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The Other Boylen Girl is a fantastic portrayal of Henry the man-slut saga told from the perspective from the 'other' Boylen girl.The characters are wonderfully described, and the court intrigue fun.The main concerno of this novel is the mammoth near 700 pages. I'm pretty sure around 200 pages of them could be cut. Most of the last part of the book is a slow decline into the inevitable beheadings and remarriages. Perhaps the author wanted to keep to some degree of historical accuracy, but the last act lacks tension and is a bit of a drag.Required reading for fans of Henry-man-whore and victorian type dramas, perhaps too long to frivulously read on an afternoon whim.
My review is below after my beef:It boggles my mind that people write essays on Amazon as to why this book was historically inaccurate and give it a one or two star even though the novel is blatantly fictional. It inspired me to research the era on my own and dig deeper - I love when a book does that. I give this book a strong four stars.
These same people discuss all their qualifications and degrees in their reviews to prove to us that they're smart and we should listen to them.the pretentious tone in most is nauseating. It's an easy read and gives you a sense of the era, without excessive descriptions. It also boggles my mind how these same people bash Gregory for her "lack of research" and for portraying Anne Boleyn in an unsavory light.
This was a great read and captivated me all the way through. All I have to say to those people is this.I guess you didn't do YOUR research before you bought the book and committed to reading it. That must have sucked for you.
It's a "never-boring" page turner and is FICTION based on real historical figures. So, if you simply want a joy ride and a glimpse of the Tudor period.pick up this book and transport yourself.
Seriously, one could have just replaced the names with modern day ones, and set the story in some inner city, and made it about drug dealers and prostitutes, and it would have more or less read the same. Now, the author considers her self a feminist, yet she portrays the active woman as a monster, and the "good" woman, as passive and bland. 600+ pages later, I've realized that I'm never going to get that time back. Now I'm seriously questioning their sanity.
For some reason the author decided that all allegations made against Anne were true. The author takes this to the extreme, and in her book, Anne sleeps with her own brother in an attempt to get pregnant. Sure a bunch of people I knew said it was great. First off, the main character. Oh, and if its not subtle enough, Anne has dark hair, and dark features, while the good sister, has blond hair and pale features.
Now, on to the history of this book. The author manages to reduce the Tudor Era into a cheesy soap opera. Besides Bella in Twilight, I'd find it difficult to find a more bland and boring main character. The writing is pretty bad also.
I'm still not to sure what possessed me to read this. Coincidence. I think not. This is the historical equivalent of saying that all the allegations made during the communist show trials of the 50's were true. and have lots of bouncing babies. The heavy use of foreshadowing doesn't help the situation. For some reason I kept reading, as I hoped it would get better.
I'm pretty sure people already know what happened to Anne, so they aren't going to be saying when they reach the end of the book "Darn.I should have seen that coming." In short, save your money, save your time and read some good historical fiction. Her sum goal in life seems to be, I want to marry for love. The author glorifies this, by contrasting her to her nymphomaniac of a sister, Anne, who's depicted as cruel and comes off as an insane harpy. At the end, the whole thing just comes off as offensive. Like Susanne Alleyn's A Game of Patience, or The Caviler of the Apocalypse.
The heroine, Mary has her faults and her positive traits that allows her to be a well rounded character. When she finally finds love, it becomes one of the best moments in the novel. Literary critics will point out that Gregory's style is not based upon her literary prowess and descriptions. She was recently married to a courtier, but it hardly mattered as the Boleyn and Howard family (Mary's mother belonged to the powerful Howard family) cared first and foremost about their advancement in the court and their female daughters were merely pawns in this game.Mary falls in love with the King, but everything goes awry. Any event of significance or social custom is slyly introduced so that the flow of the story is not broken.This book is a must read for historical readers, readers who seek a strong female voice (with flaws mind you), and those who mistakenly saw the movie, before reading the book. She is thrust into the bed of King Henry the VIII after it is learned that the Queen and him fear they will never bear a male heir. Mary at one point attempts to rekindle her relationship with her husband, but the fates have other plans in store for her.
Even her depiction of Anne's ascension to the throne is enough to make one shudder. Gregory is able to engage the reader with a solid voice with the main character Mary Boleyn to the infamous Anne Boleyn. He is simple, stoic, neither flashy nor grand and offers Mary the one thing she desires most and that is independence and an identity, which she wasn't afforded being a Boleyn sister.It's difficult to see how Mary wants to be loyal to the Queen, but is forced to betray her due to the hold that her family has on her. You will notice that Gregory excels at displaying the status of women as pawns during this time period through Mary's explanation of events. She gives him two children, but King Henry is fickle and starts to lose interest when the family throws Anne into the mix ensuring that he keeps himself interested in a Boleyn girl, any Boleyn really.What happens after the failed extra marital affair is where the story truly begins. The historical theories that are inserted are believable and the historical setting is seen as a backdrop, a detail, not something to become fixated and lecture the reader on. You will not be disappointed.
The surprises and strange situations were endless but plausible. What comes to mind recently is "The Terror" and "Pillars of the Earth" (both excellent). I haven't read much historical fiction. I won't go on about the premise of the story but this was a highly recommended read. I would put this one in with those. This was one of the fastest-flowing, impossible-to-put-down stories I've read. The amazing part is that the facts are indeed true. I've already ordered the "Queen's Fool" which from what I understand is the next in order.
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