goldfishtish 's review for:

The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn by Alison Weir

3.0

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This is as much a history of the history of Anne Boleyn’s fall as it is a history of her fall. Alison Weir weaves quotes from a variety of sources into a readable, if not always compelling narrative. The book priorities detail over “flow”, and because it is collating sources from a relatively brief period and frequently covers differing sources with the aim of dispelling historians’ conflicting narratives, it sometimes lingers for a while on a particular topic, to the point I wanted it move on. That’s not to say it isn’t interesting or well-written (it is) or that a professional historian would consider it truly academic (I don’t know but suspect not- they never seem satisfied), but by design it isn’t a breezy, simple book that tells you confidently what happened. For the most part it tells you as much about what we don’t know as it does about what we do (except for a few occasions when, having just dismissed the assertions of many previous historians, Alison Weir suddenly decides something is or isn’t likely based only on her own opinion. But let’s not get into that). If you're genuinely interested in the topic, it's packed with information.

I found the book oddly keen to soften Henry’s role in the whole affair, but I’m sure my own preconceptions of Henry as The Worst and enjoyment of the Wolf Hall trilogy feed into that.