Book Review
May. 20th, 2010 12:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariMademoiselle Boleyn
by Robin Maxwell
This historical novel covers Anne Boleyn's early life, from ages nine to seventeen, while she was a lady-in-waiting at the French court of Francois I. The court was a hotbed of both humanist intellectual activity and scandalous sexual licentiousness, and in the course of the novel, Anne learns a lot from observation and participation in both (although more of the former than the latter when it comes to the sexual liaisons). Maxwell does a very clever and subtle job of connecting Anne's experiences in France with what the reader knows of her later life, making a clear case for how her adolescence laid the foundation for her actions as a woman. Maxwell portrays Anne very sympathetcially as a very intelligent person who bravely attempts to direct her own life and become more than just a political pawn for her ambitious family.
by Robin Maxwell
This historical novel covers Anne Boleyn's early life, from ages nine to seventeen, while she was a lady-in-waiting at the French court of Francois I. The court was a hotbed of both humanist intellectual activity and scandalous sexual licentiousness, and in the course of the novel, Anne learns a lot from observation and participation in both (although more of the former than the latter when it comes to the sexual liaisons). Maxwell does a very clever and subtle job of connecting Anne's experiences in France with what the reader knows of her later life, making a clear case for how her adolescence laid the foundation for her actions as a woman. Maxwell portrays Anne very sympathetcially as a very intelligent person who bravely attempts to direct her own life and become more than just a political pawn for her ambitious family.
