The Other Boleyn Girl

Rating:
Summary: Amazing and provocative.
Review: I could NOT put this book down. The historical facts mixed with Philippa Gregory's imagination was amazing and completely believable. The characters were so lifelike. I definitely recommend the other book "The Queen's Fool" by the same author. It's a wonderful follow-up.

Rating:
Summary: A Provocative study
Review: Historical fiction, particularly about the role of women is incredibly interesting. Although there were certain portions of this book which seemed inplausible or out of historical context, on the whole it was engaging. The rights and duties of a women at that time in such circumstances was quite worthy of reflection.

Rating:
Summary: AWESOME BOOK!!!
Review: So good that the moment I finished it, I wanted to re-read it. So great that it took 5 days to finish it. DEFINITELY A MUST READ FOR EVERYONE WHO LOVES HISTORICAL FICTION.

Rating:
Summary: Better than PBS
Review: Simply the best historical novel I've read in a long time. The detail of character and period hold your attention and the courtly plotting keeps you reading late into the night. Even though I knew how it ended, it is still a surprise to read how it happens. Highly recommend this book.

Have just picked up "An Autobiography of Henry VIII..." by Margaret George to get the story from a different perspective.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best Historical Fiction's I've read!
Review: What a tale! Ms Gregory is a wonderful historical storyteller and doesn't disappoint in this novel. "The Other Boleyn Girl" gives the story of Anne and Henry the VIII from the sister's perspective. This allows the reader to observe the sad story from the outside but with feeling and personal observations. The historical information alone will knock your socks off. Great, wonderful read for those that like substance in their romances.

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Summary: More Than You Wanted to Know About the Boleyn Family
Review: Years go I was addicted to historical novels but haven't read many in the last couple of years and really looked forward to reading The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory when it was selected for a book club read.

The other Boleyn girl of the title is Mary Boleyn, whom little if anything has been recorded about in history books. But Philippa Gregory has taken thsi young woman and drawn a vivid picture of her, first as a young woman and then a maore matrue woman who not only suffers at the hands of Henry but then at the hands of her sister, Anne, in her quest for power.

Married at 12, Mary is a lady in waiting for Katherine of Aragon, wife of Henry VIII, when Henry expresses a lively interest in Mary. Despite that Mary, now 14, already has a husband her parents, uncle and brother George are pleased at the idea that in time and if she plays her cards right she will become Henry's mistress. And what if she gives him a son? They can only imagine all of the good things which will come to their family if this happens, never considering what Mary's opinions or feelings are about all of this. Then Mary's sister Anne arrives from the court of France and she becomes Mary's chief advisor and confidante in the pursuit of the King's affection and love for Mary. But outward appearances may be one thing and despite how kind Anne seems towards helping Mary, she really has her own agenda in mind concerning Henry. Even the birth of Henry's two illegitimate children -- a daughter and son, makes no difference to Henry and in time he does spurn her for Anne. Mary is once again relegated to being a lady in waiting when Henry divorces Katherine and Anne becomes his mistress and Queen of a very different England.

I often say as a reader that its not the destination that matters but the journey. In the case of The Other Boleyn Girl, I'm sure that most readers know the fate of the famous Anne Boleyn to say nothing of what becomes of her daughter Elizabeth I. But before I read this book I knew very little about Mary Boleyn or her family in general. Therefore I looked forward to reading this book from both a historical viewpoint as well as the fictional characterizations the author penned. Unfortunately I was somewhat disappointed in this title considering the raves I heard about from other readers. At over 650 pages, I found this book quite repetitive and at times downright boring. I thought early on it could have used a better editor and some pages might have been eliminated as well. While many of the passages describing court life, the entourage of Henry's court traveling from one place to another set the stage for the book, it was the scenes between Anne, her sister Mary and their brother George which at times became most irritating. As I read on, Anne became more and more of a shrew, being abrasive and abusive towards her silently suffering sister and at one point I wondered if I wanted to continue the book to the end. I did persevere but did think that the book could have been shorter and none of the tale would have been compromised. In addition, despite the amount of research, there were some pretty obvious inaccuracies which took away from my reading pleasure.

Ultimately I did give this book a B rating based on the authors efforts in writing a book about this woman and her family and there were some parts which I really did enjoy. Finally in closing, recently a sequel of sorts to The Other Boleyn Girl was recently published called The Queen's Fool. As I am scheduled to read this with a book club shortly, I do hope I enjoy this title more than The Other Boleyn Girl.

Rating:
Summary: Beautifully Written, Bad Portrayal
Review: While this book is an excellent and beautifully written novel on the Tudor court told through the eyes of Mary Boleyn, sister to Queen Anne Boleyn, I have a few problems. It is too sympathetic to Mary, who schemed along with her family to manipulate Anne, and portrayed Anne as cruel and insensitive. Most writers of English history tend to portray Anne as this, and instead sympathize with those who don't deserve it (Henry VIII). We need to look at Anne as some did Marie-Antoinette, and realize that her reputation was flushed down the toilet by those who sought to portray her as they in fact themselves were: cruel, manipulative, and insensitive.

Rating:
Summary: Learn a little, live a little and love a lot!
Review: Could be your favorite historical fiction novel, if you like to learn about history, certain time periods in a way that's entertaining.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is written through the eyes of Mary Boleyn, Anne Boleyn's sister, who is a courtier of the court. From this viewpoint, the reader is allowed to experience the "whole" Boleyn story. Starting with the relationship between King Henry and his first wife, Katherine of Aragon. Through, the influence Anne Boleyn had over the court, politics, and eventually the Church of England.

This book also introduces major historically influencial characters in this time period, and explains about the establishment of the Church of England and the seperation from the Roman Catholic church and why.

There is a lot discussion about whether Mary was the elder Boleyn or the younger. Philippa Gregory depicts Mary as the younger Boleyn, which recent studies and theories believe is TRUE. The fact that Anne was sent abroad to study in the French court, while they settled on a suit for Mary, supports the claim that Mary was younger. Also, there is some historical information that the Boleyn's were attempting to marry the eldest daughter, Anne to a suit that would have been beneficial to the Boleyn's. During that time, Mary was married, while they negotiated Anne's marriage. As history can prove, Anne did not marry in that "advantageous" suit, but later married Henry the VIII, as his 2nd wife. The first to be beheaded.

Totally mesmorizing, engaging and spellbinding. This ranks as one of my favorite historical fictions. Very well written, and complete.

Rating:
Summary: Don't like this book? Off with your head!
Review: In the same vein as "Girl With The Pearl Earring", this novel tells a woman's story, a woman whose family was on the losing side of history, at that. And since most all history is written by men -- the men who are the victors -- I found it fresh, gripping and entertaining to imagine Mary Boleyn's life.

As often the best cinema does not distract the viewer with special effects or other cinematic devices, so it is with Ms. Gregory's seamless writing. Her words are so well woven I almost forgot that I was reading fiction. I almost forgot that I was reading altogether, I was so transported. A reader cannot do much better!

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating Fiction
Review: I have read a number of the reviews by Amazon readers, many of them complain that the book is too free with fiction and strays to far from the truth about the Boleyn family. Frankly I have never read any of Philippa Gregory's other novels; but, I found this book to be extremely entertaining due to the well-thought out characterization, and interesting plot (and subplots), the background material was rich in historical details and I found
the action moved along at a nice quick step.

In addition, the very fact that Gregory wrote of a woman often forgotten in history and provides the reader with a well-rounded portrait was personally satisfying. I have read numerous books on Henry the 8th and on Anne Boleyn and they have grown wearisome in the repeating of the known facts. So I say, Hooray for Philippa Gregory and a well-written book that does not in any way, shape or form represent a Harlequin romance!