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Summary: Gripping!
Review: I was enthralled immediately and absorbed through out the book. It's a fascinating, well told story which was even more interesting because it's historically accurate. I read a lot and haven't read a book I liked this much in a long time. It's just a great read.
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Summary: Spend the summer at "Court" with the Boleyn sisters.
Review: Even if you are familiar with the Anne Boleyn and Henery VIII saga you will find new intrigue with this captivating book. Written in first person from the prospective of Mary Boleyn who was intimate with the King years before her sister. This book tells Mary's story with is completely imeshed with her sister Anne's. The Boleyn family is portrayed in a less then golden light as the family attempts to weave themselves into court life and gain the advantage over the Seymours (ultimately failing). Anne and Mary are simply pawns in a sick and twisted game. Anne is very unlikable in this novel however, it's not clear as to rather she is more tragically a causality of her family and the times. Mary's hostility and love for her sister is as confusing and complex as any sibling relationship. I celebrate when Mary is able to find true love and break free of the family cycle... if we could all be as strong as Mary perhaps we too will live happily ever after. Enjoy!
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Summary: Satisfying read
Review: I bought the book on a Friday afternoon and finished it in bed on Sunday night - as another reviewer said, don't let the size of the book put you off! This book was satisfying from a historical and fictional perspective without bogging down in the details that can stall a plot. I was very pleased with this book and plan to seek out other titles by this author. This book is the ultimate "smart" beach book.
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Summary: Don't let the size of the book intimidate you! GO BUY IT!
Review: This story was an above all thrill! It captivates your imagination and takes you back to the days at the Englishg courts where King Henry the VIII rules and the Boleyn girls play a game of ambition,love, and desire for the throne.
The narrator of the novel is the young Boleyn girl, named Mary, whom immediately catches the wandering eyes of a king, desperate for an heir, as soon as she arrives to court.
With its twists and sudden turns the plot thickens ever so deep as soon as Mary is bumped out of the Kings vision and is replaced with Mary's older sister, Anne.
Now that each sister clearly is envious of the other and that the desperate Boleyn family desires at least one of their daughters to assume the throne as soon as Queen Katherine, Henry's wife, croaks, the powerful Uncle of Mary and Anne blatantly decides Mary and Anne's fate for them.
Mary, becoming quite lonely, for her family's attention is set upon Anne's happiness, falls in love with a man, named William, who is a mere servant for her Uncle, but she follows her heart for the first time in her life and marries whom she really loves despite the consequences and the wrath of her sister, Anne.
It is quite clearly the story about Anne's rise and her sad and unexpected fall through the eyes of her sister Mary. And it shows the importance of family, for even though they grow terse and cruel towards each other, they are always there for one another when in need.
With all this stories strong points the only reason I didn't give it five stars is because it gets a bit frustrating while reading it. Not because it's a hard read, far from it, but because poor Mary never stands up for herself and lets herself get beat up, verbally, by her Uncle, Mother, Father, Sister, Bother, and King. You just want to reach into the book and slap some sense into her! I EXTREMELY suggest that you go out and get yourself a copy, it is truely a wonderful tale.
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Summary: One of the best historical novels I've read
Review: I absolutely could not stop reading this book & was sleep deprived until it was finished! Then I could not stop thinking about it! This book offers a fresh look at the tale of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, and the inner-tickings of Tudor Court life. I have often been annoyed with other authors of historical fiction for taking situations that were little more than the pimping and selling of aristocratic young girls for family advancement and wealth, and turning them into romantic courtly love. Gregory approaches the scheming of the Howard family with brutal honesty, and manages to realistically capture the confused feelings of infatuation, flattery, frustration, hurt, and love in an adolescent girl as she is preyed upon/courted, used/loved, and discarded by the King and her family. I would also recommend reading the series on Josephine Bonaparte by Sandra Gulland if you enjoy non-stop action, emotional involvement with characters, and a realistic view of the complex personalities of dynamic rulers.
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Summary: a new look at mary
Review: Throughout the centuries Mary Boleyn has been portrayed as either a simple little ... who was too easy going to go for the crown or as a helpless victim. This book goes a long way toward making you see Mary as something else. Is this the real story? Perhaps or perhaps not. This is historical FICTION afterall. The real Mary not only outlived her brilliant siblings but managed to find marital happines. It's a fascinating story and well told. My favorite Boleyn book is The Concubine by Norah Lofts. This book definitely deserves to sit on the same shelf.
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Summary: Perfect for a vacation or a book club read
Review: I could not put this book down. I found myself making excuses at work to steal off somewhere and read this book - even if I only had a chance to read one page. Based on the real life of Anne, Mary and George Boleyn as well as the court of King Henry the VIII - The Other Boleyn Girl is a MUST read.Mary, Anne's younger sister, is the main character in this novel and Philippa Gregory does an incredible job of bringing her to life and transporting the reader back to England in the 1500's. This fictional book is based on the true fact of Mary's affair with King Henry and the subsequent marriage of Henry and Anne as well as the beheadings of both Anne, George and half of Henry's court - The Other Boleyn girl is well written and fast paced and gives a credible and interesting back story to one of the most celebrated and notorious marriages England's history as well as bringing to light several individuals who have been relegated to the back pages of history - if they are mentioned at all. From life at the court to life in the fields, The Other Boleyn girl has it all, love, adventure and intrigue. This is by far, one of the best books I have read in ages.
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Summary: Historical fiction at its best
Review: While indisposed for a few days, I have never considered myself luckier than to come upon a book so engrossing, intellectual and enjoyable. This book is an incredible telling of the rivalry (and often hatred) between the two Boleyn girls, Anne and Mary. This book contained such vivid detail and fabulous imagery I couldn't put it down! It is a fairy tale in setting and a horrorific battle, involving one of the most powerful families in Tudor England. The character profiles were flawless: I was entirely able to imagine Mary, Henry, William and Anne sitting by my side. As an avid fan of Elizabethan, Tudor and other English historical fiction, Philippa Gregory enchanted my mind. I continue to turn to the book and re-read passages. The wonderful literary style that Gregory drew into this book is unmatched and unequaled. Very few books I have read can rival this wonderful account of love, passion, anger, betrayl and feeling. Kudos to Gregory!
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Summary: What a GREAT book!!
Review: After being sooooo disappointed by "The Fiery Cross" by Gabaldon, I was looking for a new author to try out. And I must say that this is what I was looking for. It does have some historical inaccuracies, but it is FICTION. The plot was great and the characters were really well done. It read so fast that I was done with the book in 4 days, SIGH. My best compliment that I can give the author is that I am now looking at the library for her older books....
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Summary: A beautifully written tragedy
Review: _The Other Boleyn Girl_ is an engrossing and often saddening novel about Henry VIII's second wife, Anne Boleyn, and her sister Mary, who was Henry's mistress before Anne snagged him. Mary and Anne share a deep bond and a deeper rivalry, born of the fact that their family views them merely as pieces to be played in a great game of social climbing. Their value is equal only to what sort of advantages they can bring to the family. Love, marriage, honor? All are sacrifices to be laid upon the altar of ambition. Sweet, romantic Mary, newly married, catches the eye of the King, and at the urging of the family, leaves her husband and becomes Henry's mistress. During her pregnancy with the King's bastard son, her family pushes Anne into the King's eye so that he will not stray to a girl from another family. But Anne, her heart hardened by losing the man she loved, is playing for the crown, not for love or for a few extra estates. Soon Henry is captivated by the mysterious Anne and will turn the world upside down to have her. The rest is history, but Gregory manages to keep us reading even though we know exactly what will happen to Anne. We see the formerly dignified court become a playground for spoiled children once Henry declares that he answers only to himself; we see the handsome and sympathetic Henry become the biggest of the spoiled children himself, growing fat, drunk, and fickle. We see Anne's high-strung desperation growing to the point of near-madness as she fails to give the King a son, and the doomed and strange relationship between Anne and her brother George. We witness the King's head turn from maddening Anne to the insufferably sweet Jane Seymour. And as the whole court goes to hell in a handbasket, we also watch Mary find love with an obscure gentleman farmer. Anne taunts Mary when she becomes queen; Mary will henceforth be only "the other Boleyn girl", forgotten by history, while everyone will know Anne's name. But which is more important? asks this book. Anne's name is still familiar to schoolchildren, but she lived a desperate life and ended up missing her head. Mary is barely remembered, and those who do recall her only snicker that she was a trollop too dumb to win marriage from the King, but she lived a life of contentment. Anne's motto was "The Most Happy", but perhaps that title must be given to Mary.
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