when shows like the Tudors made me dislike them.
I must confess, I was putting off reading this for ages and ages because having three main characters each with different viewpoints felt extremely intimidating and sounded very confusing. Ha! I needn't have worried. Each of these ladies' lives is so intertwined with each other that it makes for a REALLY easy read. Add the fact that the audiobook is abridged (elsewise I would NOT have finished this in a day, still trying to wrap my head around that one anyway), and this is an absolute breeze of a novel. Not so much for our leading ladies, but you get the idea.
This book picks up with Henry's fourth soon-to-be wife, Anne of Cleves, and takes us through his fourth and fifth marriages. I'm still a bit bummed Ms Gregory opted not to grace us with a novel that at least had Catherine Parr somewhat involved, but I suppose by then all the drama llamas that followed Henry VIII around had died off.
Sorry, that was bad. Like, really bad. Anyway...
After Katherine of Aragon, whom I ADORED reading about in The Constant Princess, I have to say Anne of Cleves is my next favorite of Henry's unfortunate wives. I do like Anne Boleyn, but she's the one with all the publicity, everyone knows her. And I feel like after reading the first three books in this series, binge-watching The Tudors on Netflix is required. And I always seem to mix the Tudors cast with the Other Boleyn Girl cast-- I like ScarJo for Mary Boleyn, but Natalie Dormer will ALWAYS be Anne and I like Jim Sturgess for George. And Jonathan for Henry, because yum. And Tamzin Merchant is perfect for Katherine Howard. I can feel myself digressing.
As I said, I like Anne of Cleves and I really feel bad for her because, like Katherine of Aragon, she never did anything to warrant what she got. Granted, it could've been a hell of a lot worse *side-eyes Anne B and Katherine H* but still, this poor girl. She gets dragged out of her home country into a place where she doesn't speak the language nearly at all, gets laughed at and treated with suspicion because of that, and is still excited to meet and marry her new husband. And then as soon as Henry meets her he decides he doesn't like her. What an ass. And throughout all of this, and then dumping her so he can marry a teenager (rape culture much?), Anne is never really angry or very jaded by the whole thing-- just bewildered as all get out. I just want to give her a hug.
The "Boleyn Inheritance" seems to be a whole lot of nothing, by the end of this book. Although, I suppose Anne of Cleves would beg to differ, seeing as she wound up with a nice house out of the whole deal. Other than that, both Katherine and Jane Rochford-Boleyn died, for gods' sake. Katherine I did feel a bit sorry for, because she's only a child really. She likes pretty things and would likely be far better off if this whole thing were make-believe and she could marry a handsome prince and go on like that; by the time she and Henry get together he's old enough to be her father and his leg is NASTY and (as evidenced with Anne of Cleves) he can't get it up anymore. Pity Viagra didn't exist.
Jane, on the other hand, is a real piece of work. Throughout my learning about her, she just comes across as a snake. In OBG, we hear George moaning about being married to her, which gives the impression that she's not a nice person, and then she stabs both him and Anne in the back, so it's not a good outlook for her at all through the eyes of the reader. But then come this book and she's all BOOHOO I LOST MY HUSBAND, HIS AND ANNE'S GHOSTS HAUNT ME, WAHHHH. Fuck off, bitch. She tries to paint herself all like she really did love him, and I just don't buy it. I don't know how things actually were, back in the 1500s, but I really don't buy it. I was SO glad to hear she died, because it's everything she deserved. Now if only Uncle Norfolk could have gone the same way...
Oh and a word about the audio-- great choice. I've loved Ruthie Henshall since she starred in Les Miserables back in the 1990s, and she plays Katherine Howard to the hilt. Very well done. Bianca Amato and Dagmara Dominczyk were also fantastic as Jane Boleyn and Anne of Cleves, respectively -- each of their voices helped keep me in touch with the story, I'll have to remember them when I reread this.
This book picks up with Henry's fourth soon-to-be wife, Anne of Cleves, and takes us through his fourth and fifth marriages. I'm still a bit bummed Ms Gregory opted not to grace us with a novel that at least had Catherine Parr somewhat involved, but I suppose by then all the drama llamas that followed Henry VIII around had died off.
Sorry, that was bad. Like, really bad. Anyway...
After Katherine of Aragon, whom I ADORED reading about in The Constant Princess, I have to say Anne of Cleves is my next favorite of Henry's unfortunate wives. I do like Anne Boleyn, but she's the one with all the publicity, everyone knows her. And I feel like after reading the first three books in this series, binge-watching The Tudors on Netflix is required. And I always seem to mix the Tudors cast with the Other Boleyn Girl cast-- I like ScarJo for Mary Boleyn, but Natalie Dormer will ALWAYS be Anne and I like Jim Sturgess for George. And Jonathan for Henry, because yum. And Tamzin Merchant is perfect for Katherine Howard. I can feel myself digressing.
As I said, I like Anne of Cleves and I really feel bad for her because, like Katherine of Aragon, she never did anything to warrant what she got. Granted, it could've been a hell of a lot worse *side-eyes Anne B and Katherine H* but still, this poor girl. She gets dragged out of her home country into a place where she doesn't speak the language nearly at all, gets laughed at and treated with suspicion because of that, and is still excited to meet and marry her new husband. And then as soon as Henry meets her he decides he doesn't like her. What an ass. And throughout all of this, and then dumping her so he can marry a teenager (rape culture much?), Anne is never really angry or very jaded by the whole thing-- just bewildered as all get out. I just want to give her a hug.
The "Boleyn Inheritance" seems to be a whole lot of nothing, by the end of this book. Although, I suppose Anne of Cleves would beg to differ, seeing as she wound up with a nice house out of the whole deal. Other than that, both Katherine and Jane Rochford-Boleyn died, for gods' sake. Katherine I did feel a bit sorry for, because she's only a child really. She likes pretty things and would likely be far better off if this whole thing were make-believe and she could marry a handsome prince and go on like that; by the time she and Henry get together he's old enough to be her father and his leg is NASTY and (as evidenced with Anne of Cleves) he can't get it up anymore. Pity Viagra didn't exist.
Jane, on the other hand, is a real piece of work. Throughout my learning about her, she just comes across as a snake. In OBG, we hear George moaning about being married to her, which gives the impression that she's not a nice person, and then she stabs both him and Anne in the back, so it's not a good outlook for her at all through the eyes of the reader. But then come this book and she's all BOOHOO I LOST MY HUSBAND, HIS AND ANNE'S GHOSTS HAUNT ME, WAHHHH. Fuck off, bitch. She tries to paint herself all like she really did love him, and I just don't buy it. I don't know how things actually were, back in the 1500s, but I really don't buy it. I was SO glad to hear she died, because it's everything she deserved. Now if only Uncle Norfolk could have gone the same way...
Oh and a word about the audio-- great choice. I've loved Ruthie Henshall since she starred in Les Miserables back in the 1990s, and she plays Katherine Howard to the hilt. Very well done. Bianca Amato and Dagmara Dominczyk were also fantastic as Jane Boleyn and Anne of Cleves, respectively -- each of their voices helped keep me in touch with the story, I'll have to remember them when I reread this.