This was the second book I have read by Gregory. I absolutely loved The Other Boleyn Girl, so I was excited to read this book. This book focuses on Jane Boleyn, the wife of George Boleyn (Anne Boleyn's brother); Anne of Cleves, Henry VII's 4th wife; and Katherine Howard, Henry VII's 5th wife. Gregory does a good job showing each of the women's characters for who they really are. They are each very different with distinct personalities and depth of character. Katherine Howard is a silly, young, very shallow girl who became queen at a very young age, only to be put to death a short time later by a power hungry king. Anne of Cleves was a good queen and a strong woman . Jane Boleyn was a scheming woman who betrayed her husband and others in the hope of gaining more fortune and power for the Boleyn family. Seeing how these three women interact with each other and how their story plays out to make their mark in history is very interesting. Henry VII also has changed since I first "met" him in The Other Boleyn Girl (TOBG). He is now in very bad health, overweight and much older and all of these things cause him to be more temperamental and at times he appears to be mad with power. Overall, I did enjoy this book. It was interesting to find out what happened to the other characters in TOBG. I didn't quite like it as much as TOBG because there wasn't a character I liked or identified with as much as Mary Boleyn. But I did enjoy the book and I do look forward to reading more about the Tudor period and more of Gregory's other books. A solid 4 stars.
4 comments:
This is probably my second favorite of her books. I don't think that all of the rest of them are as engaging as TOBG, although the main character in "The Queen's Fool" is fairly engaging. I'm not too fond, however, of "The Virgin's Lover" (Elizabeth acts like an idiot, which she was not) or "The Constant Princess" (which was at least better than TVL). I'm hoping her new book about Mary, Queen of Scots is good, but I now much prefer Jean Plaidy.
Hi, wanted to stop by. Found your blog on LT's Early Reviewers and have signed up for the fun Tuesday event! :) Thinging Through Tuesday
Hi, found your blog on LT. I'm only just making my way around to everyone's blogs. I really enjoyed "The Other Boleyn Girl" and "The Queen's Fool". Like, Devourer, "The Virgin's lover was probably ranks last. I haven't read this book yet, but like you I'll probably enjoy it. I'll warn you off one of her other series though... I hated "Wideacre" ! If you need more info on that, check out my review at my blog... Anyways, your blog looks great and I look forward to more of your reviews :)
Hi - I also found your blog on LT and wanted to say hello. I second DevourerofBooks' recommend of Jean Plaidy - she's great. I have to say that I'm a bit of a sucker for historical fiction, though, and kinda love it all. =)
Post a Comment