"Two sisters competing for the greatest prize: the love of a king.
"A rich and compelling novel of love, sex, ambition, and intrigue, THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL introduces a woman of extraordinary determination and desire who lived at the heart of the most exciting and glamorous court in Europe and survived by following her heart.
"When Mary Boleyn comes to court as an innocent girl of fourteen, she catches the eye of Henry VIII. Dazzled, Mary falls in love with both her golden prince and her glowing role as unofficial queen. However, she soon realizes just how much she in a pawn in her family's ambitious plots as the king's interest begins to wane and she is forced to step aside for her best friend and rival: her sister, Anne. Then Mary knows that she must defy her family and her king and take her fate into her own hands."
I saw the film version of this book when it first came out a couple of years ago. I really liked it and, now that I've read the book, I would love to see it again and make comparisons. Obviously--because the book is SO long--they had to cut out a lot of the story out. I'll have to re-watch it to say for certain whether or not this was a plus or a minus.
Overall, the book was very good. LONG, but good. It's not that I got tired of reading it, but there was sort of the feeling of "too much of a good thing all at once"...you almost had enough. "Almost" being the key word here. I really liked how it was written from Mary's point of view. It made the book a lot more personal rather than just reading an omnipotent account of the goings on. This made it a lot more readable and approachable. The contrast between the two Boleyn girls was very nicely written and I found that I really enjoyed their brother, George. I didn't want to like Henry VIII in the beginning, but I did...then he screwed everything up...but that's something you'll have to read for yourself. However, William was another character that I really enjoyed. He was true to historical accounts that I've read and I liked reading about his relationship with the other Boleyn girl.
However well-written this book was with its BEAUTIFUL descriptions and dialogue, there were problems with many of the historical aspects. For one, I've read many accounts that Mary was actually the older Boleyn girl and Anne was the younger one. Many of the other key points were hit, but a lot of the dates were off. The way the years and seasons were used in the book flowed very nicely, but it did not always stay true to real life. Having read several books on this era, this bothered me a little, but it won't upset those looking for a good read.
I enjoyed this book very much. I recommend it to anyone looking for a good summer read. This is a great novel to kick back, relax, and lie in the sun with! (And I look forward to watching the movie once more!)
UPDATED REVIEW - 2/11/2017
This review was originally posted on 5/23/2010! I cannot believe it's been nearly seven years since I originally reviewed this book! My how time flies... It's so strange to look back on this review and see what a different place I was in back then (and how different my reviewing/writing style was back then). I think I was just about to graduate with my Associate's Degree in English (or just had) and here I am a little more than 6 months away from graduating with my Master's in English!
Anyway, I did something that I NEVER DO (as I'm sure you know from previous reviews): I reread this book... This was sparked by my reading of The Constant Princess (the first in this series) and The Boleyn Inheritance (the third in the series). I've also been taking a lot of classes concerned with the history and/or literature of the Tudor era, so it's only logical that this would rekindle my interest in Gregory's writing. I enjoyed this book very much the second time around - perhaps because I'm now a more advanced reader, or because I was able to catch a few things I had not noticed the first time around, maybe a little bit of both? The characters were rich, the writing was interesting and fluid, the story was captivating. Anne is an excellent antagonist in this story. Mary's relationship with her was remarkably complex - a very fascinating blend of love and hate. Gregory certainly knows how to spin a very interesting tale. Having said this (and leaping off of my review for The Constant Princess), it is as if there are two different authors who penned this book and the first in the series. There were very clear points of view in The Other Boleyn Girl whereas The Constant Princess dragged on a bit and it was often difficult to tell whether someone was thinking something or saying it. This book is leaps and bounds better than the first in the series and I commend Gregory for her growth as an author. If you can make it through the first book in the series, then you'll be golden because all of the other ones I've read from this series are on-par with The Other Boleyn Girl. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do (and I still recommend the movie version).
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