The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory

I am now onto my next book: The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory. This is the sequel to The Other Boleyn Girl. It takes place, again, in Henry VIIIs court and features his fourth and fifth wives, Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard. In addition, there is much written about the character, Jane Boleyn, Anne Boleyn's sister-in-law (married to Anne's brother) who testified against Anne, leading to her execution. She is one of Anne of Cleves lady-in-waiting and ambitious to the extreme.

The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory

The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory. It is mesmerizing. Truly. I'm an addict for historical fiction anyway but add to that Henry VIII and any story regarding his wives and I'm hooked.

The book is narrated by Mary, Anne's younger sister. She was Henry's mistress at 14 before he became besotted with Anne (through wily and deceitful actions). The book explores the sibling rivalry that Anne and Mary both succumb to in their effort to place their family in higher standing with the Tudors. I love it. Anne - if a fraction of it is true - was quite vindictive and scheming; horrible really in terms of being a sister. It's no wonder she was beheaded.

AND...they have made it into a movie which is set for release December 21. It stars Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johannson. Should be interesting. I'm sure not nearly as good as the book but definitely worth a looksee.
 
Anyway, It was definitely a page turner and worth the read. Unfortunately, Anne still gets beheaded at the end, history didn't suddenly change. And don't get all pissed off that I ruined something because if you didn't know that Anne is beheaded, then you need to go back to your freshman World History class and get you some learnin!

I'm assuming the author stayed true to the facts. My guess is that she used a compilation of facts, put them together and wrote herself a spellbinder. That being said, its amazing to read how much Anne Boleyn was hated by England. She certainly never got to "enjoy" being queen. Not that she deserved it. If half of what's written about is true, she certainly was not a nice person and in fact, probably deserved to be executed. Her sister, Mary, however, was the "star" in the novel and, Jehoshaphat, it sure would have sucked to live in Henry VIII's time! Not just because the women had to wear flea traps or because they had to comb their hair every night with a "lice comb" but because women had no rights. I mean NONE. Even Anne was "ruled" by her jacka$$ uncle, if what was written is somewhat true. Anyway, read it. It's good. I am as enthralled as ever by that time period