An entertaining and involving version of a well-known story. 4/5 stars.
The blurb: 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, Mary falls in love with both her golden prince and her growing role as unofficial queen. However, she soon realises 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 fate into her own hands.
My take:
Back in October 2015 I read and reviewed The Other Queen, which was ok, but I was expecting more from Phillipa Gregory. However, as the writing was good and my real issue was with Mary Queen of Scots and the other characters, I was keen to give Gregory’s works another go.
And I’m glad I did. The Other Boleyn Girl was exactly what I was expecting and it was very good. The historical facts of the rise and fall of the Boleyns in the court of Henry VIII are so dramatic and scandalous they have provided rich fodder for various authors, including Hilary Mantell and her two Booker-prize-winning novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies (excellent, by the way). But while Mantell shows us the story from the viewpoint of Thomas Cromwell, Gregory gives us the experience of Mary Boleyn, the first of the Boleyn girls to be handed over to Henry VIII by a ruthless clan in search of increasing levels of royal favour.
The choice of Mary as a channel for the more well-known story of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII is excellent because, unlike her shrewd and selfish sister, the younger Boleyn girl is likeable. Also, Mary’s story has a relatively happy ending, something which softens the more horrific and depressing parts of the tale. Although, that said, choosing a female viewpoint (as opposed to Mantell’s choice of Cromwell) means we are given close-up views of the more terrifying aspects of childbirth and pregnancy in the early sixteenth century. There are a few scenes which certainly aren’t for the squeamish.
I was also impressed with Gregory’s complex portrayal of Anne Boleyn which refuses to paint her as simply a self-serving, nasty piece of work who entirely was to blame for her own downfall. Gregory’s Anne is also a victim; a young woman forced to live her life continually responding to the whims of powerful men. And if you had no sympathy for her before her marriage to Henry, it’ll come soon after.
Be warned: this is a long book. My edition clocked in at over 520 pages and the type was very small. If you are on a deadline to get a number of books read, perhaps keep this for a quieter week. But please don’t let the length put you off: it is to Gregory’s credit that she held my interest over the entire length of this book, even though I knew the details of the story already.
Overall: if you haven’t read any of Gregory’s books, this would be a good place to start. Just make sure you have time to commit to such a lengthy read.
Have you read The Other Boleyn Girl? Seen the film? Are you a fan of Gregory’s books? Any recommendations for what I should try next? Let me know!
Art and Soul 
Ive always wanted to get into historical stories. Thanks for a great post. ☺
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Thank you! This is one of the better ones. I always find Tracy Chevalier very reliable as well 🙂
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Thats good to know
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This is a guilty pleasure book of mine. I’ve got a few of her others…sometimes the writing makes me shudder but they are good yarns!
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And this is such a good source story, you can’t really go wrong! 🙂
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This review has me motivated to pick up the copy that’s on my bookshelf! 🙂
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It’s a very entertaining approach to the story. She struck gold when she decided to focus on Mary. I hope you enjoy it 🙂
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I’ve never been much of a fan of historical fiction but sounds like this would be an interesting read. Glad you enjoyed it.
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It’s a good mixture of fact and fictional characterization. Choosing Mary as the main character was a very good choice as it gives the author greater freedom to include romance elements. It’s long but never dull! 🙂
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I remember watching the film a while ago and really enjoyed it. Sounds like the book is as good or better.
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The book is usually better! 🙂
Also, the book is so long I imagine they had to cut a lot to squeeze the bones of the story into a film, so you probably lose a lot of the little details which make the book so enjoyable.
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Great review! I’ve always wondered about this book cos I read others by her and they’ve been hit and miss, but I like the concept for this one.
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Thank you! I don’t think you can go far wrong with this story – the facts themselves are sensational enough 🙂
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Glad you liked this one! Her books on The Cousins War are also very good and her latest about Kateryn Parr is one of my favorites also.
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Ooo! Thank you, I’ll keep that in mind. She a very good writer, I imagine the quality only varies with the characters and particular story.
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My daughter who is really interested in the Tudor period keeps urging me to read this series and I still haven’t got around to it – your review may have just persuaded me that it is time to change that. I do like the fact that the author hasn’t chosen the easy path in the ways she portrays Anne Boleyn too… great review!
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Thank you!
I think her portrayal of Anne was one of the things which most impressed me. Just when you think you can put her in the “nasty, cunning cow” box, you see a part of her which reminds you how young she was and how she was as exploited as her sister.
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I don’t usually read historical books, but I have a bit of a fascination with Anne Boleyn, so I’ve wanted to read this for a while! Great review!
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Thank you! I agree 🙂 I have a bit of thing about all the Tudors, but all the shenanigans around getting rid of Catherine of Aragon to replace her with Anne Boleyn are fascinating!
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I’m glad you were able to enjoy this one! I forgot to ask last time: have you watched the film version with Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson?
Also, I just have to say that I adore Mantel’s series and cannot wait for the next book to come out. I have a deep love affair with Henry VIII and historical fictions in general!
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I’ve seen bits of the film when channel hopping but the next time it’s on I’ll make a point to watch it 🙂
I love the Mantell books. Oddly, Thomas Cromwell was a favourite of my history teacher who always felt he was hard done by. So I was primed to like the books!
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Remember those childbirth parts. Ugh! Horrifying !
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I know! Made me very grateful for modern medicine!
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