Mistress Anne by Carolly Erickson Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Mistress Anne
Book Review: Is this history?
Summary: 1 Stars
I read this book for school, but I chose it because I am interested in the Tudor period. I was hoping to gain a little more insight on the character of Anne Boleyn. This book was very disappointing. It hardly even mentions Anne at all. It seems more like a novel than a history. I do not recommend reading this book if you are wanting to learn more about Anne Boleyn. It's one of the worst, if not THE worst, biography I have ever read.Book Review: Mistress Anne
Summary: 5 Stars
Very well documented piece on Boleyn. Fairly neutral in presentation, as to Anne's character; etc. Entertaining, and it contains info on Henry, Mary and Elizabeth (as well as the entire host of Henrican supporting actors) that is unique to this book. In other words if you read all of Erickson's works on the Tudors, each book offers different info, as well as being historically written in an engaging way.Book Review: Mixture of fact and personal opinion
Summary: 3 Stars
I enjoyed this book, but not as much as two other books from this author. Not much is known about Anne herself, her thoughts, and the like. There's a lot of history in here, such as about the French court in young Anne's time, or Henry's divorce with Katherine, or secondhand accounts. So honestly, compared to this entire book, the content of which is about Anne is not that much, which was disappointing, because if Ms. Erickson was going to talk about other aspects of Anne's environment rather than Anne herself, then she should have ALSO included more about Anne herself. She speculates about how Anne must have felt, or such, but since Anne Boleyn did not leave behind a diary or such, it's impossible to really know her feelings and motivations. It's a fairly decent read, but not much more. You might enjoy it if you don't know much about Anne Boleyn.Book Review: Rather ponderous and off track
Summary: 3 Stars
In a manner which I have found unfortunately typical of Carolly Erickson's writing, "Mistress Anne" contains many details about court life (including "trivia" not typical of books on the subject), yet not enough about Anne herself. The rather rambling references to, for example, Anne's days at the French court became tedious. My impression was of a collection of material which could be interesting in a "classroom lecture" setting, where it is assumed that the hearers are studying the entire era and would enjoy tidbits not found in their textbooks, but which makes boring reading on its own.Book Review: Reads like a spy thriller,even better it's all true.
Summary: 5 Stars
this book although alot longer than the brief paragraphs i've read about Anne Boleyn,doesn't give alot of new info.One interesting interpretation presented though seems to indicate that Henry the 8th may not have wanted Anne executed but more pushed aside as he had previously done with Queen Catherine. Erickson gives a strong case that the execution of Anne may have been pushed forward by Henry's advisors who were afraid of Anne's influence over the king.It seems by this book that the Archbishop of Canterbury,Thomas Cranmer and the king's right hand man,Thomas Cromwell,wanted Anne Boleyn and her friends and family at court out of the picture(permanently). This way there would be no way the Boleyn's could reenter the picture with a bigger hand.One of the lessons of the Wars of the Roses was that too often leaving political enemies to "lick their wounds"was a certain way to lose one's head (on the block)!The Boleyn family had spent about twenty years living in the French court at Paris when relations between France and England were a scant better,Anne's father was a French diplomat for Henry the 8th.It seems the English public believed Anne had picked up some permiscuous habits during her years there and craftily used them to entice and capture Henry's heart.Whether it was true or not didn't matter,and given this Anne was off on the wrong foot right from the start.Not to mention she had supplanted the popular Queen Catharine. One slip by the Boleyn's and it wouldn't be hard to imagine the consequences,both the"man (or woman)in the street and the king's advisors against the Boleyn's from the outset.The book emphasized the family of Anne Boleyn and their rise and fall in Henry's capricious court.A dangerous place to be. Another interesting part of the book deals with how the women of the king's court would make themselves desirable to capture the men's favor.It actually seems they treated their skin with mercury and white lead to give themselves that"wasted by amours" look.Looking good for a few brief years was more important than a long life for them. Beneath all the pomp and jollity of Henry's court there were alot of corpses."Great Harry" comes off as an almost certain mean spirited alcoholic covered with a thin veneer of hospitality and hardy har-har.The Boleyn's according to what I read from Erickson's book knew the stakes they were playing and overestimated their ability to "thrive and survive". Primary sources in regard to the Boleyn's are rare,and i'll bet Henry's "buddies" had alot to do with it so we'll never know the complete story but this book is about as good as will ever be found.The assertion about Anne's lose morals by Henry were probably not true but a classic case of pointing the finger,that is three pointing back at the lecherous Henry.