Because I chose geography over history at school what I know about British history can be written on the back of a postcard. What I know about the British monarchy can be written on the back of a postage stamp. My knowledge of the Tudor period is zilch. Other than knowing Henry VIII had lots of wives. Which is why I found Philippa Gregory's novel so utterly fascinating.
I know that not everything in the novel is fact. That is why they call this genre of writing historical fiction. But the story, a speculation of what life might have been like for Mary and Anne Boleyn had me spellbound with a tale of greed, ruthless ambition, betrayal and love.
The story is told by Mary Boleyn, Anne Boleyn's younger sister. (For those of you that don't know, I'm ashamed to say I didn't, Anne Boleyn goes on to become the second wife of Henry VIII). Whilst Henry was married to his first wife, Queen Katherine, Mary embarked on an affair with him. Of course Mary was married to William Carey at the time, but that didn't matter. She had caught the king's eye and the Boleyn family were ambitious. Mary was to leave her married house, cease relations with her husband and move into the bed chambers of her sister Anne which were in the castle. Mary's uncle, mother and father wanted her to fall pregnant by the king.
Then the king's interest in Mary wanes. Anne was sent to fill her place and Mary was expected to tell her everything she knew about pleasing him.
I did think this would be a hard book for me to read because of my non existent knowledge of history. However, this didn't matter and possibly made the book even more exciting for me as I didn't know what would happen next. Even if you do know the sequence of events though it is still compelling reading. I also thought the book might be a bit pretentious, a bit stuffy, maybe too historical. But it wasn't. It was just a brilliant, unaffected, story.
I loved the descriptions of what life was like back in the 1500s. How they dressed, how they bathed, how they spoke to each other and were expected to behave in the king's court. I cannot enthuse about this novel enough. I just couldn't get enough of it and, brilliantly, I've found there are another four books to read in the Tudor Court series that I can't wait to get my hands on.
If I could give it more than 5 out of 5 I would do.
Rating: 5/5
Like this? Try The Vanishing Point by Mary Sharratt
