The Other Boleyn Girl (2001 original; edició 2007)

This book has been sitting on my shelf for a few years. I bought it because my cousin recommended it to me, and since that time I have had many many other recommendations. It just always seemed their was something a bit more pressing to read.

I finally started to read it last Sunday evening and finished it Wednesday morning. I enjoyed it so much I kept looking for excuses to leave what I was doing and go back to it. Gregory develops her characters extremely well, and they grow through the book in a way that is quite engaging. It must be remembered that except for those known facts her story is quite fictional. However, she develops the plot so well that I had to keep reminding myself of that fact. I do wish she had continued the story for a little longer. I cannot help but think thee could be a great deal of story development between the death of Anne and the marriage of her children to the next generation of courtiers and nobles.
( )

The year is 1521. One of Mary Boleyn's uncle has just been ceremoniously executed; beheaded in front of the entire watchful community. Married at twelve years old, aristocrat Mary Boleyn no longer thinks life is a joke. She definitely isn't laughing when her father and uncle start putting Mary in King Henry the VIII's way. The devious plot is to woo the philandering king away from his Spanish wife who, horrors upon horrors, hasn't been able to produce an heir to the throne. Mary, successfully in capturing Henry's attention, also succeeds in giving Henry first a daughter and then a much needed son. Unfortunately, despite wanting this heir to the throne, King Henry desires every last ounce of Mary's attention. When motherhood agrees with Mary and she starts to dote on her children more than the needy king, she quickly loses favor with Henry and his court. This isn't good. The more dear a Boleyn girl is to the throne, the more her family benefits. Which is why no one cares when Mary's sister, Anne, begins to seduce the king right under Mary's nose. Never mind the king is married. Never mind that Mary is married. You get the picture. King Henry the VIII switches love interests as often as the tower beheads people.
The moral of the story is stand too close to the sun and you will get burned. Or beheaded. ( )

I've read this book countless times and it remains one of my favorites. It is because I like Mary Stafford nee Boleyn. I like watching the way she grows throughout the book and I like watching the changes in Anne Boleyn's personality. But my favorite part of the Mary's is when Queen Anne is arrested, being held in the tower, Mary comes to her defense. She mentions tutoring Anne in "whorish tricks", the constant pressure to keep the king's favor and to get pregnant at all costs. She asked, "Isn't it we, Howards who put her here in the first place?" In "The Other Boleyn Girl" you can see the contrast between the two Boleyn girls, and clearly, Anne wanted to be Queen and Mary did not. Mary is always driven by love. ( )

http://www.monniblog.com/2008/03/the-other-boleyn-girl/ ( )

I enjoyed this way more than The Queen's Fool, the only other Philippa Gregory I've read. Mary Boleyn felt like a fully fleshed character in a way that the other book's narrator never did. I still wasn't impressed though; I feel like there are plenty of other treatments of the era and people that are better done however.

I suspect I will not be picking up any more of Ms. Gregory's book; there are too many awesome authors in the world for me to not be picky. ( )