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Home > Books > Fiction > Historical Fiction Books > T Historical Fiction Books > The Boleyn Inheritance - Philippa Gregory

User Reviews

for The Boleyn Inheritance - Philippa Gregory

Rating Summary based on 18 reviews

  • 5 Stars
    		15
  • 4 Stars
    		2
  • 3 Stars
    		1
  • 2 Stars
    		0
  • 1 Star
    		0

Detailed rating

  • Characters
  • How does it compare to other works by the same author?
  • How does it compare to similar books?
  • Readability
  • Story
  		• 4.7
  		• 3.2
  		• 3.2
  		• 4.6
  		• 4.7
Previous page Next page Page 1 of 2 | 1 to 10 out of 18 Review(s)
  • 123 of 123 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of paulpry118

    paulpry118

    5 Stars Who wants this Inheritance 30/11/2008
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages Great Read

    Disadvantages Disadvantages None

    I thought for a change I would try my hand at reviewing a book, so here goes. Ever since I started researching my family tree I have become interested in reading books set in the past, just so I can get a bit of an insight into how my ancestors may have lived. OK so at the moment I haven't found any royalty in my tree but I have found out that my Great x 3 Grandfather worked as a Carpenter in the Tower of London for Queen Victoria and traced my tree back to around 1580 when Queen Elizabeth I would have been on the throne. Although being an East Ender now living in Derbyshire quite a few of my ... more
  • 25 of 25 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of DoubleFantasy11

    DoubleFantasy11

    5 Stars Claim Your Inheritance 22/09/2006
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages Excellent writing and characters, humourous and tragic

    Disadvantages Disadvantages None - unless you really really hate historical fiction

    The Boleyn Inheritance opens in 1539 with Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford, hoping for the king to marry so that she can be released from living at Blickling Hall on her brother's charity and be a lady-in-waiting for the new queen. She is still haunted by the events of 1536, when her husband George Boleyn and his sister, Anne, were beheaded - after Jane played her part in giving evidence against them. Her excuse is that they would've died anyway and she was preserving the Boleyn inheritance - her title and their lands and fortune. However, as the story progresses, we soon realise that this was not ... more
  • 79 of 79 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of luckyarchers

    Level 7 luckyarchers

    Member since 17/10/2002

    Reviews written: 159

    5 Stars Life & Death at Henry VIII's Court 27/09/2007
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages Breathes fresh life into a period I know well.

    Disadvantages Disadvantages Print very small in paperback version.

    *** The Author *** Philippa Gregory was born in Kenya in 1954, and then her family moved to England. She has degrees in history and literature, and has worked for a local newspaper and BBC radio. Now a full time writer, she lives with her family on a small farm in the North of England. She has written contemporary novels, but is most well known for her historical fiction. *** Background to Plot *** This tale of the volatile and dangerous court of King Henry VIII is told in turns by his fourth wife Anne of Cleves, and her maids in waiting Katherine Howard and Jane Boleyn. At the start of each ... more
  • 39 of 39 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of GemmaC25

    GemmaC25

    5 Stars You won't want this inheritance.... 01/08/2009
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages An addicting read that draws you in, page after page.

    Disadvantages Disadvantages It had to end!

    The Boleyn Inheritance is set after The Other Boleyn Girl, Queen Jane is dead and the King is looking for his new wife, and so we meet Lady Anne of Cleves. The book however isn't only through the eyes of Anne and it switches between a young Katherine Howard and Lady Jane Rochford the sister-in-law in Anne Boleyn, the be-headed Queen. The book begins with Anne of Cleves having her potrait painted along with her sister, and she strongly wishes to be the next Queen of England. We meet Lady Jane Rochford living a boring life in the country and longing for a request to go back to court to be a lady ... more
  • 29 of 29 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of CGholy

    Level 6 CGholy

    Member since 17/06/2010

    Reviews written: 239

    5 Stars Could Be Considered A Sequal To The Other Boleyn Girl 11/12/2012
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages Really gripping and has some unique techniques.

    Disadvantages Disadvantages The way Henry was shown as a prize bugs me.

    The Boleyn Inheritance is a novel written by Philippa Gregory and is part of her Tudor Court Series. The story is set after Queen Jane Seymour's death and follows through Katherine Howard and Jane Boleyn's execution. There is a lot of information about Henry VIII and his first two wives, but little is known about Anne Of Cleves and Katherine Howard. The story is written in first person and each chapter focuses on a different character and usually switches between Katherine, Anne and Jane. In one way it's an inspirational story and in another way it is quite tragic and heartbreaking. The ... more
  • 15 of 15 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of HisAngel

    HisAngel

    3 Stars Three tragic women, one break with tradition 06/07/2007
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages A great insight into some relative unknowns, breaking with stereotypes

    Disadvantages Disadvantages Not as good as previous books, a little repetative

    I would really, really love to give this book a shimmering, cloth of gold, review, because I adore Gregory’s work. But I can’t. Although it’s good and worth reading, it just doesn’t live up to the fabulousness that is The Other Boleyn Girl. The Boleyn Inheritance tells the stories of three relatively unknown Tudor women: Jane Rochford (Wife of George Boleyn and remembered as a schemer), Anne of Cleves (history’s infamous smelly wife) and Katherine “Kitty” Howard (A slutty teenager if the rumours are to be believed). But since when does Gregory conform to stereotypes? In this story she tries to ... more
  • 18 of 18 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of crezzie

    Level 4 crezzie

    Member since 15/09/2005

    Reviews written: 82

    5 Stars Another Boleyn Inheritance 19/04/2009
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages good writing

    Disadvantages Disadvantages n/a

    Truth is, I'm a sucker for anything to do with history. Especially if it's about past Kings and Queens of Britain or the Romans! Hence the reason why I'm such a keen viewer of programmes such as The Tudors and Rome. Yes I know that neither are completely correct with the truth, but there are some things which you can get away with. One of my favourite authors of these types of novels is Jean Plaidy but recently I have discovered another who is just as good. Phillipa Gregory. She has written past books The Other Boleyn Girl and The Virgin Lover. The Boleyn Inheritance is based around the year ... more
  • 21 of 21 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of booklover1414

    booklover1414

    5 Stars Outstanding. 14/09/2012
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages Brilliant story and characters

    Disadvantages Disadvantages None

    This was one of the first phillipa gregory book I read and I was skeptical about this author because she had received much critism for other that I have heard off. Despite this really enjoyed this book for many reasons. This review is also on my dooyoo account under the same username. The story of the book is that off the reigns of two queens, Anne of Cleves and Katherin Howard (Both as main characters) and Lady Rochford. The story is told from each characters point off view which in my opinion makes it a lot more interesting and readable. The story itself is interesting in its own and would ... more
  • 11 of 11 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of ali_morag

    ali_morag

    5 Stars The Boleyn Inheritance 15/06/2007
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages exciting, fantastic characters, couldn't put it down

    Disadvantages Disadvantages none

    This book tells the story of Henry VIII's fourth and fifth wives, Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard. Most readers will therefore know the ending, but this book was still completely engrossing and I couldn't put it down. Unlike most of Gregory's books, which are told from the perspective of just one character, this is told from the viewpoints of three - Anne, Katherine, and Jane Boleyn, who will be familiar to readers who have read 'The Other Boyeln Girl'. For me, the best part about this book was how well-rounded all three women were. None were stereotyped in any way, and I felt some ... more
  • 13 of 13 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of reviewer201

    reviewer201

    5 Stars Fascinating look at Henry VIII's court 28/08/2007
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages Well written, easy to read, fascinating historical fiction

    Disadvantages Disadvantages None.

    This book is a compelling read and really interesting into the bargain. It relates the stories of Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard and Anne Boleyn's sister-in-law, Jane Boleyn. The author cleverly uses the three main characters to narrate their own stories in short chapters relating the events of the time in their own voices. Anne of Cleves has suffered the title of "The Flanders Mare" for too long since her rejection by Henry VIII and it is brilliant to read what appears to be a well researched, though fictitious, account of her life. Katherine Howard is the woman/ young girl the aged and ill ... more
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