Philippa Gregory’s ‘The Boleyn Inheritance’

This is only my second outing with Philippa Gregory, and it took me a while to decide that she was worth my time.  The Other Boleyn Girl, was, of course, my first and I had mixed feelings about it.  On one hand, I though Philippa a beautiful and intelligent writer, on the other, the content and characterisation irritated me.  Gregory as often stated that her books follow fact but only fills in the gaps where facts are either unknown, uncertain or speculative.  She chooses to fill in these gaps with the most outrageous theories that she can possibly find about these historical figures.  It’s a little bit annoying. 

I can’t quite forgive the heavy hints she made in The Other Boleyn Girl that Anne Boleyn did commit incest with her brother.  That did not make good reading, it made it offensive.  Offensive to Anne’s memory and a mockery of all the historian’s that have found that Anne was executed solely on trumped up charges.  Only the other day I read on a message board from a reader asking if Boleyn really had sex with her brother.  I despair that someone even has to ask that question.

Reading List for February and March

I swear I think of a new book to read with every passing day.  In an attempt to keep track, I am going to write them down here.  Once they are under the watchful eye of my readers (because it seems that I have some, apparently) I will be sure to get through them.  Maybe.

I will try to read in this order, then:

The Gunslinger by Stephen King
I have never tried Stephen King.  Well, he is American, so it is not like I am going to pick him out on my own.  No, a colleague at work, who’s judgement I happen to trust, recommended The Dark Tower series to me.  Since I see her everyday, I better deal with her recommendation first.  I have taken out books two and three from the series, anticipating that I will want to continue (as the first book is yet to arrive), so here’s hoping.

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang
This book was recommended by somebody who reads my blog (that is a nice thing to do in the first place).  Sometimes I will take recommendations seriously, others I will not.  I decided to take this one seriously because I am ignorant of all things China.  I do not like ignorance.  I must remedy it where I can.  Not that this one book will make me an expert, but I would like to know at least something about the country, even if it just the lives or three women that lived there.

The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
I watched the film yesterday evening and I loved every frame.  I am very curious about its source material and it is with a heavy heart that it is shoved to third place on my list.

Current and Near Future Endeavors

Here is a list with what I am currently engaged with, so expect a review soon, and what I am expecting to read, watch or listen to in the future.  In order.

BOOKS

Currently reading:

• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Future reads:

• Shirley by Charlotte Bronte
• The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo
• The Life and Death on Anne Boleyn by E. W. Ives

MUSIC

Awaiting reviews:

• A Winter Symphony by Sarah Brightman
• Spirit by Leona Lewis
• Funhouse by P!nk

Future listens:

• Bittersweet Symphony by Jade Valerie
• V for Vendetta Film Score by Dario Marianelli
• Tenor at the Movies by Jonathan Ansell

FILMS

Awaiting reviews:

• Twilight (2008)
• Howl’s Moving Castle (2005)

Future viewing:

• The Edge of Love (2008)
• The Duchess (2008)

I will try to get all of these done, so if you are interested in any, keep an eye out.  If anyone spots anything in my future endeavors that should be avoided at all costs, make sure to warn me!

Karen Lindsey’s “Divorced, Beheaded, Survived: A Feminist Reinterpretation of the Wives of Henry VIII”

This is a well researched and written book that gives a gliding over view of each of Henry VIII‘s wives.  Each of the wives, however, are not given equal page space, and as you can well imagine, Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn have about four chapters to themselves whilst Jane Seymour has one, but is barely mentioned in it as the author goes on tangents about other things.  After the more fully developed chapters on the two first wives, the other four seemed to be tacked on as almost an afterthought.

This is quite understandable, given how much we know about Seymour, and how much we know about Boleyn and not to mention just how much had to occur to get Boleyn on the throne.  However, Catherine Howard‘s and Katherine Parr‘s chapters are almost neglected, only Parr’s chapter is fleshened out by the authors addition of Anne Askew; a Protestant Martyr.  Whilst very interesting, the author, who did her PhD research project on Anne Askew, has clearly thrown her in Parr’s chapter because the author favours her, and gives her the most tenuous link to Parr to justify it. 

Philippa Gregory’s “The Other Boleyn Girl”

As a big fan of historical fiction, and also a big fan of Tudor history, particularly Anne Boleyn, I was quite excited to pick up this novel that focused on the forgotten tale of Mary Boleyn.  It makes a good, light read, as long as it is not taken seriously.  It is enjoyable for perhaps a reader that is ignorant of the tale of Anne Boleyn, but if they are unfamiliar, they are going to go away with a very dark picture of Henry VIII‘s most famous wife.

The research surrounding the everyday lives of the courtiers is thorough and convincing, as are the details of the buildings, landscape and costumes.  The main problem with this novel is that Gregory is clutching at straws to come up with a story for Mary and fleshing her out as a character, and as such, sacrifices Anne’s character as a two-dimensional super bitch.  Mary is characterised as her opposite, but is problematically modernised for the modern reader.  Many of Mary’s reactions to situations are completely out of context.  Gregory would have done a better job to have made her a woman of her time and made us understand her in her own contemporary society, that way; we would have truly been drawn into their world.