The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Boleyn Inheritance
Book Review: Appropriate for Adult reading only
Summary: 3 Stars
This is a well written account of the Tudor court. However, after reading a good portion of it, I realized it is certainly not appropriate for my 14 year old to read. Lots of detailed sensuality...read before your children do....Book Review: Better than the Other Boleyn Girl
Summary: 5 Stars
I absolutely loved this novel. It was not only educational, but absolutely showcased the author's talent. There are three narrators in this book, and you would never mistake one for the other.
The author gives each such a distinct narrative voice, that it is a delight to read. She also has a talent for giving a telling detail, rather than dry description.
I doubt there can be anyone who will come away from this book without thinking of Henry VIII as a monstrous serial killer, but given the facts, that rings true.
This author can make you care. You'll feel sorry for vain and foolish Kitty Howard. You may even feel sorry for Lady Rocheford.
If you get a chance to listen to it on audio, you may like it even better. It was engaging, exciting, and compelling.
Book Review: Bravo!
Summary: 5 Stars
In what may be her finest work, historical fiction novelist Philippa Gregory (who loves the Tudor era at least as much as I do) returns to Henry VIII and his complicated lifestyle with "The Boleyn Inheritance". It is here she finds her voice and a better editor to create the court and the women who compelled it after the death of Jane Seymour, Henry's third wife.
In 1998, in his book "The Hours", author Michael Cunningham created a book with three voices, all heroines, in different eras. The characters were brilliantly brought to the screen (in a film that was devastatingly long and depressing) and captured an Academy award for Nicole Kidman and some serious applause for co-stars Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore and Ed Harris. The writing tool, that of three points of feminine view, has been used many times since then; one memory is the delicious
"Mrs. Kimble" by Jennifer Haigh in 2003 where the convention was spiced up in that the three women who tell the tale were all wives of the infamous Mr. Kimble.
Gregory has used that device here, and it has improved the story immensely. She chooses to tell the story from the viewpoint of three unlikely and very different women, who were brought together in one place and one time by the demands of the difficult Henry. Anne of Cleves, the young German noble who became Henry's 4th wife, Jane Boleyn, the Lady Rochford who was featured in Gregory's "The Other Boleyn Girl" and Katherine Howard, the poor teenaged girl who enchanted Henry and became his 5th wife, all see the times from different viewpoints. All three captivate in Gregory's novel.
You will come away respecting the acts of Anne of Cleves, and by being alternately annoyed and captivated by Kitty Howard (and sad at her horrible demise).
But the true genius of Gregory's novel is the third point of view. I hated Jane Parker Boleyn in "The Other Boleyn Girl" for being a vapid, stupid pawn. Jane betrayed her husband, Anne Boleyn's brother, George, and gave the evidence that caused both Anne and George to be killed. In this book, we see how Jane herself is played as a pawn of the Machiavellian uncle, the Duke of Norfolk. Jane understands and hates her betrayal but tries to save her own life, her fortune, and to ultimately try to convince her uncle to find her a future mate. In return, she spies for him, and does his bidding with a variety of machinations she accomplishes in the background, as a lady in waiting to first Anne and then Katherine. And although both see her for what she is, both are compelled to trust her and heed her advice.
Late in the book, when confronted with her true nature by the Duke, in a scene so full of verbal brutality that it difficult to read, Jane nevertheless hatches a plan to save herself.
Seeing Anne and Kitty through Jane's eyes, (and vice versa) and seeing Henry's evil nature and utter power from the viewpoint of all three women; feeling their fear of death whether they have or have not been true to the crown, leaves you with a powerful sense of actually witnessing events.
It's a powerful work of historical fiction, one that I can highly recommend.
Book Review: Bring on the Boleyns!
Summary: 4 Stars
"The Boleyn Inheritance" picks up right where "The Other Boleyn Girl" left off. This novel focuses on two more of Henry VIII's unlucky wives: Anne of Cleves, the German woman hand-picked by Henry himself and whose disastrous first encounter with the king dooms her reign before it even begins; and Katherine Howard, a beautiful but rather stupid young girl of 15 who is ordered by her family to cause the much-older King Henry to fall in love with her.
Although this book isn't quite as good as "The Other Boleyn Girl" (and really, how could it be?), I enjoyed it very much. Author Philippa Gregory tells the story from three opposing points of view: Anne, Katherine, and none other than Jane Boleyn, who manages to wiggle her way back to court after condemning her brother and sister-in-law to death. The multiple narrators offer a variety of perspectives on life at court during this fragile period of time. I enjoyed the chapters narrated by Katherine most of all: her vanity and ignorance are apparent in every word, making everything she says and does laugh-out-loud hilarious, which makes the tragic ending of this book all the more painful.
I enjoyed "The Boleyn Inheritance" immensely. It's a rather long book, but I devoured it in just a couple of days. If you enjoy historical fiction and are a fan of Gregory's other work, you should definitely pick up a copy of this book.
Book Review: Brings the story full circle
Summary: 5 Stars
You have to read this before you read the Queen's Fool or the Virgin's Lover. It runs along the lines of the Other Boleyn Girl and completes what you have missed before The Boleyn Inheritance. I can't say more or I will spoil it. I loved the whole series and would read it over and over again. I also wish that I would have read The Constance Princess first. I found I had less compassion for her without the background.