The Other Boleyn Girl
“You can smile when your heart is breaking because you’re a woman.” – Philippa Gregory, The Other Boleyn Girl.
So, I think we can all agree, Henry VIII was a bit of a pimp. Six wives, numerous mistresses and illegitimate children. And (I am assuming) a great love of bacon.
The most notorious wife by far was Anne Boleyn. Yet The Other Boleyn Girl focuses on Anne’s elder sister Mary. The other Boleyn girl.
Because I’m a neurotic freak when it comes to details, prepare yourselves for a short and wildly interesting history lesson.
Mary was the oldest child of the noble Boleyn family, who married young and went to court. Marriage was a treaty, a negotiation of money and power between two families, and women were the bargaining chips.
Once at court, she caught the eye of a young and handsome Henry VIII. He went straight for her and her power hungry family placed her deliberately in front of him. Because she was a woman and had to do as she was told, she had to become his mistress.
Then, her sister Anne appeared onto the scene, having recently returned from France. She was beautiful, intelligent, could hold a witty conversation and refused to give in to Henry’s demands. He, of course, fell head over heels.
Mary was no longer valuable to her family, who lost interest in her and instead pushed Anne into the forefront of Henry’s eye-line.
But that’s far from the end of Mary’s story.
Philippa Gregory took the fairly unknown life of Mary Boleyn and turned it into a beautifully written novel. Obviously artistic license has been taken, but it’s done so well it doesn’t matter.
This book was bought for me a few years ago by a relative who thought it would be my kind of thing. I was fairly indifferent, but obviously I was not going to turn down a free book. I’m not an idiot.
But I literally could not put it down.
If you love the Tudors and are a sucker for a well – written romance, you NEED to read this. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it changed my life or anything, but it increased my interest in that time period so much that I went on to study it at A Level.