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 Phillipa Gregory does it again September 21, 2008
R.G (u.k essex)
In this brilliant novel we get to see three women, one evil and guilt stricken the other shy and gullible, and the third women young beautiful and vain.
After reading the other Boleyn girl thirst, I was able to understood the true cruelty of Jane Boleyn (lady rochford) in this book once again she only thinks of herself , she befriends both of henrys new queens with only her interest in mind. She is most obsessed with Anne Boleyn and her brother George Boleyn. She feels the guilt as it was her who help put both brother and sister to death. She is a jealous vile women who gets her just deserts as someone uses her to his own advantage, giving her hopes and dreams and then easily taking it away from her.
Anne of Cleves is very shy and temperamental, being brought up by a strange and troubled brother and an unforgiving mother, she is sent away to London to marry the great king Henry the 8th who is old and know as exciting as he was when he was younger. King Henry likes to pretend to dress up as a poor man or other costumes so people don't know that he is king and call him a handsome stranger .(though he is not now everyone pretends that he is not to upset him) when he sees his bride and is dressed up he goes to kiss her. She not knowing that it is the king but thinking that it is a poor beggar spits and screams at him, everyone is shocked and the king fuming. The marriage did not last long as she was divorced, but was gladly be known as the kings friend speaking of her like a sister, as she was a kind person and the king had a fondness to her.
Katharine Howard is young beautiful and full of life. She is a very vain little girl. She has been brought up by her grandmother . Her cousin was Anne Boleyn , and when she and her childhood crush have sex for the first time she know what desires. Her love and desires lead her to trouble when she is queen of all England, and she takes up an affair with the irresistible Thomas Culpeper, then her former childhood love returns and scandal after scandal unfolds in the vain queens life.
This book was truly one of her greatest, I read this book after the other Boleyn girl, and of course this book was not as good, but it was truly mind gripping, I recommended anyone to read this book.
......divorced, beheaded...... August 31, 2008
Joanne D'Arcy (Portsmouth, UK)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is the story of 3 women, 3 very different women and 1 very odd man.
Katherine is just fourteen when she lands a job that thrusts her into the spotlight of Henry, the man whose riches and homes she wants to share but at the moment this is only a dream, in the wilful childlike head of hers, a head which does not understand the consequences of any of her actions.
Anne is new, she has been contracted into an arranged marriage to Henry, has only seen a portrait of him and him of her. However their first surprised meeting is not successful as she inadvertently pushes away the stranger who approaches her as a vagrant or ruffian; it is in fact Henry come to surprise his new bride.
Jane is the third and final women in this story. She is hanging on to her life after giving evidence that sent her husband and his sister to their deaths. Can she save herself this time or will her plotting and spying helps another person to their death?
Henry is a very odd man. After three seemingly unsuccessful marriages, he seeks an arranged fourth, but she physically rejects him most publicly on a surprise visit to see her. He blames her for his own impotency and the fact she has been promised to another, years previous, he seeks a divorce. He can then pursue Katherine, the young pretty and silly girl who flatters him and hopes her virility will bring him a son.
This could be any story, any place and any time but this is the story of Jane Boleyn (wife of George Boleyn and sister in law to Anne Boleyn) Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard and Henry VIII. Phillipa Gregory uses her research to weave together a fictional book about two of the lesser wives, that are normally discussed when you mention Henry VIII and his infamous marriages.
PG effectively puts across that Anne of Cleves is a Queen who is out of place and struggles to come to terms with everything that is new to her in a new country and also all in a new language. Katherine is portrayed as an empty headed girl that judges the success of her life on how many dresses she owns, jewels she can see sparkle and men that she lustfully pursues. At no point does she grow up and her death by execution sees the first insight that she is/was a girl in a very adult world. Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford is the catalyst in all of this and she uses her knowledge of her past misdemeanours to try and help both new Queens, but in the end does not see the plot against her.
PG portrays Henry VIII so effectively in my opinion that at times, I could smell the rotting mad king's leg and see that he was going rotten all over to be able to change his mind at will to get the result he wanted. You could be favour one day, but with your head on a stake the very next. The portrayal of an old man, whose health and desire for food and women actually were his downfall. A boy that never grew up and never should have been King, spent the rest of his life throwing his metaphorical dummy out when everything did not go to plan.
PG paints a wonderful, colourful rich picture of Tudor court that you can see the colour clothes, the sparkle of the jewels and the chatter of all the men and women who inhabit it. This is what drew me to read another one of these `Tudor' court novels. The structure of the book, switching between the three women telling their story of events is cleverly done and I found helped you look for sympathies or faults with each character and made it easy for the reader to understand them better and their motives. A worthy read.
 Rashomon for the Tudor Set August 11, 2008
Graceann Macleod (London, UK)
This novel is written from the viewpoint of three very different women - the naive yet quick-witted Anne of Cleves, the calculating Jane Boleyn and the greedy and childish Catherine Howard. They take turns by each chapter telling their view of events as they occur over a fairly brief period of time. Anne is set aside by the King in favor of Catherine, and it's the best thing that could have happened to her. She's the only one of the King's wives to survive a parting in a fairly benign (compared to the others) way.
Catherine ignores her revulsion in order to be the new Queen, all so that she can get pretty new dresses and jewels. She is completely and idiotically heedless of the dangers that await her in this vicious court and, even more stupidly, seeks comfort in the arms of a man within her new husband's household.
Finally, Jane Boleyn, the woman who pretends to be the friend of all the queens and really is only a friend to herself. She is only the marionette of the duke, the uncle of both Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, but she has plenty of evil all on her own, and was, based on her behaviour, quite possibly insane. I knew nothing of what happened with these three ladies so every page brought a new surprise, and the writing is so evocative of the period and illustrates emotion in such a compelling fashion that I was loath to set the book down until I had finished it.
Philippa Gregory's books gets knocked for being historically inaccurate, and that's a fair complaint. However, they provide an excellent introduction to the period and, once interested, a reader can continue into non-fiction discussions of the times about which she writes by seeking out the volumes listed at the end of each novel. I know that I will be doing exactly that.
Another EXCELLENT Read August 3, 2008
Mrs. A. M. Chadwick (Darwen, Lancashire, England)
This is the second novel I've read by Philippa Gregory's; it's also the sequel to 'The Other Boleyn Girl' which I've recently read and reviewed.
The book is based around Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard and Jane Boleyn. It's follows how their leave change when each become part of the court of Henry VIII.
Poor Anne of Cleves, leave her country to marry a king old enough to be her father, she is not how royalty should be, so she becomes another victim of Henry VIII, but he allows her to live but in exile, he replaces her with the cousin of his previous wife, Anne Boleyn).
Katherine Howard, a child and not ready to be queen due to her childish ways flirts her way to the throne only to wish she hadn't as the king is too old and sick, and he doesn't pay her the attention a husband should. Her roving eye falls onto Thomas Culpepper, but this story of two lovers can only end one way.
Jane Boleyn is constantly haunted by the death of a previous queen and her husband. She like the rest of the Boleyn girls do as they are told by family members, and is constantly just trying to survive suspicion, betrayal and death that surrounds the kings court.
The structure of this book is different to 'The Other Boleyn Girl', that book continually follows on with the story where as the sequel is split up into chapters where it deals with each of the ladies in turn. To me it made the book a little slow to get into at first, but once you'd got used to the structure it was just as enjoyable as the first.
The novel is a compelling and I will definitely read it again. This is another of Philippa Gregory's master pieces and I look forward to reading the others I have recently bought. :-)
Another novel worth every penny, whether you are male or female if you love history you'll love this. :-)
Just brilliant! July 26, 2008
Mrs. S. L. Weston (West Midlands)
This is my third PG novel having read TOBG and TCP then this one. I have to say I loved how it was written from three completely different view points. Although it is fiction based with real historical facts it was good to finally read something more of Katherine Howard as I find I know very little about her of all the wives.
I feel it gives more of an insight into Jane Boelyn and although I do not agree with the way in which she helped with the downfall of Anne and George and then Katherine, I certianly feel I get an understanding of why she acted out the way she did.
Again I am not to convinced on all the facts surrounding Anne of Cleves and that she was the ugly wife but I she was definitely one of the luckier wives in that he let her live albeit in fear until his death.
Katherine Howard or Kitty as I like to think of her, I felt for and sympathised with. I know in Tudor times you grew up more quickly but I do think she was uneducated and not as mature for her age as other woman of that time were. As a result of this novel, I am now very intrigued in finding out more historical facts on Kitty.
Overall, this book is a brilliant read and would suggest you read TOBG first and then follow on with this novel. If you are a fan of the Tudor period then the I would highly recommend PG's Tudor range as I have read most of them now and have not been disappointed at all.
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