The Other Boleyn Girl

“Brenda, you’ll love this book,” Mother said a few weeks ago, “Both Patsy and I read it, and it is really good!”

I’m not too keen on books set in that time period (the sixteenth century). Besides, it looked a bit cheezy. But since I love reading about the royals, and neither she nor Pitty Pat has ever recommended a book I didn’t like, I reluctantly brought it home.

I’m glad I did.

Philippa Gregory’s The Other Boleyn Girl is a riveting tale of love, sex, ambition and intrigue. It shows just how far one ambitious family was willing to go to secure their position of power in England during the Henry VIII era.

Mary Boleyn, who is fourteen years old, catches the eye of Henry VIII. Dazzled by the king, she falls in love with him. (That was before he got as big as the side of a barn!) But while she is pregnant with his child, the king’s interest wanes and she is forced to step aside for her sister, Anne. (The king could not be expected to do without sex for a few weeks, of course!) It is then that Mary realizes she is a pawn in her family's ambitious plots, and she knows she must defy her family and take her fate into her own hands.

Since Gregory added many historically accurate details, I kept forgetting it was fiction. And I could not put this book down. It drew me into the story and held my attention, even though I knew what the ending would be.

And, as we all know, it was not a good ending for Anne.