... There's no sign of Anne Boleyn, the cultured, very well-educated, multilingual Renaissance lady and Queen, who produced the great Elizabeth I and during her lifetime, patronised the arts, generously dispensed charity and was deeply interested in religious reform, to name just a few things. ... Read review
Everyone knows the fate of Anne Boleyn, but not many know the story of her rise to majesty ... more
and the part played by her rival and sister, Mary, who was Henry's mistress and mother to two of his bastard children before the dazzling older Boleyn girl even ...
Postage & Packaging: refer to website Availability: refer to website
Everyone knows the fate of Anne Boleyn, but not many know the story of her rise to majesty ... more
and the part played by her rival and sister, Mary, who was Henry's mistress and mother to two of his bastard children before the dazzling older Boleyn girl even ...
Postage & Packaging: £2.75 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Everyone knows the fate of Anne Boleyn, but not many know the story of her rise to majesty ... more
and the part played by her rival and sister, Mary, who was Henry's mistress and mother to two of his bastard children before the dazzling older Boleyn girl even ...
Postage & Packaging: £2.75 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Everyone knows the fate of Anne Boleyn, but not many know the story of her rise to majesty ... more
and the part played by her rival and sister, Mary, who was Henry's mistress and mother to two of his bastard children before the dazzling older Boleyn girl even ...
Postage & Packaging: refer to website Availability: Temporarily out of stock. Order now and we'll deliver when available. We'll e-mail you with an estimated delivery date as soon...
Everyone knows the fate of Anne Boleyn, but not many know the story of her rise to majesty ... more
and the part played by her rival and sister, Mary, who was Henry's mistress and mother to two of his bastard children before the dazzling older Boleyn girl even ...
Postage & Packaging: refer to website Availability: Temporarily out of stock. Order now and we'll deliver when available. We'll e-mail you with an estimated delivery date as soon...
Advantages: Might be a good intro to Tudor history if taken with a kilo of salt Disadvantages: Poorly written, vulgar and inaccurate fiction
...but which bring to life the era and the personalities vividly. I did not expect the definitive biography of Anne and Mary Boleyn by any stretch of the imagination. What I did expect though was at least an attempt at treating the characters with a modicum of respect and remaining true as far as possible to what we know about them, as well as a gripping and enjoyable story. TOBG provided neither.
This author claims to be a "feminist ... ...challenge views of women from the past bearing in mind the traditional prejudices against women. In this sense I am proud to be writing a modern history of women." However, there is nothing "feminist" about the portrayal of the women here, in fact I think it's highly misogynist: Mary and Anne are reduced to one-dimensional representatives of the "Madonna/whore" stereotype, with Mary being the ultimate Mary Sue, embodiment ... more
Historical fiction is a favourite guilty pleasure of mine, and I came to this book with no pre-conceptions; in fact, I actually expected, and wanted, to like it. Unfortunately, I was greatly disappointed.
I get that this is historical fiction, and that that means an author is free to make up details as he or she sees fit. Of course, one can never expect complete accuracy; I am pretty tolerant of historical errors and literary licence. I've enjoyed numerous historical novels, most of which could never be regarded as classic literature, but which bring to life the era and the personalities vividly. I did not expect the definitive biography of Anne and Mary Boleyn by any stretch of the imagination. What I did expect though was at least an attempt at treating the characters with a modicum of respect and remaining true as far as possible to what we know about them, as well as a gripping and enjoyable story. TOBG provided neither.
This author claims to be a "feminist historian." From her website, I quote: "I think it very important that historians should challenge views of women from the past bearing in mind the traditional prejudices against women. In this sense I am proud to be writing a modern history of women." However, there is nothing "feminist" about the portrayal of the women here, in fact I think it's highly misogynist: Mary and Anne are reduced to one-dimensional representatives of the "Madonna/whore" stereotype, with Mary being the ultimate Mary Sue, embodiment of all that is pure and virtuous (complete with some 21st century attitudes about marrying for love), and Anne a vicious, megalomaniacal, amoral troll with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. There's no sign of Anne Boleyn, the cultured, very well-educated, multilingual Renaissance lady and Queen, who produced the great Elizabeth I and during her lifetime, patronised the arts, generously dispensed charity and was deeply interested in religious reform, to name just a few things.
Gregory is clearly enamoured of her protagonist, and has an obvious prejudice against Anne Boleyn - that's fine, you don't have to like all your characters, but she does both of these women, as well as her other characters, a disservice with her flat, caricatured portrayal. There is no light and shade, no complexity; in fact, some of the characterisations are completely implausible. The dialogue is frequently anachronistic, the prose is often turgid and heavy-handed - Gregory tells, rather than shows - and I found myself skim-reading a lot of it just to finish it. The language evokes little sense of the period. It takes some doing, but TOBG manages to turn interesting, dramatic and complex events into a dreary, tedious family soap opera.
As for the "historian" aspect … Gregory's research is shoddy at best: she ignores the definitive biography of Anne Boleyn by Eric Ives, and adopts only those parts of Warnicke's biography that suit her purposes. I actually had to wonder whether she had even read the books she cites. Anne marrying Henry Percy? Being sent to France as "punishment"? Henry VIII fathering both of Mary Boleyn's children? The Boleyn parents effectively being pimps for their daughters? Anne seducing Henry away from her sister? "Stealing" or "abducting" Mary's son to establish him as a "potential Tudor-Boleyn heir"? George Boleyn sleeping with Francis Weston (this element did nothing to advance the story whatsoever, and seemed to be a case of Gregory including it simply because it's in Warnicke's book - she postulates that he may have been homosexual)? Mark Smeaton being Weston's musician? George Boleyn - who we know, because Gregory tells us, is gay - also happens to be sexually attracted to his sister ... and acts on it? Deformed incest babies? What the ...? The list goes on. Sorry, just no.
Again, an author is entitled to take liberties and deviate from the historical record for dramatic purposes. However, Gregory not only does not disclose that she has done this, but claims the contrary: "My Tudor novels are always driven by the history and the research determines the story. I do not invent events to change the story" (from her website). From an article in The Telegraph on 23 February 2008: "I invented a new way of writing the historical novel in which the 'history' part of the equation is just as important as the 'novel' part. ... I always choose the factual version."
For example, Gregory suggests that there is little or no evidence of Mary's rather colourful past at the French court, claiming François I's description of her as "una grandissima ribalda" and other like comments are: "made some years after the event as part of his scoring points off Henry VIII, there is no other corroboration for it … I also think it is part of the sexist approach of some historians who assume that if a woman has unlicensed sex with one man she is probably available to everyone" (a quote from PG's Readers' Group forum). Hence, Mary's reputation - from contemporary accounts - as a bit of a good-time girl of the French court is completely whitewashed over, but Gregory nonetheless feels free to assert as fact that Anne Boleyn was "a very bad person", who was guilty of everything from "at least one murder" to incest ("it is an interesting accusation … George would have been the obvious choice") based on no evidence whatsoever.
Ms Gregory had a golden opportunity to tell Anne's compelling story from a new perspective - her sister - but missed, badly. I respect the fact that many readers have enjoyed this novel for what it is, but I sincerely hope those whose interest in the period has been sparked by TOBG will go beyond Gregory's frankly bizarre alternate universe and sketchy bibliography, and discover the fascinating story of the real Anne Boleyn. Excellent non-fiction sources include Ives' "The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn"; and Antonia Fraser and David Starkey's works on the six wives. As for novels about Anne Boleyn - although dated, the best I've found are probably those by Margaret Campbell Barnes ("Brief Gaudy Hour") and Jean Plaidy ("Murder Most Royal").
...enough of. Having already read the Queens Fool, set in the time of Edwards reign, lets step back in time slightly to when Eddies father was head bigwig, and just beginning his famous reign as the Elizabeth Taylor of Tudor times. This is the other Boleyn Girl, the story of Anne Boleyn (who lost her head over the king) told from the point of view of her sister Mary.
The Story
Mary Boleyn is in her teens, and in the style of the day has already been ... ...Did I happen to mention the married man is none other than Henry V III, and the barren wife of course Catharine of Aragon.
Mary being young and innocent, she is easily persuaded by her family to act as the kings’ whore in order to gain advantage, lands and money for the rest of her family. She is made to do everything the king desires in the bedchamber, and to request payment in the form of favours for her family. Her family, along with the extended ...
Thehonesttruth 29.01.2005
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Other Boleyn Girl - Philippa Gregory
Advantages: A cant put down book Disadvantages: not all fact based
...is a rare moment. The moment I picked up this book I was hooked. I was taken into the world of Henry VIII and whisked into the life of Mary Boleyn. Phillippa Gregory's novel tells a tale of deceit, lust, adultery, and secrets and above all love. So what am I talking about?
Well it is whom I am talking about really. Mary Boleyn was the younger sister of the famous Queen of England, Anne Boleyn who married Henry VIII after he had his marriage to Katherine ... ...before Anne was ever on the scene. She was moulded by the Howard/Boleyn family from a very young age to do anything to propel the family to a higher status. Married at the age of 11 to William Carey only to have this marriage put aside and become Henry's mistress from the tender age of 13. Gregory tells of the love that Mary felt for the king and of the two children she bore him, Katherine and Henry, before he moved on to her sister. You are taken ...
Flissy 26.03.2004
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Other Boleyn Girl - Philippa Gregory
== Buying The Book == I bought ‘The Other Boleyn Girl’ at the same time as ‘The Boleyn Inheritance’, I got them from a book magazine that had them on offer. You can generally find them for between £4 and £7 each depending on where you look. Amazon for example has the same copy of the book as I have for £4.99 new, which in my opinion is a reasonable price for this particular book. == The Book == The Other Boleyn Girl is one in a series of books about ... ...the life of Mary Boleyn. Mary is Anne Boleyns younger sister, not much is known about her as the focus was always more on Anne than Mary. This book portrays Anne differently to how some other books portray her, she is shown through the eyes of a loving sister rather than the King or another onlooker. There are many twists and turns in the book, and parts where it is impossible to put down. Even though everyone knows how the book ends before even ...
buggsy2008 18.05.2009
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Other Boleyn Girl - Philippa Gregory
Advantages: interesting historical fiction Disadvantages: read the review
*NB* Apologies on the lack of originality with the title, but it's true. We've all heard of Anne, mother of Elizabeth I, seducer of Henry VIII, first wife to lose her head, he broke from Rome to be with her and founded the C of E...and so on and so forth. But Anne had a sister. Her name was Mary, and although at one point in time she was important, she soon became the "other" Boleyn girl. Hence, the title of the book and of my review. I recently ... ...(TQF) and enjoyed it to the point where I asked my mother to search for her other period novel, “The Other Boleyn Girl.” (OBG) She tracked down a copy at the British Council, and I eagerly devoured the book in the course of a bleak and rainy day. I must confess that I did not take to this book as much as I did TGF. I can’t really put my finger on an exact reason why, but instead of being endeared to the character of Mary Boleyn, I found myself being ...
mystikchick17 20.08.2004
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Other Boleyn Girl - Philippa Gregory
Advantages: A right riveting read Disadvantages: Not much
...She died bravely, addressing the crowd, and asking Jesus to receive her soul. She was almost certainly innocent.
Philippa Gregory’s 2001 novel, “The Other Boleyn Girl” takes us into Anne’s world via her sister, rival and friend, Mary. Winner of the Parker Romantic Novel of the Year Award in 2002, this romanticised account of Anne’s life, from her return from the French court to her death, takes a broad framework of historical fact and weaves a fiction ... ...even agree whether she was the older or younger sister, although she was certainly Henry VIII’s mistress before her ambitious, ruthless family set her aside for the unmarried Anne to take her place as his favourite. She was probably born in around 1508 (Anne’s date of birth is generally considered to be around 1506, and their brother George’s around 1503). Mary was married to William Carey, a courtier, when she was only 12 years old, and a Lady in ...
Zoe_South 10.11.2003
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Other Boleyn Girl - Philippa Gregory
Would you read it again?
Story
Characters
How does it compare to ...
Similar reviews »
Reviews which might be of interest for "The Other Boleyn Girl - Philippa Gregory"
Advantages: An excellent infomation packet novel. Disadvantages: Very long (some readers find this overwhelming)
The Boleyn Inheritance - Sequel to the best seller (now film) The OtherBoleynGirl. PhilippaGregory is a novelist who specializes in Historic Novels. She also has a PHD in eighteenth century literature.
The Boleyn Inheritance is written in the perspective of three women. Anne of Cleaves (fourth wife of Henry VIII) Kathryn Howard (Fifth wife) and Lady Jane Rochford (introduced to us as Jane Parker in the previous book).
Gregory tells us of Anne's journey to England from Germany and her marriage to the king. Of Kitty Howard's desperate attempt at pleasing her family and the king at just fifteen years of age! And Jane Parker's guilt at her betrayl of her husband and his sister (George and Anne Boleyn).
Gregory focuses on the scandals and visiousness of the Tudor Court of England under the rule of a vane and aging king ...
read would be Charles Dickens, for an insight into the Victorian era and PhilippaGregory for an insight into the Tudor period.
I read both Charles Dickens' Oliver and PhilippaGregory's The OtherBoleynGirl whilst on holiday earlier in the year and recently have finished PhilippaGregory's book The Boleyn Inheritance.
The Boleyn Inheritance begins in 1539 when King Henry VIII is searching for his forth wife in a hope of fathering a second son as back up in case anything happens to his first son, Edward. After seeing a painting of some potential wives, he settles on Anne of Cleves. However their first meeting does not really go to plan with her finding the King a rather disgusting man, so one of her ladies in waiting, a young Katherine Howard jumps in to try and save the situation, and catches the eye of the King.
The story ...
Advantages: Superbly written (as always), brings little-known information to light Disadvantages: I think Philippa Gregory has her favourites and I don't share her opinions
Following on from the success of her other novels set in the Tudor court (The OtherBoleynGirl, The Queen's Fool, The Virgin's Lover), PhilippaGregory goes back in time to bring us a novel following the early life of Katherine of Aragon. In her author's note, Gregory acknowledges that a lot of the information she found was a revelation for her - especially Katherine's upbringing at the battle camps of her royal Christian crusader parents, who are determined to fight the Moors (Moslems) out of Spain.
Katherine is often portrayed as a rather boring, downtrodden woman who would rather pray than have fun and dance at court. The Constant Princess blows this image out of the water. Katherine is raised as Catalina, Infanta of Spain, who has been betrothed to Prince Arthur, the Rose of England, since she was a toddler. She has been brought ...
New official film tie-in edtion of this magnificent tale of rivalry and jealousy set in the volatile court of King Henry VIII. The Boleyn family is keen to rise through the ranks of society, and what better way than to place their most beautiful young woman at court? But Mary becomes the king's mistress at a time of change. He needs his personal pleasures, but he also needs an heir. The unthinkable happens and the course of English history is irrevocably altered. For the women at the heart of the storm, they have only one weapon; and when it's no longer enough to be the mistress, Mary must groom her younger sister in the ways of pleasing the king. Now this bestselling novel is brought to life as a major film, starring Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman as the Boleyn sisters and Eric Bana as Henry VIII. The cast also features Kristin Scott Thomas and Mark Rylance. Directed by highly acclaimed Justin Chadwick (BAFTA and Emmy nominated for 'Bleak House') with screenplay by Peter Morgan (Oscar nominated for 'The Queen'; BAFTA winner for 'The Last King of Scotland'), the film will generate massive interest, coverage and book sales. From the PublisherFrom the author PHILIPA GREGORY I knew I wanted to write a novel set in the Tudor period and I was reading around in various history books when I came across a reference to Henry VIII launching a ship called the Mary Boleyn. I first thought the author must have made a mistake, I knew of the ship the Mary Rose, of course, and I knew the name Anne Boleyn, but I had not remembered her sister Mary, and I could not think why a girl from a relatively minor family at court should be so honoured. I started a programme of research which slowly pieced together one of the most compelling and complicated stories of love and betrayal, sex and family. Mary Boleyn was the youngest daughter of the Boleyn family, her older sister was Anne and her brother was the family's only son and heir. The Boleyns, like all the Tudor families were making their way upward in the world by the King's patronage and favour. Therefore their son was groomed to be his friend and was one of the young King's companions at court. When Mary was 14 years old she was brought to court as lady in waiting to Katherine of Aragon, and married to another of the King's friends, William Stafford. However she soon took the eye of the King and became his mistress. Her sister Anne joined her at court, and the entire family managed and encouraged Mary's relationship with the King which immediately brought them grants of lands, wealth, and position. Mary had two children by the King, the first a girl she named Catherine, and the second the son and heir that Henry would want so desperately later in life. They called him Henry and he took the surname of Mary's husband Stafford. However, while Mary was in the long six weeks of childbed it was always the King's habit to take another mistress and this time he took a liking to Anne. Unlike her sister, and unlike any woman before, Anne refused to become his mistress but retained his interest. For an unbelievable six long years Anne kept the most powerful man in England in love with her but did not become his lover. As we all know, she thus forced him to propose marriage, to put aside a faultless and loyal Queen, to destroy the unity of the Roman Catholic Church, and to make a martyr of one of England's greatest philosophers: Sir Thomas More. In my novel I show the Boleyns supporting Anne through this long waiting period and Mary, once the informal Queen of the court pushed back into the role of Anne's lady in waiting. In my novel Mary and George come to serve their sister and tolerate her bad moods and sweeten her as best they can while the King is slowly more and more entrapped. Mary's own life changes. She has two children to bring up and her husband dies of sweating fever. She falls in love, simply and without calculation, with a poor man in her uncle's service. She becomes his wife in secret, against all common sense and worldly ambition, and it is this passion of hers which really gave me a key to her character. She must have been a woman of extraordinary determination and desire, to turn her back on her family's ambition and pride and marry instead for love. Of all the letters she must have written in her life, by luck, the only one we have is her defending her decision to the king's Secretary Cromwell. She writes: "Well might I have had a greater man of birth and higher, but I ensure you I could never have had one that should a loved me so well nor a more honest man." (and in a powerful dig at her sister) "I had rather beg my bread with him than be the greatest Queen crowned." Extraordinarily, though the Anne Boleyn story ends in accusations of witchcraft, incest, treason and execution for Anne and for her brother George who was accused of incest with her, Mary's story ends happily and the girl who married for love inherits the entire Boleyn fortune and goes on to be a beloved wife and a great landowner whose children would be powerful politicians and courtiers at the court of their cousin, another unlikely lucky girl - Elizabeth. When i first came across the story of Mary it was in footnotes and asides in history books. Historians knew of her, but no-one had considered what a remarkable woman she must have been and what an extraordinary life she led. I remember keeping her very much to myself, absolutely determined not to talk of her before I had the full story and was able to write a novel to do her justice. Her story is an absolute gift to an historical novelist and I am still incredibly thankful to have found it and to have had a chance to look back through time and get an idea of a woman who lived at the heart of the most exciting and glamorous court in Europe, and made her own way.
Compare The Other Boleyn Girl - Philippa Gregory to other similar Historical Fiction Books »
Similar products and search queries by other users »
The Gregory, The Other Gregory, The Boleyn Gregory, The Girl Gregory, The Philippa Gregory, The Other Boleyn Gregory, The Other Girl Gregory, The Other Philippa Gregory, The Boleyn Girl Gregory, The Boleyn Philippa Gregory, The Girl Philippa Gregory, The Other Boleyn Girl Gregory, The Other Boleyn Philippa Gregory, The Other Girl Philippa Gregory, The Boleyn Girl Philippa Gregory
Are you the manufacturer / provider of The Other Boleyn Girl - Philippa Gregory? Click here
