I finished reading The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory on the plane coming home from Forks yesterday.  I wanted to read it before I saw the movie and my old visiting teacher had the book.  She enjoyed it, but she didn’t really want to keep the book, so she gave it to me.

I enjoyed the story a lot.  It was very intriguing, full of suspense, and romance.  Before I read the book, I didn’t really know what it was about.  My co-worker Erin mentioned that it was about Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s second wife–the first wife he had beheaded.  I’ve always been fascinated with movies or books that deal with history, even though I don’t remember a lot of the details from school.  From that aspect alone, I was very excited to read the story.

Philippa Gregory used factual knowledge like names, dates, and locations for The Other Boleyn Girl.  However, as with most historical fiction, she filled in the characters’ motives to progress her story.  Even though the motives are unknown and some of the history is debated, Gregory does a fantastic job of grabbing the reader from the very beginning.  The story actually follows Anne’s sister, Lady Mary Carey, one of Henry VIII’s many known mistresses.  Using Mary as the narrator, Gregory can take you right up to and after the moment of Anne’s beheading.

The back of the cover states the following:

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 her golden prince and her growing role as unofficial queen. However, she soon realizes just how much she is a pawn in her family’s ambitious plots as the king’s interest begins to wane and she is forced to step aside for her best friend and rival: her sister, Anne. Then 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, sex, ambition, and intrigue, The Other Boleyn Girl introduces a woman of extraordinary determination and desire who lived at the heart of the most exciting and glamorous court in Europe and survived by following her own heart.

Because of The Other Boleyn Girl, I want to read more about the Tudors and Boleyns.  I found out that Philippa Gregory has written a few other books dealing with the Tudors and Boleyns (The Boleyn Inheritance, The Constant Princess, The Queen’s Fool, and The Virgin’s Lover), so I’ll probably read them some time.  I also can’t wait to watch the movie now.

A warning to parents: The book does focus on sex a lot because it’s all about the Boleyn family trying to have a son sired by Henry VIII to help them advance in the kingdom.  The scenes that actually deal with the act of sex aren’t graphic or explicit, which is one of the reasons I like this book so much.  However, if you don’t feel comfortable with your child reading about that, this book isn’t for them.

My rating:

Happy belated birthday, Brandi!

I have a couple of things to post about.  First, I’m back from my trip to Forks. I have bittersweet feelings as I’m glad to be with Corey and the kitties again, but I would’ve rather had Corey and the kitties join me in Forks instead of me leaving.  Forks was so awesome!  I have lots of pictures and fun stuff to tell you, but I’m waiting until I gather all the pictures from my cohorts before I post about the trip!  Hopefully, it’ll only be a couple of days.

Second, only 4.5 days until Breaking Dawn is released! I am so excited I can hardly contain it, especially after reading a spoiler from Stephenie!  (Proceed with caution.)  I started rereading Twilight on the plane yesterday and I’m hoping to get through it as well as New Moon and Eclipse by Friday, so that I’ll be ready for Saturday’s midnight release!  Wish me luck.

PS–As I reread Twilight, it’s so exciting because I know all the places Bella mentions!