books:

	The Other Boleyn Girl Philippa Gregory Touchstone, 2003 - 672 pages average customer review:based on 816 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

When Mary Boleyn comes to court as an innocent girl of fourteen, she catches the eye of Henry VIII. Dazzled by the king, Mary falls in love with both her golden prince and her growing role as unofficial queen. However, she soon realizes just how much she is a pawn in her familys ambitious plots as the kings 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 her fate into her own hands.

A rich and compelling tale of love, sex, ambition, and intrigue, The Other Boleyn Girl introduces a woman of extraordinary determination and desire who lived at the heart of the most exciting and glamorous court in Europe and survived by following her own heart.

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EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT!!!

Okay, so while you may not use this novel as a reference while writing a paper on English history, if you need a book that will keep you enthralled you have most certainly found it.
The Boelyn family wants nothing more than to elevate themselves within the English social hierarchy. As players in the court of Henry VIII from a very young age, siblings Anne, George and Mary know how to play the game well. When young Mary catches the eye of the King while at court, the family, under the guidance of their ruthless uncle, meet to determine how to best use Mary to further the family's social agenda. What follows is a thrilling tale of love, murder, betrayal and sibling rivalry. Descriptions of the English court and the actions within will keep readers immersed and interested. The horrific exploitation of women and children and the social acceptance of it all is both riveting and nauseating. An excellent piece of historical fiction, not to be missed.


DYB

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Historical Fiction, Entertaining

This was an interesting novel about a time period that I enjoy to read about. It is fluffier than some other great authors who have touched on the period. The story was nicely woven with artistic license and entertaining.

There were parts that droned on... and parts that surprisingly wrapped up quickly. It was a good read, but your expectations of the author and historical time period may sway you to LOVE the novel or ABHOR the style.

Keep in mind that it is historical fiction and it is a good read. And if this is the first you've read of the era... keep reading.

I really enjoyed Eleanor of Aquitaine by Weir- a more serious style.

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WARNING: May contain spoilers - Sensational and scandalously wicked

I decided that I simply must read the book before I saw the movie. It has been my experience movie versions are typically vastly inferior to the books themselves. With that in mind, let's move on to the book review.

When the book begins, Gregory introduces us to Mary Boleyn, the younger sister of the much more famous Anne Boleyn, or Queen Anne of England and second wife of Henry VIII. Mary was married at the tender age of twelve to William Carey, yet another courtier. As a member of the powerful Boleyn family, Mary's marriage to William Carey was arranged and in reality was not much of a marriage at all. By the age of fourteen, Mary was King Henry's lover and confidante. We learn that she went on to (supposedly) bear him two children: a boy and a girl.

Mary's favor in Henry's court, however, burns out quickly after the birth of her son. She discovers that dancing to the Boleyn family's tune is not what she wants and her disinterest in Henry rapidly turns his interest toward Anne. It is then that Mary becomes the other Boleyn girl.

Anne spends six long years courting Henry, and her efforts clearly exhaust her. Mary is expected to answer her sister's every whim, her every beck and call. She is of no import to her family other than what she can do for Anne.

Anne is not someone you'd wish to know in your daily life. She's scheming, backstabbing, temperamental, witty, charming, clever, and too confident for her own good. All of those traits are what ultimately lead her to her fall from grace. But Mary has a love-hate relationship with her sister. They are each other's best friend but worst enemy as well.

George, Mary and Anne's brother, throws another wrench into the equation. It's clear that he has homosexual desires, which was a deadly sin in those days when the Catholic Church ruled the western European world. Yet he also has a disturbingly close relationship with Anne, and the book implies that it could have been an incestuous one.

Gregory managed to throw so many twists and turns into her historically based novel that I never really knew what was coming next. I knew the Anne Boleyn story from history classes in high school and college, but I actually find her sister Mary's story more intriguing. After all, Mary was the only Boleyn sibling who managed to survive during the period of Anne and George's trials. Was it a survival instinct on her part? Or was it wisdom? Perhaps it was self-preservation?

We'll never know.

Gregory certainly has a gripping writing style, and for most of the book, I felt as if I were reading Mary's intimate diary and not a historically based fictionalized account of her life. Kudos to Gregory. I can't wait to read the second book in the series.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

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