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What are readers saying about The Boleyn Inheritance (Boleyn)?
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-06-03 10:17:38.
(Language: English)
 
I am so intrigued by Philippa Gregory's take on historical facts and her ability to make events that happened centuries ago into a page turner, even though I already know how it will end.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-10-02 06:51:22.
(Language: English)
throughout Gregory's books on Henry's wives, I always find myself repeating 'divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived' to remind myself where we are in the history timeline and which one of the characters she has now vividly brought to life. This latest book concerns two of the more little known wives and the diary technique was a great way to interlink the lives and show just how different the women were.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-06-18 06:57:00.
(Language: English)
After you read The Other Boleyn, this book kind of ties up and shows you the life of the main cast members who were the downfall of Queen Anne. Karma sucks, doesn't it?
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-31 04:57:29.
(Language: English)
I haven't read any of the other titles which precede this one, but it didn't matter and didn't spoil it for me in any way. I loved it. I thought it was very cleverly told and gave an insight into history from a day-to-day view of life, the little things which seemed to matter so much to the women involved, which would have never been revealed to me by the traditional history books. I thought that Anne of Cleves was well depicted and proved to be very clever and played the game of survival well. I loved the little mixed up girl that was Katherine Howard and could have taken her out of the book and looked after her, she was so venerable. I would recommend this to anyone interested.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-03-24 02:50:40.
(Language: English)
I love Philippa Gregory. (Or perhaps just anything to do with the Tudor and Elizabethan periods).She brings the tyranny and madness of King Henry VIII alive from the depths of history. I didn't like this one as much as "The Other Boleyn Girl" but it was just as captivating and historically rich, weaved with a slight feminist touch. The rushing events to the end were heartbreaking as TOBG did, it leaves me aching for more, as if the tale ended to soon - unjust in its sudden end and short life, like poor Katherine Howard. (Though my friends claime 500 plus pages is NOT short, but a tome). I have but one complaint, a mistake, but not too horrible it ruined the book. Katherine recieves a letter and it needs to be read to her because her literacy was poor. But in the end she can read a document of her confession? Normally I wouldn't notice but I read a big chunk of the book in one sitting.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-07-09 03:39:36.
(Language: English)
This book consumed my thoughts while I was reading it and after I finished it.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-11-04 09:30:44.
(Language: English)
Just love Miss Philippa!!!
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-09-07 08:32:16.
(Language: English)
Really enjoyed this book contrasting the fictionalised experiences of Anne of Cleves and Katharine Howard and the woman who served them both as well as Anne Boleyn. Katharine was brought to life as a giddy teenager being made a pawn in a bigger game and believing to the last that she would be forgiven. Anne appeared to be very intelligent and well aware of her fragile position. Her appreciation of her independence and freedom at the end and her sympathy for the girl who ousted her were admirable
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-05-04 09:28:13.
(Language: English)
ok not as good as the first boelyn girl
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-12-04 12:14:31.
(Language: English)
Philippa Gregory is so magnificent! After reading any of her books it is really hard to switch to another author. I feel so spoiled after reading her books. This book in particular is interesting because there isn't much historical evidence about Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard (the fourth and fifth wives of Henry VIII) and Gregory uses her poetic license to create such a beautiful story around the historical evidence we do have of those women. One of my favorites in the chronology!
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-05-09 06:20:49.
(Language: English)
I thought the interweaving of the characters in this book was amazing!
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-10-15 07:27:17.
(Language: English)
This was an excellent book, not as good as The Other Boleyn Girl but the way Gregory wove the three stories of Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard and Jane Boleyn together made for an engrossing novel. It was also interesting to read more about Jane Boleyn knowing only that she gave up her husband and sister in law and was one of the infamous Howard girls. My favorite character of the book though was Katherine Howard, sometimes I wanted to take her by the shoulders and shake her and other times she made me laugh right out loud. Enjoy, enjoy!
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-03-20 04:08:16.
(Language: English)
Not half as good as the Other Boleyn Girl, but an okay read.... although, only if you really are bored. I only really liked reading about Anne of Cleves- I found her story interesting and you can't help but empathize with her. Jane Rochford was a horribly annoying character. I get it- her witness against her husband tortures her and she's a little insane, but it gets far to repetitive. As for Katherine, I see she is a young kid and rather greedy and stupid, but after awhile, it too becomes irksome. It has it's moments, and you see how Henry VIII becomes a supreme tyrant, and fear for all the characters, but it also feels completely stretched and drawn out. The only complaint I have about the ending is wanting to know more about what happens to Anne, if anything.
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A Reader posted a review at 2011-04-08 08:23:19.
(Language: English)
Five full stars!!! This was amazing... all the way to the very last page! Philippa Gregory knows her history, and combines it with a touch of fiction in the characters' private conversations and her own thoughts on what may have been going thru the minds of the horrid King Henry VIII's wives. This is such an interesting time in history, and I'm finding the more I learn, the more I want to learn about it. My heart was breaking for Queen Catherine Howard as she approached her last hour. What a fantastic book!
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-11-09 01:51:04.
(Language: English)
A sequel to The Other Boleyn Girl. You don't need to read them in order, but if you don't know anything about the reign of Henry the 8th, I would read TOBG first. I don't think that this book would be the same without a good understanding of what was going on at the time and the crazy stuff that Henry did. I also think it helps to have a sense of what Henry was like as a younger man to appreciate how messed up this period in English history was and how things progressed with Henry's growing power. This book is from the point of view of three women, Anne of Cleves(Henry's fourth wife), Jane Boleyn (The wife of George, Anne Boleyn's brother) and Katherine Howard (Henry's fifth wife). I normally don't like it when the point of view changes from more than two characters, but it was done very well and I didn't mind at all. It did not feel segmented because when it changed POV character, the new character picked the story up from where the last character left off. This is good historical fiction and a worth reading if you enjoy the genre and a must read for those of you who are interested in the period. As a woman I find it utterly frightening to imagine living in Henry's court. To live in a time where you are owned by the men in your family and traded to another man, like a horse. To have little or no choice about anything in your life and your worth is judged on your ability to give birth to a boy child. To live in fear of being drug to a scaffold, kicking and screaming, to be beheaded on the whim of a madman, with no trial, or proof of a crime. It's chilling. I find it a whole lot scarier than anything Stephen King's written in the last twenty years.
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Lindsey posted a review at 2007-09-03 08:40:18.
(Language: English)
This book was ok. It was interesting sure, and I loved how it told its story from three different characters. I really sympothized with Anne of Cleves. You can tell just how greedy Katherine Howard is, every few chapters she would count up what she had. I didnt really like Jane Boleyn ever. Deffinitly not as good as The Other Boleyn Girl or The Constant Princess, or even The Queens Fool. But it does wrap up some of the story lines from The Other Boleyn Girl. Though I would have liked to hear the story from Catherine Carey's point of view. That would have been quite interesting.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-08-04 02:41:19.
(Language: English)
Gregory thrives in the environment of the royals, and she certainly fleshes out the personalities of two of Henry's lesser-known wives. Katherine Howard's tallies of what she owned were particularly indicative of her materialistic hang-ups, and I like how she always started out her chapters like that. But wholly, a character I had little sympathy for due to her pure stupidity. Anne of Cleves, a poor girl with little money and constantly battling for survival. I was rather fond of her. She only wanted to do well for England and Henry. What I really liked was the difference between Anne's perception of Katherine Howard and Katherine's own. The things Katherine does during Anne's chapters -- pretend to not recognize the king, say straightforward things that are uncannily true -- hint at a more complex individual. But Katherine's own chapters show her to be insipid. It leaves me wondering about the real Katherine Howard. I may always prefer The Other Boleyn Girl, but this was great. Really great.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-02-29 09:47:53.
(Language: English)
What a good book! its told from the perspective of 3 different women, Anne of Cleves, the only wife of Henry the 8th to be put aside with her head still on, Katherine Howard, who wasn't so lucky, and Jane Boleyn, the woman who would deceive them both. The terror and sense of duty Anne feels is very moving. In a time when women could not choose anything for themselves she was at the mercy of a man who had been married to 3 wives, who all died.She showed incredible courage and sense. Katherine Howard is a kind of comic relief, so wrapped up in material things, so vain, she starts every chapter with "So, what do I have now?" and counts all her dresses and jewels. You feel such sympathy for this young girl who is forced to marry a man older then her father. You feel delight and terror when she falls in love with another man. Jane Boleyn has been driven mad by the act of giving evidence against her husband and Anne Boleyn, leading to their deaths.You and shealways know she is responsible,
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-09-01 01:39:25.
(Language: English)
The book just repeats the characters thoughts through each chapter, it could of been half the size and been more entertaining. The pace was slow compared to The Other Boleyn Girl and to me Jane Boleyn should have had a flashback scene to that time to gain some more insight instead of once again hearing how she'll never seen George and Anne walk hand in hand in the gardens, or her laugh, or her smile (this is said nearly ever chapter). It seems once Thomas Culpepper enters the picture things really begin. Anne of Cleves is just as I recall her from other books rather boring but charming. It's still a good read, just be prepare to being seeing thoughts repeated several times over.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-10-20 04:29:34.
(Language: English)
Gripping. The characters share their thoughts in the first person.We see their world and realise what a cruel self serving creature Henry VIII was. It is fascinating to read Anne of Cleves', the survivor's, innermost thoughts. The Machiavellian manouvres of Jane Bolyn and Thomas Howard although wicked are highly entertaining. Kitty Howard was too young to be involved with such intrigues. a pawn. I enjoyed 'The Constant Princess'. Learning about Katherine of Aragon and realising that she lived in the fabulous Alhambra as a girl completely altered my concept of her. I am looking forward to reading Philippa Gregory's other historical novels.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-02-12 08:11:09.
(Language: English)
I must admit, I was not so determined to read this book - I hated Jane Boleyn with a fiery passion and therefore did not really care for her thoughts and views, and I loved Mary Boleyn as a narrator in 'The Other Boleyn Girl'. I'm so glad I read this though. The Boleyn Inheritance is just as fascinating as its predecessor; I could not put it down, wanting to know what would happen next even though I already knew what the outcome would be. I thought I would be irritated by the switching of characters - I wasn't. The change of POVs flowed into one another quite effortlessly and the repeating of events was never dull as each character was so vitally different. I almost felt sympathy for Jane at one point, her guilt over her beloved George would have been quite heartbreaking if I didn't keep reminding myself of everything she had committed.Although not as brilliant as The Other Boleyn Girl, I would recommend this as much as the former. Definitely.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-03-14 01:45:10.
(Language: English)
This novel is right up there with The Other Boleyn girl and I think I almost like it more only because you have three story lines of three women with all different experiences of being part of the court of Henry VIII. I found myself constantly changing my opinion of each character and I think everyone does. Loved it. I highly recommend it if you've read any Philippa Gregory book. She's a genius.
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Clare posted a review at 2007-10-05 04:03:41.
(Language: English)
Philippa's latest offering tells the story from the viewpoint of 3 women - Jane Boleyn, Anne of Cleves & Katherine Howard. It's 1539 and Anne of Cleves arrives to take on the task as Henry VIII's fourth wife, she arrives having been living on her brother's estate and wants nothing more than to be a good queen, and of course a good wife. Anne's lady in waiting is the young Katherine 'Kitty' Howard, also a cousin of Anne Boleyn, the head of Anne's privy chamber is Lady Rochford, Jane Boleyn. Between Jane and the Duke of Norfolk they try to get rid of Anne and try to get Katherine to be Queen. Katherine comes across as quite a comical character, "let me see what do I have", some of her one liners are simply hilarious, and although we know the tragic end to this young girl you can't help but like her, how different she was to her Cousin Anne Boleyn yet we know their fate was just the same. This is quite simply Philippa's best book yet IMO, I didn't think she would ever write anything to match The Other Boleyn Girl but, this was fantastic, a book I did not want to end. Although we know the ending of this story I did find it particuarly sad for Katherine she was so vunerable and un-knowing, a tragic end to a very short life. This book has given me the hunger to find out more about Katherine Howard, and if you loved The Other Boleyn Girl you will love this every bit as much if not more. Its great because there are not a huge amount of books historical fiction written about Anne of Cleves & Katherine Howard, definitely one I would read again. Fantastic if you love Tudor history!
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A Reader posted a review at 2011-07-01 11:57:28.
(Language: English)
Love love love philippa gregory....she knows how to deliver a book that doesn't want to be put down!!
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-21 02:39:17.
(Language: English)
Having played Katherine Howard at the Maryland Renaissance Festival many years ago, I have a particular fondness for her and fascination with her life. However I found the three main characters in this novel - Anne of Cleves, Jane Boleyn and Katherine - quite two-dimensional. The writing was repetitive, with key character traits being beaten to death. It was still an absorbing read, even though I knew how it would turn out. I was hoping for a bit more drama at the end when Katherine is killed, but because she was drawn as such a shallow person, I didn't really have much sympathy for her.
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