Series: Book 2 in the The Tudor Series series
Rating: ****
Tags: Fiction, Historical fiction, Britain, Lang:en
Summary
Sisterly rivalry is the basis of this fresh, wonderfully
vivid retelling of the story of Anne Boleyn. Anne, her sister
Mary and their brother George are all brought to the king's
court at a young age, as players in their uncle's plans to
advance the family's fortunes. Mary, the sweet, blond sister,
wins King Henry VIII's favor when she is barely 14 and
already married to one of his courtiers. Their affair lasts
several years, and she gives Henry a daughter and a son. But
her dark, clever, scheming sister, Anne, insinuates herself
into Henry's graces, styling herself as his adviser and
confidant. Soon she displaces Mary as his lover and begins
her machinations to rid him of his wife, Katherine of Aragon.
This is only the beginning of the intrigue that Gregory so
handily chronicles, capturing beautifully the mingled hate
and nearly incestuous love Anne, Mary and George ("kin and
enemies all at once") feel for each other and the toll their
family's ambition takes on them. Mary, the story's narrator,
is the most sympathetic of the siblings, but even she is
twisted by the demands of power and status; charming George,
an able plotter, finally brings disaster on his own head by
falling in love with a male courtier. Anne, most tormented of
all, is ruthless in her drive to become queen, and then to
give Henry a male heir. Rather than settling for a
picturesque rendering of court life, Gregory conveys its
claustrophobic, all-consuming nature with consummate skill.
In the end, Anne's famous, tragic end is offset by Mary's
happier fate, but the self-defeating folly of the quest for
power lingers longest in the reader's mind.
Before Henry VIII ever considered making Anne Boleyn his
wife, her older sister, Mary, was his mistress. Historical
novelist Gregory (Virgin Earth) uses the perspective of this
"other Boleyn girl" to reveal the rivalries and intrigues
swirling through England. The sisters and their brother
George were raised with one goal: to advance the Howard
family's interests, especially against the Seymours. So when
Mary catches the king's fancy, her family orders her to
abandon the husband they had chosen. She bears Henry two
children, including a son, but Anne's desire to be queen
drives her with ruthless intensity, alienating family and
foes. As Henry grows more desperate for a legitimate son and
Anne strives to replace Catherine as queen, the social fabric
weakens. Mary abandons court life to live with a new husband
and her children in the countryside, but love and duty bring
her back to Anne time and again. We share Mary's helplessness
as Anne loses favor, and everyone abandons her amid
accusations of adultery, incest, and witchcraft. Even the
Boleyn parents won't intervene for their children. Gregory
captures not only the dalliances of court but the panorama of
political and religious clashes throughout Europe. She
controls a complicated narrative and dozens of characters
without faltering, in a novel sure to please public library
fans of historical fiction. Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State
Univ., Mankato
From Publishers Weekly
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.From Library Journal
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.