![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Book Review
Jun. 9th, 2009 09:16 pmThe Other Boleyn Girl
by Philippa Gregory
This enjoyable historical novel follows the life of Mary Boleyn, from her early marriage to William Carey to her affair with Henry VIII and through her life as attendant to her sister Anne, her second marriage to William Stafford, and her eventual retirement from court. Gregory does a good job of bringing the Tudor court to life in all its opulence, gaiety, and intrigue, and with a balanced view of its delights and dangers. However, she does indulge in some historical inaccuracy regarding the timing of certain events and the exaggeration of the Boleyn-Howard family's ambition, ruthlessness, and complicity in their daughters' illicit liaisons with the king. I think she engages in the latter exaggeration to make a valid point about the ways in which daughters at that time were valued mainly for their sexual and reproductive value as marriage pawns, perhaps without regard for their well-being. This point is furthered by the portrayal of Mary's second marriage for love and subsequent escape from court as a wise and admirable action.
Gregory's portrayals of Henry, Anne, and other important members of the court are very much in line with the characterizations in Margaret Campbell Barnes' Brief Gaudy Hour. In fact, I think The Other Boleyn Girl owes a lot to that earlier novel.
by Philippa Gregory
This enjoyable historical novel follows the life of Mary Boleyn, from her early marriage to William Carey to her affair with Henry VIII and through her life as attendant to her sister Anne, her second marriage to William Stafford, and her eventual retirement from court. Gregory does a good job of bringing the Tudor court to life in all its opulence, gaiety, and intrigue, and with a balanced view of its delights and dangers. However, she does indulge in some historical inaccuracy regarding the timing of certain events and the exaggeration of the Boleyn-Howard family's ambition, ruthlessness, and complicity in their daughters' illicit liaisons with the king. I think she engages in the latter exaggeration to make a valid point about the ways in which daughters at that time were valued mainly for their sexual and reproductive value as marriage pawns, perhaps without regard for their well-being. This point is furthered by the portrayal of Mary's second marriage for love and subsequent escape from court as a wise and admirable action.
Gregory's portrayals of Henry, Anne, and other important members of the court are very much in line with the characterizations in Margaret Campbell Barnes' Brief Gaudy Hour. In fact, I think The Other Boleyn Girl owes a lot to that earlier novel.
