I'm reading "The Other Boleyn Girl" By Phillipa Gregory. I'm about 250 pages into this 700+ page book and moderately enjoying it. I started to think about Mary and Anne Boleyn and wondered what they might have looked like, so I googled them. Wikipedia has pictures, as well as a lot of info on both Mary and Anne. I read everything.
I knew that Anne married Henry VIII and that he eventually had her killed. I didn't realize that he also had her brother George killed and that the parents died shortly after and that Mary's husband, Sir William Carey, died from the sweating sickness (which, by the way, sounds terrifying) and that Mary was most likely OLDER than Anne and that while Mary was Henry VIII's mistress, it was never public.
Bottom line: I learned lots of interesting things and now don't really feel like finishing the book. My only incentive for reading "The Other Boleyn Girl" now is that I read on Wikipedia that the book is quite controversial among historians because of the many deviations from strongly supported theories. In other words, the story most likely will not follow exact chain of events as outlined in Wikipedia.
Then again, this is Wikipedia we are talking about and according to Michael Scott: "Wikipedia is the best thing ever. Anyone in the world can write anything they want about any subject, so you know you are getting the best possible information."
Has anyone read this book? Is there any need for me to continue reading it?
3 comments:
Hey Afton! I saw your post on my blog but haven't had a chance to respond since then!
I haven't read this book yet, but it's on my list of books to read! One of my good friends loved it. Have you been to goodreads.com before? it's a great way to set up a list of books you've read and would like to read!
Anyway - I am still struggling to get through Sophie Kinsella's latest book. I was so excited to start reading it, but it's just not as funny as the Shopaholic books (or maybe I'm just not as motivated to read it!)
I have two friends who have read it...I'll ask and get back to you.
Hi Afton,
I did the same thing around page 200--I stopped and did research too, only I stopped short--as soon as I could see that it might actually blow the book for me. And then I read your blog and found out George was beheaded--Oh well.
In my research, the book seemed to be more accurate than what your research rendered.
I did finish it and thought it was really good. She is a good author and tells a story well.
I went on to research who reigned after Henry and thought that was pretty strange. I have watched several of the movies about Queen Elizabeth, Anne's daughter, and wondered about how that came about. I find it all very intriguing.
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