The Constant Princess

Summary: Katherine of Aragon is born Catalina, the Spanish Infanta, to parents who are both kings and crusaders. At the age of three, she is betrothed to Prince Arthur, son and heir of Henry VII of England, and is raised to be Princess of Wales. She knows that it is her destiny to rule that far-off, wet, cold land.

Her faith is tested when her prospective father-in-law greets her arrival in her new country with a great insult; Arthur seems little better than a boy; the food is strange and the customs coarse. Slowly she adapts to the first Tudor court, and life as Arthur's wife grows ever more bearable. Unexpectedly in this arranged marriage, a tender and passionate love develops. 

But when the studious young man dies, she is left to make her own future: how can she now be queen, and found a dynasty? Only by marrying Arthur's young brother, the sunny but spoilt Henry. His father and grandmother are against it; her powerful parents prove little use. Yet Katherine is her mother's daughter and her fighting spirit is indomitable. She will do anything to achieve her aim; even if it means telling the greatest lie, and holding to it

About:

Author: Philippa Gregory

Pages: 393

Published: 2006

Review:

Rating:

/5 stars

The Boleyn Inheritance

Summary:

Three Women Who Share One Fate: The Boleyn Inheritance 

Anne of Cleves: She runs from her tiny country, her hateful mother, and her abusive brother to a throne whose last three occupants are dead. King Henry VIII, her new husband, instantly dislikes her. Without friends, family, or even an understanding of the language being spoken around her, she must literally save her neck in a court ruled by a deadly game of politics and the terror of an unpredictable and vengeful king. Her Boleyn Inheritance: accusations and false witnesses.

Katherine Howard: She catches the king's eye within moments of arriving at court, setting in motion the dreadful machine of politics, intrigue, and treason that she does not understand. She only knows that she is beautiful, that men desire her, that she is young and in love -- but not with the diseased old man who made her queen, beds her night after night, and killed her cousin Anne. Her Boleyn Inheritance: the threat of the axe.

Jane Rochford: She is the Boleyn girl whose testimony sent her husband and sister-in-law to their deaths. She is the trusted friend of two threatened queens, the perfectly loyal spy for her uncle, the Duke of Norfolk, and a canny survivor in the murderous court of a most dangerous king. Throughout Europe, her name is a byword for malice, jealousy, and twisted lust. Her Boleyn Inheritance: a fortune and a title, in exchange for her soul.

The Boleyn Inheritance is a novel drawn tight as a lute string about a court ruled by the gallows and three women whose positions brought them wealth, admiration, and power as well as deceit, betrayal, and terror. Once again, Philippa Gregory has brought a vanished world to life -- the whisper of a silk skirt on a stone stair, the yellow glow of candlelight illuminating a hastily written note, the murmurs of the crowd gathering on Tower Green below the newly built scaffold. In The Boleyn Inheritance Gregory is at her intelligent and page-turning best.

About:

Author: Philippa Gregory

Published: 2006

Pages: 518

Review:

This was the first fictional novel I've ever read centered around the queens Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard, and Lady Rochford. I actually enjoyed it, unlike The Other Boleyn Girl.

I found everything pretty believable - the way life at Henry VIII's court was portrayed in the early 1540's, long after Anne Boleyn. I enjoyed the way the author often tied in the 'legacy' of Anne. Overall, this was an enjoyable enough read, but I did have some problems with it - not on historical accuracy, but the way it was written.

I feel as though this story moved a bit too fast; Anne of Cleves arrives in England, Henry is disgusted by her, and after a few conversations with maid-in-waiting Kitty Howard, he declares that he is in 'love' with her. Just as soon as she became queen, Anne of Cleves and the king are divorced, and she is sent to live in the country. Honestly, I feel as though from the start, Jane had little to do with the story, and was just there for the author to make references to Anne Boleyn, who the book was titled after: The Boleyn Inheritance. And then, when Anne of Cleves is divorced and goes to live in the country, she has almost nothing to do with the story, and is quite meaningless to it. 

The story continues to move to fast; in fact, right after Katherine Howard and Henry are married, in a flash, it's over: her adulterous rampages are discovered, the king won't see her, and it's off to the tower for little Kitty Howard, her lovers, and Jane Rochford. Also, I was surprised that this book did not include Katherine running in the Long Gallery to try and see the king before her arrest.

It's hard to say where the climax of this story is, or the resolution, and, again, I feel it went a bit too fast. Perhaps it's because not much is known about Kitty Howard and her reign as queen, other than that, like her cousin Anne, she was beheaded for adultery. While I was left wanting more from this book, I did find it enjoyable, and more accurate than The Other Boleyn Girl, and would recommend it to anyone that enjoys Tudor Era novels, and, of course, has some prior knowledge to 16th century Europe (or you'd be lost as to what is going on!).

Rating:

3 stars/5 stars

The Virgin's Lover

Summary:

As a new queen, Elizabeth faces two great dangers: the French invasion of Scotland, which threatens to put Mary Queen of Scots on her throne, and her passion for the convicted traitor Robert Dudley.

But Dudley is already married, and his devoted wife Amy will never give him up, least of all to an upstart Protestant Princess. She refuses to set her beloved husband free to marry the queen; but she cannot prevent him from becoming the favorite and the focus of the feverishly plotting, pleasure seeking court.

Others too oppose the marriage, but for very different reasons. William Cecil, the queen's wisest counselor, knows she must marry for policy; her uncle hates Dudley and swears he will murder him first. Behind the triangle of lovers, the factions take up their places: the Protestants, the priests, the assassins, the diplomats and the moneymakers. The very coin of England is shaved and clipped to nothing as Elizabeth uncertainly leads her bankrupt country into a war that no-one thinks can be won.

Then someone acts in secret, and for Elizabeth, Dudley and the emerging kingdom, nothing will be as planned.

Blending historical fact with contemporary rumor, Philippa Gregory has created a dark and tense novel of Tudor times, which casts Elizabeth I in a light no one has suggested before. Passionate, fearful, emotionally needy, this is a queen who will stop at nothing.

About:

Author: Philippa Gregory

Year Published: 2004

Pages: 441

Review:

My first novel about Queen Elizabeth I. I've read at least five novels of her mother, Anne Boleyn, and one biography about her, but I've never tried at a historical fiction novel of her. For the most part, I did enjoy this book; I liked the writing style and my attentions were caught early on. Beginning this story, I had high expectations for it, and they were mildly let down.

Firstly, what I disliked about this story. I still feel the author's grudge over Anne Boleyn; I feel it carried on to her daughter, Elizabeth I. Queen Elizabeth I is known for her strength from childhood to queenhood. I don't feel that this novel captured that; it portrays Elizabeth as a dependent, needy, and emotional brat. Also, there is no protagonist in this novel; no antagonist (other than the French, perhaps?). I feel almost as though the author wants you to hate all the characters. Elizabeth, the marriage-destroyer and brat, Robert Dudley, the over-ambitious cuckold, Amy Robsart, the annoying, emotional, and clingy 'inconvinient' wife - while I adore the historical figure of Elizabeth I, I disliked her in this novel, nor did I like Robert Dudley or his wife.

Beyond character portrayals and what not, this book had no plot whatsoever. It was simply a friendship-turned-romance between Elizabeth and Robert, which excited me at first, with some historical events in the background, and it just continued like that. More progress on the war with the French, more progress in Elizabeth's and Robert's relationship: nothing solid really happening. I did enjoy the flirtation between the queen and her master of horse, but after a while, the same sequence of events got pretty boring. Nothing really changes until the end, which I don't want to spoil for you.

What did I like about this novel? I enjoyed the writing and the strong romantic dynamic. I like how the English battles with the French were described in a non-textbook sort of way, and how, since this novel wasn't in first person, you could get inside all the characters' heads! What also interested me was the idea that the Virgin Queen Elizabeth had sexual relations with Robert Dudley. Now I've never even considered Elizabeth having sexual intercourse with anyone, so this was a very interesting theory to me.

Overall, this was an entertaining read with a surprising ending (though not a very strong one - I was left wanting a lot more) and romantic elements. My only problem was that it seemed to just drag on. It didn't follow a plot. But, I would recommend it to anyone curious as to the early years of Queen Elizabeth I's reign.

Rating:

2.5 stars/5 stars

The Other Boleyn Girl

Summary:

When Mary Boleyn comes to court as an innocent girl of fourteen, she catches the eye of Henry VIII. Dazzled by the king, Mary falls in love with both her golden prince and her growing role as unofficial queen. However, she soon realizes just how much she is a pawn in her family's ambitious plots as the king's interest begins to wane and she is forced to step aside for her best friend and rival: her sister, Anne. Then Mary knows that she must defy her family and her king, and take her fate into her own hands.

A rich and compelling tale of love, sex, ambition, and intrigue, The Other Boleyn Girl introduces a woman of extraordinary determination and desire who lived at the heart of the most exciting and glamorous court in Europe and survived by following her own heart.

About:

Author: Philippa Gregory

Year Published: 2001

Pages: 661

Review:

All that I took away from this book, was that Philippa Gregory hates Anne Boleyn (although I can't imagine why), and so to write a book that makes a kind, benevolent, beautiful and purely innocent woman appear a shallow, petty, selfish, stuck-up, and desperate adulteress, she put aside fact and created a work of utter fiction.

I hated this book, honestly. I adore who the Queen Anne Boleyn truly was (not the dark, Hollywood-ized versions of her), and the history of Tudor England, which this book had none of. Another flaw of this novel (one of many) is that Mary Boleyn wasn't such a huge part in Anne's life; sometimes they went years without seeing the other. Henry and her did have a quite infamous affair, but he never acknowledged that Catherine and Henry Carey were his bastards as he did Elizabeth Blount's Henry Fitzroy.

Mary wasn't all that sweet. She was the mistress of two kings (Henry VIII and Francis) after all. When banished from court, she wasn't happy to live the modest life of a farmer's wife - give me a break! She sent a letter begging to be allowed back to court.

Gregory also strongly implies in this book that in Anne's desperation to produce a male heir for Henry, she slept with her own brother and others. This was so untrue. Here are just a few reasons why Anne would never commit adultery:

1) Anne was very religious and did not want to ruin her chances at a happy afterlife by sinning so terribly against her husband and God.

2) She loved Henry and was faithful to him from when they were young and courting, to older and unhappily wed.

(Also, one has to take into account that Henry was desperate for a male heir, and for the younger and perhaps prettier and sweeter Jane Seymour: he would do anything, including charge Anne for adultery, to get rid of her, make Jane his wife, and have sons. Whether Anne was guilty or not, he didn't care. For all we know, he knew Anne was innocent, but he was so terribly desperate for a boy, and perhaps even a touch mad.)

Back to the book though, of course.

Now for the few things I liked about this book. While her portrayals of the characters were terrible and totally inaccurate, I did enjoy her style of writing. (No one can deny Gregory is a fine writer and storyteller). If there was a hint of truth in it, I would have liked this book, I honestly would have. She seemed to write about events happening well enough, although really all this book was, was sex scenes, talk of 'whore tricks,' and other crude things.

I wanted to like this book; I really did, considering it's sadly the most famous, iconic novel of Tudor England/related to Anne Boleyn. It honestly grieves me that, because of this book, so many have the wrong idea that Anne was a bitch and a whore, which she wasn't.

So, to conclude, who would I recommend The Other Boleyn Girl to? Perhaps those who already have their minds made up about hating Anne Boleyn. This book would be perfect for you. But, to those with common sense and who enjoy real historical fiction, I would recommend not reading this book. Especially to Anne Boleyn fans; it would really just be too painful to read how she was portrayed in this book. I know it was painful to me.

Alas, this book was more fiction than historical fiction.

I am very sorry to those who liked this book; I actually didn't.

Rating:

1 star/5 stars