I have to say, I loved this book. I was totally prepared to hate it. As a history major, this was one era I was never too interested in, unless it was presented in a fun way and it rarely ever was for me. This book is from the perspective of Mary Carey, Anne Boleyn's younger sister. It describes the Royal Court of Henry VII and his fickleness in female company. The rise of one Boleyn girl, as the other Boleyn girl falls. I think most of us know about Anne, the role she played in Henry's divorce from Katherine and her beheading later on, but I had no idea of Mary's existance, let alone much of the scandal the Boleyn family brought to the Court. This is a western civ. class crossed with Days of Our Lives. And we know how I'm a sucker for a good soap.
I think the best part of this book was the fact that the author kept it in Mary's perspective. She only suggests at some of the scandal through gossip Mary hears and never says with absolute certainty of it's truth. Since this is history, I think that is the best way to handle it, since it lets the reader decide what is the truth.
I'm not sure if I want to see the movie of this or not. I have a feeling that some of my favorite parts would be cut out to focus on the story at Court, rather than some of Mary's adventures away in the countryside. When I was reading, I could totally picture Scarlett Johanson and Eric Bana, but never bought Natalie Portman as Anne. I always saw Keira Knightly. I guess I just think she'd make a better bitch!
2 comments:
Hey, I saw the movie with my mom. You're right, there's not much with Mary in the countryside. It starts there but the rest is at court. And Natalie Portman was too much for me. I didn't know that their brother was beheaded as well. And Eric Bana was missing from most of the movie. He hardly did anything, seriously, he had like 10 lines of dialogue for the whole movie. The best parts for me were the costumes, and Anne's beheading. I considered reading the book but it seemed like it would take forever.
The book sounds sooooo much better! You see much more of the interaction between the girls and Henry. You really get a sense of his different sides...mostly all childish in one way or another. I read the book in a week and 1 day. And I'd say that's fast for me considering I don't read on lunches or anything.
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