Book Info:
The Other Boleyn Girl
by Philippa Gregory
Paperback: 672 pages
Publisher: Touchstone; (January 22, 2008)
ISBN-13: 9781416560609
The Other Boleyn Girl
by Philippa GregoryPaperback: 672 pages
Publisher: Touchstone; (January 22, 2008)
ISBN-13: 9781416560609
Genre: Historical Fiction
Source: My Shelves
Rating: 4/5
Two sisters competing for the greatest prize: the love of a king
When Mary Boleyn comes to court as an innocent girl of fourteen, she catches the eye of Henry VIII. Dazzled by the king, Mary falls in love with both her golden prince and her growing role as unofficial queen. However, she soon realizes 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 her fate into her own hands.
For some reason, I seem to collect a lot of historical fiction, mostly based on other people's recommendations, but I rarely get around to reading these books. This year I used a couple of my challenges to help get some of these HF books off my shelves. While I may be one of the last people to actually read The Other Boleyn Girl, I am happy to be able to finally mark it off my list.
Anne comes across as devious and self-centered, but as you see her through her sister's eyes it softens her a little. I also found the relationship between the Boleyn siblings very interesting. Their closeness seemed to be a great comfort to them, but that didn't seem to be with out consequence either.
I haven't read any HF from this time period, but can see why so many people get sucked in and read everything they can about these people. Seeing the same events from another perspective can change everything. I can't speak to the historical accuracy of The Other Boleyn Girl, but I was drawn into the story and will be seeking out more books set during this time period. 4 stars
5 comments:
Saw the movie but haven't read the book. I learnt some more about the Boleyns from the movie - tragic story.
I know, there are some that obsessively read everything to do with this era. I have a friend that stood in line to see this movie on opening day! I guess I'll have to give these a shot someday!
The Other Boleyn Girl is one of my favorite reads of 2009 so far. I really like it, historically accurate or not. The movie was good too and I liked the choice of actress for both Mary and Anne.
I really loved this book, and couldn't put it down until I finished it. I think I read it over the space of a couple of days, and I was totally enthralled. I am so glad you liked it, and if you haven't read it already, The Queen's Fool was really good as well.
Love this book! I just downloaded The Boleyn Inheritance on my eReader. It's supposed to be really good as well.
Have you seen the movie for this one? It doesn't do the book justice at all.
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