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emlennox 's review for:
The Other Boleyn Girl
by Philippa Gregory
(I wrote this review for school but pfft might as well post it on here too)
*CONTAINS SPOILERS*
The Other Boleyn Girl is a historical fiction novel written by Philippa Gregory, which is based in the 16th Century during King Henry VIII's rule. The book is narrated by Mary Boleyn, the younger sister of George and Anne Boleyn, who was married to William Carey by the age of 14 and within a few years is the mistress of King Henry VIII. The main plot of the novel is based around Mary's relationship with the King while she tries to increase her families status, as well as her sister Anne's arrogance and jealousy, and her brother's struggles in an unhappy marriage.
I only managed to read half of this book. I found the story hard to get into, I found the main character Mary Boleyn almost unbearably naive, and found that Gregory portrayed Anne Boleyn as spiteful, arrogant and rude. The overall story was flat, I expected the book to be about Mary trying to be King Henry VIII's mistress, in the interest of her family and under her Father and Uncle's orders, but within around 70 pages Mary is Henry's mistress and I was left wondering what else Gregory had to talk about.
I found Gregory's portrayal of Mary Boleyn to be insufferably romantic, considering that in that period of time marrying for love was rarely an option, over marrying for power. Mary claims that she is in love with Henry and that is why she continues to be his mistress, despite his ongoing marriage to Catherine of Aragon. I believe that the character thought that Henry thought of her as his true love, like she did with him, instead of thinking of her as his mistress. However, I did pity Mary Boleyn when her Uncle ignored her pining for her babies, while she also had to watch her sister, Anne, charm the King. Going onto the subject of Anne Boleyn, the author seems to depict her in an unfavourable light. Anne seems to be a selfish young girl, who despite her intelligence, is only focussed on being married to someone powerful. She is also seen to always be jealous of her younger sister Mary's relationship with the king, and at the first opportunity she has tries to take her place. Anne's arrogance shines through when she is in the court, and in the King's favour. Anne is shown to know how beautiful she is, and does everything she can to let everyone else in the court know that as well, by flirting with almost every male she can.
In contrast, the character of George Boleyn tends to be quite likeable. Unlike Anne, he seems to support his younger sister Mary during her time as mistress to the King, and helps to get her into his favour as much as he can. He also tries to help Anne when she gets distressed about the fact that her sister is not only married, but also the mistress of the King, while she was betrothed to a man she claimed to love, but it was objected by her family and the King. George also has the problem of being married to a woman he, and his sisters, despise, and having to hide his homosexuality, because he is madly in love with his friend Francis Weston.
One of the main themes of this novel is love in the 16th century. We see examples of romantic love in Mary's love for Henry, George's love for Francis Weston and Anne's love for Henry Percy. Love is also represented in Mary's pining for her babies, Catherine and Henry, and Mary's love for her brother George. Gregory does well to put forward the character's love for one another, and the story does stay heavily focussed on love and relationships. Another main theme of The Other Boleyn Girl is the time's politics. This includes Britain and Spain forming an allegiance to fight against France, which was followed by Spain's betrayal to England, which resulted in England fighting against them with France. As well as this, the main reason for Mary being Henry's mistress is to increase her family's power and status.
In conclusion, although some of the characters are likeable, and some parts of the story are interesting, this book was difficult to read and overall slightly boring. I feel I cannot fault the historical inaccuracies because it is a work of fiction and incorrect facts for example, Mary being the youngest in the novel when in reality we believe that she may have been the oldest, do help to have supported the story. I would only recommend this book to lovers of historical fiction, or perhaps people very interested in the Tudor Reign, who would not mind the historical faults.
*CONTAINS SPOILERS*
The Other Boleyn Girl is a historical fiction novel written by Philippa Gregory, which is based in the 16th Century during King Henry VIII's rule. The book is narrated by Mary Boleyn, the younger sister of George and Anne Boleyn, who was married to William Carey by the age of 14 and within a few years is the mistress of King Henry VIII. The main plot of the novel is based around Mary's relationship with the King while she tries to increase her families status, as well as her sister Anne's arrogance and jealousy, and her brother's struggles in an unhappy marriage.
I only managed to read half of this book. I found the story hard to get into, I found the main character Mary Boleyn almost unbearably naive, and found that Gregory portrayed Anne Boleyn as spiteful, arrogant and rude. The overall story was flat, I expected the book to be about Mary trying to be King Henry VIII's mistress, in the interest of her family and under her Father and Uncle's orders, but within around 70 pages Mary is Henry's mistress and I was left wondering what else Gregory had to talk about.
I found Gregory's portrayal of Mary Boleyn to be insufferably romantic, considering that in that period of time marrying for love was rarely an option, over marrying for power. Mary claims that she is in love with Henry and that is why she continues to be his mistress, despite his ongoing marriage to Catherine of Aragon. I believe that the character thought that Henry thought of her as his true love, like she did with him, instead of thinking of her as his mistress. However, I did pity Mary Boleyn when her Uncle ignored her pining for her babies, while she also had to watch her sister, Anne, charm the King. Going onto the subject of Anne Boleyn, the author seems to depict her in an unfavourable light. Anne seems to be a selfish young girl, who despite her intelligence, is only focussed on being married to someone powerful. She is also seen to always be jealous of her younger sister Mary's relationship with the king, and at the first opportunity she has tries to take her place. Anne's arrogance shines through when she is in the court, and in the King's favour. Anne is shown to know how beautiful she is, and does everything she can to let everyone else in the court know that as well, by flirting with almost every male she can.
In contrast, the character of George Boleyn tends to be quite likeable. Unlike Anne, he seems to support his younger sister Mary during her time as mistress to the King, and helps to get her into his favour as much as he can. He also tries to help Anne when she gets distressed about the fact that her sister is not only married, but also the mistress of the King, while she was betrothed to a man she claimed to love, but it was objected by her family and the King. George also has the problem of being married to a woman he, and his sisters, despise, and having to hide his homosexuality, because he is madly in love with his friend Francis Weston.
One of the main themes of this novel is love in the 16th century. We see examples of romantic love in Mary's love for Henry, George's love for Francis Weston and Anne's love for Henry Percy. Love is also represented in Mary's pining for her babies, Catherine and Henry, and Mary's love for her brother George. Gregory does well to put forward the character's love for one another, and the story does stay heavily focussed on love and relationships. Another main theme of The Other Boleyn Girl is the time's politics. This includes Britain and Spain forming an allegiance to fight against France, which was followed by Spain's betrayal to England, which resulted in England fighting against them with France. As well as this, the main reason for Mary being Henry's mistress is to increase her family's power and status.
In conclusion, although some of the characters are likeable, and some parts of the story are interesting, this book was difficult to read and overall slightly boring. I feel I cannot fault the historical inaccuracies because it is a work of fiction and incorrect facts for example, Mary being the youngest in the novel when in reality we believe that she may have been the oldest, do help to have supported the story. I would only recommend this book to lovers of historical fiction, or perhaps people very interested in the Tudor Reign, who would not mind the historical faults.