The scandalous true story of Mary Boleyn, infamous sister of Anne, and mistress of Henry VIII. Mary Boleyn, 'the infamous other Boleyn girl', began her court career as the mistress of the king of France. Francois I of France would later call her 'The Great Prostitute' and the slur stuck. The bete-noir of her family, Mary was married her off to a minor courtier but it was not long before she caught the eye of Henry VIII and a new affair began. Although a bright star at Henry's court, she was soon eclipsed by her highly spirited and more accomplished sister, Anne, who rapidly took her place in the king's heart. However, the ups and downs of the Boleyn sisters were far from over. Mary would emerge the sole survivor of a family torn apart by lust and ambition, and it is in Mary and her progeny that the Boleyn legacy rests.
I just completed this book the other day and was sad that it was over. The good news was that it was a pleasurable read. It really helped to give more information on Mary to make her less of a mystery and more well rounded as a person than a lot of the other non-fictions I've previously read allow. I liked how she gave all the pros and cons regarding the paternity of her children and the different schools of thought on that subject. All in all I am glad I've added this book to my collection.
Enjoyable Book
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 15 years ago
I was excited at the prospect of a new Tudor era book being out, and the first nonfiction one about Mary Boleyn. For that fact, I enjoyed it also because it didn't read like some literature for a college student to do a thesis on. However, I did get bogged down in the chapter about whether or not Mary's two children were Henry VIII's, and she flip-flopped around on what the answer might be (talk about beating a dead horse!) & then next thing I know she's talking later in the book as if it is an established fact that they were in his. Also, there was much said about her sister Anne, that if someone picked up the book to read in the mid-part, they might assume the book was about Anne Boleyn. But I realize that her sister's destiny was closely woven with Anne's. Despite all of that, it was an enjoyable book & worth the cost. I am planning on purchasing the other books by this author.
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