The Other Boleyn Girl Novel ✔️ Recommended
The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels Series Book 9
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Review
I finally read it! Yes, I know this book has been out for a while and no, I have not yet watched the movie. I know, I know, I’m a few years out of the loop. I tend to put off reading the highly recommended; everyone is talking about kind of books. (I still haven’t read The Da Vinci Code…but I have seen the movie.) In the past, when I’ve finally broken down and read the books loved by the masses, I’m usually very disappointed but this one was surprisingly different. Not only did I really enjoy this novel but it actually inspired me to do a little research about the Boleyn family, so I learned some history as well!
I actually love the idea of giving personality and life to historical figures and periods in time. I’ve never been a huge history buff…in fact, I managed to avoid taking history throughout high school somehow, but I really enjoyed how Gregory infused realistic emotions and characteristics into the historical figures presented in this book. I haven’t read anything else by her, and I’ve been warned that the subsequent novels get a little repetitive and gross what with King Henry’s festering leg wound and fat gut, but that’s not to say I won’t. I’d imagine that it took quite a lot of hard work to research all of the history of the time, the etiquette, the family lines, the locations…wow, it must have taken years. And I’m sure there are those critics out there, the history nuts, that have picked this novel apart for being wrong about this or that, but it is fiction, and it fooled me.
My only criticism is that it does drag at times, but I kind of expected that of historical fiction; I don’t know why; it’s not like I read it all the time. Otherwise, I did really enjoy it and I will, most likely, rent the movie to see what got cut and what got manipulated.
Summary
Two sisters competing for the greatest prize: The love of a king
When Mary Boleyn comes to court as an innocent girl of fourteen, she catches the eye of Henry VIII. Dazzled, Mary falls in love with both her golden prince and her growing role as unofficial queen. However, she soon realises just how much she is a pawn in her family's ambitious plots as the king's interest begins to wane and she is forced to step aside for her best friend and rival: her sister, Anne. Then Mary knows that she must defy her family and her king and take fate into her own hands.
Philippa Gregory presents a new and unique view of one of history's most intriguing, romantic, and maddening heroines. Biographers often neglect the captive years of Mary, Queen of Scots, who trusted Queen Elizabeth's promise of sanctuary when she fled from rebels in Scotland and then found herself imprisoned as the "guest" of George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, and his indomitable wife, Bess of Hardwick.
The newly married couple welcome the doomed queen into their home, certain that serving as her hosts and jailers will bring them an advantage in the cutthroat world of the Elizabethan court. To their horror, they find that the task will bankrupt them, and as their home becomes the epicenter of intrigue and rebellion against Elizabeth, their loyalty to each other and to their sovereign comes into question. If Mary succeeds in seducing the earl into her own web of treachery and treason, or if the great spymaster William Cecil links them to the growing conspiracy to free Mary from her illegal imprisonment, they will all face the headsman.
Philippa Gregory uses new research and her passion for historical accuracy to place a well-known heroine in a completely new tale full of suspense, passion, and political intrigue. For years, readers have clamored for Gregory to tell Mary's story, and The Other Queen is the result of her determination to present a novel worthy of this extraordinary heroine.
ISBN-10 0743227441
ISBN-13 978-0743227445
Publisher: Scribner | Atria Books
The Other Boleyn Girl Release Date: June 4, 2003
664 pages
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