The Other Boleyn Girl

Author: Philippa Gregory
Published: June 2002 (Simon & Schuster)
Category: Historical Fiction
Rating: 8/10

After reading The Other Boleyn Girl, I can see why Gregory has amassed so many fans. It was a historical fiction soap opera, full of horrible things that you can't believe a person would do out of ambition, greed, and desperation. In short, it was a train wreck that I couldn't stop rubbernecking at.

Everybody knows about Anne Boleyn, the first of Henry VIII's wives to be beheaded. The Other Boleyn Girl is narrated by her sister, Mary, mistress and supposed mother to two of the king's bastards. In the novel, Mary actually did give birth to two royal bastards, one a valued boy, but while pregnant with the boy, her family pushed Anne to take her place in the king's bed so at least his attentions wouldn't stray from a Boleyn girl.

I read The Boleyn Inheritance before this one, so I had a different view of Jane Boleyn, wife to Anne and Mary's brother George. I can see why readers would be prone to disliking Jane because she gave the incriminating testimony that convicted Anne and George of incest. The Boleyn siblings were predisposed to dislike Jane anyway, and due to their snobbiness and "exclusive club members only" attitude, they were partially to blame for her disloyalty to them. From the way Gregory wrote the story, the reader is led to believe that Anne and George did have a sexual relationship and produced a monster of an unborn child. That part of the book was disgusting, yet riveting.

Wheter it was Anne, Mary, or Jane, they were women and pawns to the men in their lives. They thought they were taking some control of their lives, but they really didn't have any at all. Anne was the worst of the three. She thought she could become queen without the assistance of her father or uncle, and they turned their backs on her. She pushed Henry to divorce Katherine, and make her his wife, setting a precedent to all the court families with attractive daughters: The king is fair game because he can make another mistress his queen even easier than before, now that the church is under his control.

This was a well-written book, absolutely engrossing, and full of historical details. However, I found that I didn't admire any of the characters.