Surprisingly I only read this book recently even though it is the most famous of Philippa Gregory's works and has recently had a movie made about it. I have read two other Philippa Gregory books: The Queen's Fool and The Boleyn Inheritance. She seems to favour historical romances, and this book is no exception.
I always enjoy reading about Henry VIII and his six wives, not only because of the scandalous nature of the whole facade but also because it surprises me how people continued to crave this King's favour right until he died on his sixth wife. As with all Gregory's works, there is of course an element of fiction to add to the story. Not all of this history is known for obvious reasons (it has been a few centuries). The romance in this story was enjoyable as it was not the romance (or lack thereof) with the King, but instead something that seemed really charming, next to the affair
Mary Boleyn was forced to have with the King. In the book, (and I have no idea if this actually happened) Mary, ignoring the wishes of her family finally gets the guts to go to the man she loves. Awww!
Okay now that I've gotten over my romantic notions, as well as enjoying the plot of this book the writing was also great, it kept me wanting to read the book all the way through and heightened my historical interest as well. I guess the only criticism I would have is that some people take this book a bit too seriously and think everything it says as historical fact. That's not really a criticism of the book though, more of some people who read it. I would highly recommend this book to anyone, even if you don't have a particular interest in England's history it's still a lovely and sad story. I haven't seen the movie but I've heard it's not as good as the book, it does have Natalie Portman as Anne Boleyn though and I love Natalie Portman! Scarlett Johansson is also pretty cool.
