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.
The fact that this story is told from Mary's point-of-view, and not from Anne's, makes all the difference in the world. In the tellings of the Tudorian Court, it is easy to fall into the tangle of sex, intrigue, and sin. Mary is an outlier to that world, and when she is pushed into it, she remains uncorrupted by their games. She does what she does with all the honesty she can muster, with her whole heart. Mary is not blameless - she cuckolded her husband, after all - but in a Gammorah, she comes out rather clean, which is how Gregory's story manages to retain an intriguing plot line and not fall away into endless scene of sexual endeavors. If the story had been written from Anne's point-of-view, this would be a much, much different tale.
As far as the writing goes, the story is compelling, even for the daunting size of the novel, and the characters are varied just enough that you can love or hate them all respectively, but they are complicated. You cannot really hate Anne, not to the core, when you see her through Mary's eyes, and Gregory does a marvelous job of building sympathy for event he worst of the characters.
Overall, a good enough read that I've now read it twice and enjoyed it equally both times, This second time, I indulged in the audiobook read by Susan Lyons (this is the unabridged one... I cannot abide abridged books. WHY.) and I thought she did a fantastic job of bringing all the characters to life, but Mary in particular. Well done.
Reading updates
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Started reading
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18 June, 2015:
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18 June, 2015:
Reviewed
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Started reading
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Finished reading
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18 June, 2015:
Reviewed