Title: The Other Boleyn Girl

Author: Philippa Gregory  

Genre: Historical Fiction

Publisher: Harper Collins

Format: Paperback

Pages: 661

Rating: 4/5 stars

*Warning: mature content. Parents please be advised.*

Synopsis:

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

A rich and compelling novel 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 glamourous court in Europe and survived by following her heart.

Review:

The Other Boleyn Girl is a beautiful and sad story. What I loved about the book was that it showed us a perspective that often gets lost in history: that of Mary Boleyn, Anne’s sister. Mary has been portrayed in a number of different ways, including as a loose woman in the French court, and later with King Henry, in the television series, The Tudors. But what I loved about this book was that Mary was seen as not someone who took joy in bedding the king, but someone who was simply obeying her family. Which is quite relatable for the time period because women were meant to obey the head of the family for the betterment of the family. Mary’s character was one a reader couldn’t help but love, for her main goal in life was to find someone to love her, and to look after her children.

Anne’s portrayal was an interesting one in the book as well. Many people feel bad for Anne because they don’t believe she deserved what she got, but in this book, she is such a cruel and manipulative character that I could not feel bad for her when she felt lonely, or sad, or when she met her eventual fate. But Mary loved her family no matter how terribly they treated her, and that’s why you can’t help but love Mary!

I’ve watched the movie a long time ago, so now I’m going to have to rewatch it and see how it compares, as I can’t quite remember it!

Happy reading bookworms!