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A review by jozi_girl
The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory
4.0
Many years ago I read and enjoyed [b:The Other Boleyn Girl|37470|The Other Boleyn Girl (The Tudor Court, #2)|Philippa Gregory|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1355932638s/37470.jpg|3248536] and raced to the first next book by this author I could find, which was [b:Wideacre|16188|Wideacre (The Wideacre Trilogy, #1)|Philippa Gregory|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1289170133s/16188.jpg|3969]. Oh dear, what a wrong choice that was. I HATED Wideacre , hated it with a passion, and vowed to never bother with a Phillippa Gregory book again. .
I have no great love for court dramas, all that bed hopping, backstabbing and scheming is sometimes exhausting to read so I never thought I would miss much by not continuing the Tudor Series. But a good and trusted friend kept on reading the series and telling me how much she enjoys it so I finally I decided to give this series another chance.
And now at the end of this audio book all I can say is WOW, what an audio production. Little vain and utterly vapid Katherine (Kitty) Howard was my favourite from a narration point of view but all 3 narrators did a brilliant job bringing this book to life.
For anyone who does not know the history after Anne Boleyn’s head was chopped off herewith a quick synopsis:
Anne of Cleve becomes wife nr 4 in a marriage arranged by Thomas Cromwell. This shy woman is brought to court with no understanding of English and completely unable to navigate the politics. I really felt sorry for her and was delighted as the story unfolded showing how she matured into a woman so much stronger than ever expected.
Jane Boleyn – the sister in law to Anne Boleyn brought back to court by her Uncle Howard to monitor, watch and spy on the queen. Jane is a bitter woman feeling entitled to be back at court and trying her best to block out the death of her husband and sister-in-law.
Katherine Howard is a pretty spoilt littleslut flirt of only 14 years old. She makes social errors and cause scandal again and again with an almost childlike innocence, measuring her happiness in the one thing she does understand, material things.
I actually felt sympathy for all 3 these women. Every one of them were nothing more than puppets on a mad master’s strings.
This novel is full of intrigue, backstabbing, political gaming, greed and beheading. All of which make the perfect plot. I have to commend the author for presenting history in such an entertaining yet informative way for readers like me who know little about the Tudor period.
The writing however is not flawless and if I had read it instead of listening to it I would probably have given it a slightly lower rating. There is quite a bit of repetition in the text. The words “He is so old he could be my Grandfather”, and “Boleyn Inheritance” were repeated a few times too many but the audio allows for more forgiveness in this regard when the narration is captivating.
So my advice is that if you can get this book in audio format, go for it. It was highly entertaining!
I have no great love for court dramas, all that bed hopping, backstabbing and scheming is sometimes exhausting to read so I never thought I would miss much by not continuing the Tudor Series. But a good and trusted friend kept on reading the series and telling me how much she enjoys it so I finally I decided to give this series another chance.
And now at the end of this audio book all I can say is WOW, what an audio production. Little vain and utterly vapid Katherine (Kitty) Howard was my favourite from a narration point of view but all 3 narrators did a brilliant job bringing this book to life.
For anyone who does not know the history after Anne Boleyn’s head was chopped off herewith a quick synopsis:
Anne of Cleve becomes wife nr 4 in a marriage arranged by Thomas Cromwell. This shy woman is brought to court with no understanding of English and completely unable to navigate the politics. I really felt sorry for her and was delighted as the story unfolded showing how she matured into a woman so much stronger than ever expected.
Jane Boleyn – the sister in law to Anne Boleyn brought back to court by her Uncle Howard to monitor, watch and spy on the queen. Jane is a bitter woman feeling entitled to be back at court and trying her best to block out the death of her husband and sister-in-law.
Katherine Howard is a pretty spoilt little
I actually felt sympathy for all 3 these women. Every one of them were nothing more than puppets on a mad master’s strings.
This novel is full of intrigue, backstabbing, political gaming, greed and beheading. All of which make the perfect plot. I have to commend the author for presenting history in such an entertaining yet informative way for readers like me who know little about the Tudor period.
The writing however is not flawless and if I had read it instead of listening to it I would probably have given it a slightly lower rating. There is quite a bit of repetition in the text. The words “He is so old he could be my Grandfather”, and “Boleyn Inheritance” were repeated a few times too many but the audio allows for more forgiveness in this regard when the narration is captivating.
So my advice is that if you can get this book in audio format, go for it. It was highly entertaining!