Book Review of The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory

There is a saying that when history repeats itself it first does so as tragedy and then as farce. This adage comes readily to mind when reading of King Henry VIII's failed marriages borne out of his desperation to produce a male heir for the English throne.The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory is a panoramic work of historical fiction based around the life of Anne Boleyn. This book is constructed around the rivalry between the sisters, Mary and Anne Boleyn to become Queen of England. In this rivalry Anne emerges as the apparent victor but is soon undone by the courtiers who surround her and ends up on the scaffold along with her brother, George. This work explores marriage and morality and the relationships between men and women in 16th century Tudor England against a backdrop of repressive royal tyranny.The book is intricate in plot and structure and is a tour de force that explores the minds of its protagonists within the backdrop of the society that they live in. The r
eader gets illuminating insights into life at the court of King Henry VIII and of the strengths and weaknesses of those residing in the English realm under this most absolute of royal despots. Needless to say the book is an indictment of the untrammeled exercise of royal power and prerogative. At the same time the king is also portrayed as being himself a victim of time and circumstance while all the time exercising absolute royal power. The psychology of King Henry VIII comes out as being fickle and undependable and with no familial virtues. We get the impression of a king driven by unbounded lust in his hunt to secure a male heir to safeguard his realm against internal upheaval. Some readers might consequently question the artificiality of the kingdom Henry presided over and the tenuous nature of royal power viewed from the perspective of the brewing challenge posed by Parliament and a more direct challenge from the Church.Simultaneously this work is also an exploration of
the nature of love and how this must be enacted within the framework of family and court. This is seen in the contrasting lives of the Boleyn sisters. Mary finds true love and peace despite her ambitious and merciless family, the Boleyns, while Anne falls a victim to royal absolutism and gets beheaded eventually by marrying King Henry VIII.Against this tumultuous background the struggle between King and Church and the great European powers is explored through the prism of a court and monarch in ferment. It is definitely an irresistible book for all those interested in historical fiction as a genre.The Other Boleyn Girl By Philippa GregoryPublished by Harper CollinsPrinted pages:627

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