The Other Boleyn Girl
5 journalers for this copy...
Found this at Bookbuyers in Mountain View on February 18th. I've been wanting to check it out so I'm quite excited :)
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Publisher's Weekly: 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.
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4/10/06: I really enjoyed this book! I was a bit worried when I saw it described as a 'romance' novel than a 'literature/fiction' book - what if I'd just picked up an average bodice ripper? But this book turned out to be very enjoyable, because I love historical fiction and this was replete with references to the history as documented at the time.
The characters seem a bit weak at times, I admit, with Anne being one of the biggest b*tches to walk the face of the planet and Mary seeming absolutely spineless for much of the book. A random detail from history - the report of Anne having a 6th finger - is omitted - I wonder if that has been proven to be erroneous, or was it removed merely to make Anne seem more attractive than ever? The odd relationship between the three siblings is touching and sometimes a bit disturbing - little surprise Henry used incest as one of the charges against the Boleyn family when they fell out of favor.
The court intrigue was fascinating and horrible - all these young girls with virtually no say in their lives dwelled in the palace with the Queen as her handmaids, and their families expected them to seduce the King out from under her nose. That is horrible. I feel so sorry for both the Queen, who has to be on the guard to be betrayed by friends, and the girls who likewise betray a woman they admire, possibly for a man they have no attraction to. Thank God courts like that have since disappeared and such practices are not common anymore.
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Publisher's Weekly: 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.
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4/10/06: I really enjoyed this book! I was a bit worried when I saw it described as a 'romance' novel than a 'literature/fiction' book - what if I'd just picked up an average bodice ripper? But this book turned out to be very enjoyable, because I love historical fiction and this was replete with references to the history as documented at the time.
The characters seem a bit weak at times, I admit, with Anne being one of the biggest b*tches to walk the face of the planet and Mary seeming absolutely spineless for much of the book. A random detail from history - the report of Anne having a 6th finger - is omitted - I wonder if that has been proven to be erroneous, or was it removed merely to make Anne seem more attractive than ever? The odd relationship between the three siblings is touching and sometimes a bit disturbing - little surprise Henry used incest as one of the charges against the Boleyn family when they fell out of favor.
The court intrigue was fascinating and horrible - all these young girls with virtually no say in their lives dwelled in the palace with the Queen as her handmaids, and their families expected them to seduce the King out from under her nose. That is horrible. I feel so sorry for both the Queen, who has to be on the guard to be betrayed by friends, and the girls who likewise betray a woman they admire, possibly for a man they have no attraction to. Thank God courts like that have since disappeared and such practices are not common anymore.
I've noticed that this is in the Top 100 Books on cliff1976's wishlists, so I'm putting it up for a Book Ring. This book is a part of my permanant collection, so I do expect it back when the ring is completed. The participants so far are:- thegoaliegirl - WA
- amber-h - GA
- Lise46 - IL
- gothamgal - OH
- ShelleN - WI
- bookhunter21 - MN
- atnaturesmercy - NJ
- genielady - WV
- lynlee4 - FL
- Rebemdee - CA (last)
If you would like to join, PM me. To keep shipping costs down, the book is limited to US residents only.
Journal Entry 3 by k00kaburra at mail in By mail, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases on Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Released 18 yrs ago (4/26/2006 UTC) at mail in By mail, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
RELEASE NOTES:
Mailed out today to begin the bookring! Enjoy!
Mailed out today to begin the bookring! Enjoy!
Received this book earlier this week, when I got back to WA after graduating from college and moving. I flew through this book. I had such a hard time putting it down. At first I was a bit worried by the amount of pages in the book, but that didn't stop me. I could have kept reading. I'll be reading another book by her soon as I loved this one so much. Thanks so much for sharing this book from your PC. I'll be mailing it soon!
Mailed to amber-h today via media mail... hope it arrives soon and that you'll enjoy it as much as I did!
I got this book in the mail a few days ago, and just now got a chance to journal it. I'm almost done with a book in front of it, then I'll start reading this one.
I have been extrememly remiss in journalling this book - it arrived in the height of my busy season and I failed to enter the appropriate data. On the upside, I did read it and greatly enjoyed it. I am pming the next in line and this will ship out as soon as I have the appropriate mailing address. Please forgive me for my slowness.
Can't wait to dive into this one!!!
Will send it along when I'm done with it..
Will send it along when I'm done with it..
