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 familys ambitious plots as the kings 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.

Gregory's novel opens and closes with two executions -- it begins with the execution of the Duke of Buckingham in 1521, and ends with the execution of Anne Boleyn in 1536. With this rather grim events framing her book, the novel proper starts in 1522, with Anne arrival at the Tudor court, where her elder sister, Mary, is already lady-in-waiting to Henry's wife, Queen Katherine. From the very beginning we see that while there is a bond that ties the Boleyn sisters together, there is also a deep rooted rivalry between them. It is a tense time at court: the queen (already quite a few years older than her husband) has yet to produce a male heir to the throne, and people are beginning to question if the aging queen will ever be able to bear children again. Some of Henry's advisers are even began to gently hint that he should put his Spanish wife aside and look for a younger more fecund wife. In the midst of all this intrigue, Mary soon catches the king's roving eye. Although she is married and still quite loyal to the queen, her family (her ruthless parents as well as her uncle, the powerful and equally ruthless Duke of Howard) decrees that she put her marriage and loyalties aside and cater to the whims of her king. Bedazzled, it doesn't take Mary very long to fall in love with both her golden king and her role as the his 'unofficial' wife. A few years and two royal by-blows later however, Mary is shunted aside when the king begins to loose interest in their relationship and her ambitious family fearful that they will loose all the power that they have gained, throws the more ruthless and seductive sister, Anne at the king's head. From then on Mary, her eyes finally wide open as to how low her family will stoop in order to gain power, watches from the sidelines as her family, led by Anne, begins their high stakes play for the queen's crown. Finally realizing that she can only depend on herself for her own future, Mary is inspired to take a few risks herself in order to gain some measure of happiness and security.

The sheer scope of this novel is gigantic -- there were so many things that were going on both on and off stage and the number of people that were involved in all these shenanigans! So that it was a treat to find that the novel unfolded smoothly and effortlessly, and that Gregory did not drop the ball once. She kept each chapter short and succinct, and yet still managed to give the reader an enthralling and exciting account of what was going on. I also liked the manner in which she depicted all the characters in this novel. From Queen Katherine who was portrayed not only as a loyal and loving wife, but also as an intelligent woman who saw and understood what was going on around her, even as she clung to the hope that the king would recover from his obsession with Anne; to the authour's chilling portrayal of the Boleyn family (father, mother, Anne and George). With a few well chosen words and phrases, she's paints them as wildly ambitious, ruthless and pettily cruel individuals, willing to use each other in order to achieve a particular goal. But the authour's characterization of Mary Boleyn was probably the best thing in the novel. Here we see a young and intelligent woman with a heart and a sense of morality that is constantly at war with her feeling of familial obligations. How Mary struggles with this dueling feelings and the decisions she makes -- sometimes good, sometimes bad -- is what makes this novel worth reading.

All in all, I'd say "The Other Boleyn Girl" is a rich and rewarding read.


Juvenile Rendition of an Infamous Affair   August 2, 2004
 192 out of 229 found this review helpful

I see that I'm in the minority in my opinion of the book, but I just couldn't stomach it. After reading some GREAT historical fiction by authors such as Sharon Kay Penman and Anya Seton, Philippa Gregory's prose seems so childish and simplistic, not to mention vulgar, in comparison. Anne's dialogue, specifically, seems so coarse and vulgar for someone who spent a period at the French court. Her attitude and personality seemed rather anachronistic to me; she acted more like a 20th/21st century hooker than a woman of the 16th century. Anne is so obviously portrayed as the villain in this book that Mary's placid, good natured personality seems too unbelievable and sickeningly sweet in comparison. Mary's just a rug for everyone else to walk on. Her simpering, mealy-mouthed personality just grated on my nerves.

As others have noticed, Gregory seems to ignore important historical facts just to make the story seem more sensationalized and juicy than it really is. Gregory puts more weight and emphasis on the crude and ugly rumors surrounding Anne Boleyn than I think they really deserve. She's got incest; a deformed, "demonic" baby; and witchcraft. These rumors certainly existed at the time, but Gregory presents them in such a way as to make them seem like historical fact, rather than lies concocted by the Church and factions opposed to Anne. In reality, this book isn't about Mary (the so-called "Other Boleyn Girl" in the title); it's about Anne. Mary is merely the guide on our tour of a clearly warped, tabloid account of the life and times of Anne Boleyn.

As other reviewers have also mentioned, some of the historical facts are blatantly wrong. In reality, Mary was the elder sister who had already spent a significant amount of time at the French court where she was a favorite. Thus, she should have been savvy and rather knowledgable about court politics, instead of the complete ninny that she's portrayed as in P.G.'s book. My problem with Gregory is that if she felt it was necessary to fudge historical facts (and very obvious facts, if you're at all familar with Henry VIII), besides giving credence to rumors worthy of the National Enquirer or Star, why did she even bother writing about the Boleyn's? She could just have easily written a complete work of fiction about two fictitious mistresses of the King, who happen to be sisters.

I'm a big fan of historical fiction and I can't recommend it as a good example of one. Phillipa Gregory's books are thin on history, and her voice is definitely twenty first century. She messes with history to suit the needs of her books. If you want to read some great HISTORICAL fiction (emphasis on historical) try "Katherine" by Anya Seton, "Sunne in Splendour" by Sharon Kay Penman or "The Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follett for starters. Unlike Gregory, these people really do their research and make it interesting! Yes, it's possible to make historical novels both interesting and historically accurate, yet fictionalized and believable all at the same time. After reading these authors, as opposed to Gregory, I actually felt as if I'd grown a few brain cells...and been entertained, to boot!



Incredible Historical Fiction   January 11, 2003
 152 out of 172 found this review helpful

The Other Boleyn Girl, is hands down the best piece of historical fiction I have ever read. Upon reading it, I have been searching for other books of its genre and subject matter to delve into.

Gregory made these characters come alive for me, and made me understand how difficult it was to live as a woman in the early 1500s. Mary was especially well crafted. At 13 years old she went from her forced marriage to being thrown into the King's arms as his mistress. The inner struggles she fought between being true to herself and her heart, or true to her family were especially poignant.

Anne Boleyn, the most famous and tragically terminated sister, is portrayed in such a venomous way. She would stop at nothing to get what she wanted, and to rise in power and prestige. In the end it killed her. But her character, as portrayed by Ms. Gregory, was compelling and convincingly ugly, despite her beauty.

King Henry VIII also jumped off the pages. He came off as a spoiled brat, even as he grew older, who always got what he wanted. He and Anne were well matched for each other as no level of deceipt was too high.

Ms. Gregory was brilliant in choosing Mary as the narrator of this book. In doing so, the manipulative and scheming nature of Anne was able to come alive, as was the unorthodox lifestyle chosen by George Boleyn, the brother. The relationship amongst the Boleyn siblings, in and of itself, could fill a novel. The complexities of a family struggling to maintain individual identities, while working to bring the family up to the highest level of stature is intense.

This book is a page turner; it is incredibly compelling, deep and fascinating. I learned a great deal about the monarchy of Henry VII as well as life in the court during that time period. At the same time, I found myself incredibly entertained and saddened when I reached the last page. I cannot wait for more from Ms. Gregory.


Silly, Sleazy, and Inaccurate   April 5, 2006
 56 out of 66 found this review helpful

I can say in all honesty this is the worst book I have read in many years; I wish I could rate it "one-quarter star." I only finished the book because I was on a 14-hour flight across the Pacific Ocean with nothing else to do. The writing is of extraordinarily poor quality, aimed at about a 6th-grade reading level. Worse, it seeks to make the heroine seem better than she was by degrading every other female around, particularly female family members. The main target for her vitriol is Anne Boleyn, who is portrayed as a psychotic monster (who eagerly has a long-term affair with her own brother, an accusation that no one else seriously believes). The author's twisted hatred makes one wonder if the author has a sister she hates, or possibly she hates all women on the planet and blames them for all her own personal problems.

The book portrays Mary as a sweet innocent, the only good woman in England. In reality, Mary Boleyn was sent as a young girl to the French court as a lady in waiting. She became a notorious international laughingstock because of her extreme promiscuity and lack of common sense and was brought home in disgrace. Her horrible reputation as beyond "easy," as well as her extreme youth and stupidity, temporarily appealed to Henry VIII. He used her, got her pregnant, and instantly forgot her existence. It was her bad example that caused Anne to hesitate so long before giving in to Henry.

The bad writing gets truly laughable in the "sexy" scenes and later scenes showing Mary "playing house" - - finding true happiness as the poor farmer's wife, with a smile on her face and a song in her heart in her jolly, neat little cottage, having fun learning to cook and clean and milk the cows - - at a time when a real, impoverished farmwife would be doing backbreaking work 14 hours a day, fighting for survival. How about a reality check here! In fact, one of the reasons I picked the book up in the first place was because I was hoping for some factual information on Mary's later marriage - - I know she married a commoner, not a wealthy man, but how poor were they? I assume he was a gentleman farmer with servants. It seems incredible that a member of the aristocracy would gladly and merrily move to a life of poverty, which would involve extreme hardship and not the fun and games the author stupidly portrays. If Mary really married a poor man and had to do all the work, it would have been a horrifying and shocking learning experience on her part, true culture shock, and not the joyful romp portrayed in this silly book.

All in all, this is a ridiculous and offensive book, insulting to anyone with intelligence and to any woman with any self respect.



Inaccurate at best   April 4, 2005
 54 out of 61 found this review helpful

The author lost my interest right off the bat when she proclaimed Mary to be the younger Boleyn girl. All historical sources agree that she was the elder daughter. That doesn't really matter to the story, so why not get it right? I was also annoyed by the portrayal of Mary as an innocent young girl when she first met Henry VIII...in fact, she had previously been the mistress of Francois I of France and had been kicked out of the French court for prostitution, which is why she returned to England while Anne remained in France. When Mary arrived at the English Court, an innocent she was NOT. I found the author's portraits of all 3 Boleyn children to be biased in the direction she wanted them to go, as opposed to being realistic based on the historical data available. The author was prone to conveniently leaving out facts that were relevant to the story but did not support her simplistic view of each character. Anyone who has read historical accounts of these characters and times will be severely disappointed in this book. I only hope that the general public does not mistake this book for history.