last night, while "reading silently" alongside my daughter (who was finishing her first "junie b jones" novel) i finished "the boleyn inheritance."i'm just a sucker for stories of british royalty, and historical fiction in general. give me a fictionalized tudor romance and i am in heaven! philippa gregory did not let me down with this one. although less sweeping and romantic than some of her other novels (the queen's fool, the contant princess), it still described a time in the tudor history that is not often written in novels.
this book follows each of the lives of 3 women in first person: anne of cleves, jane boleyn, and katherine howard.
anne of cleves came was chosen by henry viii to be his fourth wife after jane seymour died giving birth to prince edward. anne was a lonely german woman who was purportedly disgusted by the king (not knowing who he was) upon their first meeting. he marries her regardless, but then divorces her 6 months later. he allows her to live (!) and calls her "sister" from that point on.
jane boleyn was the sister-in-law to anne boleyn. she was married to anne's brother george and gave testimony that sent the both of them to be beheaded on the tower green. she is a lady-in-waiting to both anne of cleves and katherine howard, and her scheming in these courts just may be her downfall.
katherine howard, cousin to anne boleyn, was a maid in waiting to anne of cleves when she caught the eye of the king. at only age 15, she was made the 5th queen of henry viii shortly after his divorce from anne. she is portrayed as young, vain and fickle.
i'm giving this book away to anyone, anywhere that wants it. if you'd like to throw your name into the hat, just leave a comment on this post. i'll pick a winner from the comments next sunday.
8 comments:
Bizarrely, I was just reading about how Anne Boleyn had 3 breasts. Isn't that an amazing coincidence?
Hi, Melissa!
Like you, I absolutely LOVE books on European royalty, especially British, but don't put my name in the hat because I already own this book (just haven't read it yet). The CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) is telecasting an amazing serial at the moment called 'The Tudors', needless to say, I am hooked!
Loved your write-up and hope to get to the book soon!
Don't add me to the drawing. I read this last year, maybe the year before. That Henry was a vile man, wasn't he? I enjoyed this one. Just received The Constant Princess in the mail a couple days ago. Glad you liked it.
I like to watch really English movies. Heck I really wish it was like in real life. When I lived In England I would visit castles and palaces and all I saw was people lurking outside smoking or old people feeding birds.
I want to read this book! I love British history - it's so exciting and fascinating!
Thanks for the great review.
We toured the Boleyn family manor, the name of which I forget, when we were in England. It was so small and drafty by today's standards, but gave me a sense of how they must of lived back then. Rather uncomfortably and without much warmth-- physically and emotionally.
I read "The Other Boleyn Girl" (also by Philippa Gregory, I think)last year and really liked it. I wish I had time to read another.
I'd love the book, I love all the books and anything English. Since I had my books stolen (long story) I am trying to restore my library, and as I haven't read this one either... If the draw is still happening I'd love to throw my name in the hat :)
Post a Comment