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    Other Boleyn Girl
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    Other Boleyn Girl
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    Other Boleyn Girl
    Audiobook22 hours

    Other Boleyn Girl

    Written by Philippa Gregory

    Narrated by Susan Lyons

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    When Mary Boleyn comes to court as an innocent girl of fourteen, she catches the eye of Henry VIII. Dazzled by the king, Mary falls in love with both the golden prince and her growing role as an unofficial queen. However, she soon realizes just how much she is a pawn in her family's ambitious plots when the king's interest begins to wane and she is forced to step aside for her best friend and rival: her powerfully ambitious sister, Anne Boleyn. As Mary watches Anne manipulate her rise to the throne, Mary knows that she must defy her family and her king and take her fate into her own hands.

    A rich and compelling tale of love, ambition, lust, and intrigue, The Other Boleyn Girl introduces a woman of extraordinary determination and desire who lived at the very center of the most exciting and glamorous court in Europe and survived by following her own heart.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateMar 15, 2011
    ISBN9781442342323
    Author

    Philippa Gregory

    Philippa Gregory is the author of many New York Times bestselling novels, including The Other Boleyn Girl, and is a recognized authority on women’s history. Many of her works have been adapted for the screen including The Other Boleyn Girl. She graduated from the University of Sussex and received a PhD from the University of Edinburgh, where she is a Regent. She holds honorary degrees from Teesside University and the University of Sussex. She is a fellow of the Universities of Sussex and Cardiff and was awarded the 2016 Harrogate Festival Award for Contribution to Historical Fiction. She is an honorary research fellow at Birkbeck, University of London. She was awarded a CBE title for services to literature and charity in 2022. She welcomes visitors to her website PhilippaGregory.com.

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    Reviews for Other Boleyn Girl

    4/5

    223 ratings226 reviews

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    • 5/5
      This Novel was my first taste of Ms.Gregory's superb works of historical fiction. The time is of Henry VIII, and his whirlwind courtship and marriage to Miss Anne Boleyn of France/England. Though this tale is more than that, it also tells of a family struggle, and how two sisters are torn apart through family ambition. With just the right amount of historical correctness this tale spins off into a highly likely explanation of one the world's greatest romances.
    • 2/5
      Historical fiction just isn't my cup of tea, I guess. It read too much like a romance novel for my taste.
    • 5/5
      LOVE it!!!
    • 4/5
      LOVED. Absolutely, 100% adored this.
    • 5/5
      Great book! Quick read.
    • 5/5
      A great read!
    • 4/5
      The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory is a work of historical fiction, though the basis for the story is very real and true. Set within the court of Henry VIII, it is a story of his loves through the eyes of Mary Boleyn.The story itself was intriguing and page-turning, but altogether too long for my taste. The story could have been 200 pages shorter and still hit all of the main plot points. Some of the personality changes the characters go through are very quick and not explained thoroughly. The characters, however, are very young and could explain their wavering affections. Perhaps if I had read this from the eyes of a teenager it would have not bothered me as much. Regardless, I enjoyed the book and will likely read Gregory's companion novel, The Boleyn Inheritance.
    • 4/5
      Great storytelling. Rushed ending. Otherwise, I'd have given it 5 stars.
    • 5/5
      This was the first Tudor book I read and it quickly hooked me on Philippa Gregory, and, shortly, the Tudor era. Looking back after various fiction and nonfiction books I have read, this one is no where near historically accurate. But who said it was? Philippa Gregory is a historical FICTION novelist, and her works are just that- fiction. No, Anne didn't have an affair with her brother, her brother probably wasn't gay, and Mary was not the innocent girl they made her out to be. But that isn't the point of the novel. Gregory is a great storyteller and I can't wait to read more by her.
    • 4/5
      It moved a little slow for me at first, but once it picked up, I could hardly put it down. I always loved learning about the time period of the Boleyn girls in my college classes & enjoyed the movie about them as well. I will say I think I like the book better though.
    • 1/5
      Dreadful...
    • 4/5
      A really good read
    • 5/5
      Most people know that Anne Boleyn was the second wife of England’s King Henry VIII, but few have heard of Mary Boleyn- the other Boleyn girl. Anne’s sister (historians disagree as to whether she was older or younger) played on the stage of the Tudor court, yet has been mostly forgotten as she was never queen and died of natural causes. As a female member of the Boleyn and Howard families, Mary was a pawn to be used for gain, her own feelings and wants to be ignored. Married at 12 to William Carey, at 14 Mary caught the eye of the philandering king- then wed to Katherine of Aragon- and was his mistress for several years, bearing two children in the process. While laying in to have her second child, her sister Anne seduced the king, reserving only her (questionable) virginity, which she withheld for a promise of marriage and queenship. As we all know, that marriage and queenship was short and unhappy and ended with Anne’s head removed from her body. This novel, told from the point of view of Mary Boleyn Carey, is a story that blends the false glitter of the court with strong family ties- ties of both obedience and of love. Mary loves her sister Anne but is also jealous of her- they are constant rivals at everything. Anne is her beloved sister but Anne is a user, someone who never looks at a situation without wondering how she can turn it to her advantage and humans-including family- are disposable. She learned this from her parents, who taught their children- including brother George- well. Their parents care not what happens to their children, as long as they are advanced at court and made wealthy. In this telling, Mary is less driven than Anne or George and more in touch with her moral side. She sleeps with the king because her parents tell her to, while questioning the propriety of betraying both Queen Katherine and her own husband. She asks for presents for her family at their behest. She gives up her place as mistress and aids her sister’s ascension despite having come to love the king. She teaches her sister sexual tricks to hold the king and helps her hide miscarriages. She hides the secrets of the family, secrets that are punishable by death. But she finally rebels and makes a life for herself, marrying for love. Not long after, the Boleyn web of secrets falls apart and we all know how that story ends. Mary alone lives on, and historical record seems to point to a happy, if short, life after that. This book takes some liberties with history but I’m willing to forgive it. Gregory brings the era and the court to brilliant, vivid life. Somehow she manages to get the reader to care about these people, not just Mary (although she comes off best) but the avaricious Anne and George, and even the petty, selfish, childish king Henry. These characters are fleshed out, with the contradictions of spirit that we all have. I loved this book.
    • 3/5
      I read this for a book club at work, and to be honest, I probably wouldn't have finished it if not for that club. I'm glad I did because it got much better at the end - but for the first 300 pages I just wasn't sure I could hang in there.This one was really interesting because it focused mainly on Mary Boleyn, Queen Anne Boleyn's sister, the sister who doesn't get too much press. She had a very interesting story - married at 13, bedded with the King by 15 - and then realized that life at Court isn't so grand. For me, there was not a single likable character in the first half of the book (possibly with the exception of Katherine of Aragon), but Mary becomes more and more likable and I definitely started pulling for her to buck tradition and to get on with her on life as a "nobody!" This was rich with history and even made me do a bit of research into the time period. I was admittedly ignorant about the time period, but I find myself wanting to learn more and more to see what pieces were "historical" and which pieces were "fiction" in Gregory's novel.
    • 5/5
      This was a wonderful book I enjoyed the constant moving of the story Thdre were no duĺl gapd
    • 3/5
      I learned much historically from the book but it was a bit too graphic for my tastes! I broke my rule about movie-watching - "always read the book first" - so I felt I had to read it after I watched the movie at Homewood. I liked the movie better, frankly, and that's rarely true for me.
    • 2/5
      I picked up this book because I was supposed to be reading Wolf Hall for book club. Turns out I'm not smart enough for Wolf Hall, so thought instead that I'd read something lighter from the same period. (I think Thomas Cromwell is mentioned once or twice in passing.) In the end, book club was cancelled due to flu, and my wading through 600 odd pages about a period I'm really not interested in has been a waste of time in that respect. I could have done with the condensed version of this -- maybe 300 pages would have been great. However, I know there are many readers who are very interested in this period of history, and who relish every last paragraph, comparing the fictionalised version to what is known by historians.I had a problem with the first person point of view, which was actually written in omniscient fashion, as if by Mary Boleyn as an older woman. When we're told that 'my face was white' I do wonder how on earth a first person narrator knows such a thing. The difficult thing about keeping this particular story suspenseful would have been the fact that any reader with the most rudimentary of historical knowledge knows what happened to Anne in the end, and so when it came down to her execution, there was no emotion there at all for me -- just a matter of going through the steps, because the book had to end just after it. The final 100 pages or so really did feel like drudgery.I'm not sure I buy the contradictory nature of George, and I'm not basing him on any notion of what he was really like, because I know nothing. It would be interesting to know how the relationship between these two sisters really was. This author paints it was rivalrous as well as close, but what it if were simply close? Stories about sisters without jealous rivalries are precious few. Rather than turn George into a homosexual who was nevertheless interested in incestuous relations with his sister, it would have been more shocking, perhaps, to depict a pair of sisters in fiction who were 100% allies.
    • 4/5
      VERY good book. A fascinating look into the behind-the-scenes world of kings, queens and courtiers.
    • 4/5
      This was a really enjoyable book. At times, all the maneuverings and machinations of the Boleyn/Howard clan became tedious and seemed as if Gregory were using it as forced drama in an already dramatic story, but it wasn't throughout the entire book and didn't take away from the story overmuch. What I really liked was that even though this is a work of fiction, Gregory pulled in A LOT of historical fact into the story which makes you believe that the entire story actually happened.
    • 1/5
      For being about such a complicated and intricate time and place, this book felt thin and restricted in terms of characters, plot development, and world. I realize the intention was to provide an intimate perspective, but it didn't work for me.
    • 5/5
      This book was full of drama and plenty of backstabbing. I found Anne and Mary's relationship to be the most interesting. These two sisters both hated and loved each other. I though George, the Boleyn brother, was another very interesting character. I found this book hard to put down and it kept me up late at night reading. I enjoyed every minute of this one and highly recommend it. But before reading this one, I do suggest reading Philippa Gregory's The Constant Princess which is about the Princess of Spain who later becomes Henry's wife. It's not necessary to read that one first, but I think it's nice to get the storyline behind Henry and Queen Katherine's marriage. The writing in The Other Boleyn Girl was great, the plot fantastic and the characters are well written. The story is narrated by Mary and you can't help but feel bad for her, she is thrown into a life of lies and deceit at an early age. You also wonder how she continues to put up with Anne and be loyal to her. I liked the dialouge between the three Boleyns; Anne, Mary and George. Just when you think the plot can't thicken, it does.
    • 2/5
      I'm currently a little over half way done with this book, and it is just dragging on, and on. I don't know why, but it just does not hold my interest in the slightest bit. Maybe it's because I've seen the movie, before I read the book, and loved it. Maybe my expectations were too high. I though this would be more deceit, jealousy, anger, and betrayal. It lacks everything. The only reason I'm giving it 2 starts is because the beginning was good.
    • 5/5
      Lovely mix of history, romance and intrigue. Too bad the movie didn't do it justice.
    • 4/5
      fictional history - seems to be the only way I can remember history! I thought this was very fun and hard to put down.
    • 2/5
      I think it is a very sad story, and I am not sure I liked it.
    • 3/5
      I don't know why I had it in my head this was going to be dense; it was a light, quick and entertaining read.
    • 5/5
      I love this book with a passion. It was my introduction to Philippa Gregory and I loved the story of Mary Boleyn and especially her relationship with William Stafford. This is one of those books that I've returned to many times despite my to read pile growing larger and larger.
    • 4/5
      This book came to my attention because of the forthcoming movie adaptation. The cover has Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johanssen and Eric Bana in period dress. The film will clearly not be lacking in eye candy.

      The book itself was flat for a long LONG stretch, then picks up near the midpoint and ends very strong. The first-person narration forces us to see the world (16th century England) through the eyes of Mary Boleyn, the other Boleyn girl Henry VIII, er, fell for. When the book opens she is 14, dumb, dull, naive and hapless. Twelve years go by before the final chapter and Mary is a lot more likeable by then. Unfortunately, the historical Mary Boleyn was nearly completely peripheral to the people and events that make this period so interesting, so besides hearing about, oh, the Battle of Pavia and the fall of Cardinal Wolsey (to name two events), you'll have to consult Wikipedia, because Mary has no clue about the big picture.

      The writing is good but not stellar. Phillipa Gregory doesn't display much flair with words, and her characters are ALL two-dimensional; they are not capable of surprising us, no matter how complex their historical counterparts were and the times they lived in. Occasionally some traces of modernity intrude into the story-telling, which is always annoying to historical fiction lovers.

      Overall I enjoyed this book, kind of like how I enjoy donuts. Part guilty pleasure, part cloying, part familiar and comforting. But not the kind of thing I want on my plate everyday.
    • 3/5
      This was an engaging and fairly well-balanced read. I get bored by courtly intrigue and don't really have much patience for historical romances, but I liked the main character a lot. I would've preferred a bit more historical detail and a more vividly drawn setting -- since most of the point of historical fiction is to show the historical setting.

      I did also like Mary as an interesting and fallible unreliable narrator. I also liked how understandably fearful and confused her reactions to her brother falling in love with a man were. It felt as complicated as it should be.

      I knew the basics of Boleyn story before I started reading, and the deviations from the textbook version were a little jarring (and the foreshadowing of the end a bit heavy-handed). I wish I were more sure of the historical accuracy of the novel -- wondering about it distracted me (quite a lot) from the reading experience.
    • 4/5
      This was a book that I didn't want to set down.