The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory

The Other Boleyn Girl (Plantagenet and Tudor Novels, #9)

by Philippa Gregory

Politics and passion are inextricably bound together in this compelling drama. The Boleyn family is keen to rise through the ranks of society, and what better way to attract the attention of the most powerful in the land than to place their most beautiful young woman at court? But Mary becomes the king's mistress at a time of change. He needs his personal pleasures, but he also needs an heir. The unthinkable happens and the course of English history is irrevocably changed. For the women at the heart of the storm, they have only one weapon; and when it's no longer enough to be the mistress, Mary must groom her younger sister in the ways of the king. What happens next is common knowedge - but here it is told in a way we've never heard it before, with all of Philippa Gregory's characteristic perceptiveness, backed by meticulous research and superb storytelling skills.

Reviewed by Whitney @ First Impressions Reviews on

5 of 5 stars

Share
Like Elizabeth Taylor's husbands, a percentage of people can rattle off most of Henry VIII wives and like Richard Burton, Anne Boleyn is always among them. But what of her sister Mary, the King's first choice, the other Boleyn girl?

The Other Boleyn Girl writes like an autobiography, through the eyes of an innocent young girl who is played like a pawn and does what she is told. Mary comes to court when she is just 14 and very naive of the ways of the world. Soon after her appearance at court she catches the eye of the King and the Boleyn family pounces on the chance to raise their fortunes. We shadow Mary into the royal bedroom both as his lover and then as sister-in-law and learn of the conniving, backstabbing that takes place behind the curtain. It is the soap opera of the 1500s.

Gregory's work of historical fiction is soaked in detail as rich as the dresses Mary wore herself, from the descriptions of dress and scenery to the period itself. The magic about this book is that the reader knows going in that Anne will die (he still has 5 more to go) but the question is how? Yet somehow, despite this fact the author still has the reader hanging on every word.

Knowing nothing about the Tudors (or almost nothing) this book was very interesting to me and made me want to dig a little deeper into that period of time; that is one thing about historical fiction, if the story is good enough I want to learn more on the subject, separate fact from fiction so to speak. The Other Boleyn Girl kept me up late at night (10:01) and would highly recommend it.

Last modified on

Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 7 September, 2011: Finished reading
  • 7 September, 2011: Reviewed