Book Reviews of The Boleyn Inheritance

To read this series chronologically, read them in this order: TCP, TOBG, TBI, TQF, TVL, and TOQ (coming 9/16/08). If you want advice on the best way to read the books when you have started with TOBG (most of us seem to have done this), I recommend reading all of them chronologically after TOBG to the end, and then looping back to read TCP after you have finished the series. I heard that from folks who've read them all, and it seems to be working for me. This book reads quickly with many breaks and many chapters that are only a page or two long. It has a very intimate feel as if you are reading the diaries of the three main characters. A note to readers of historical fiction, Gregory is filled with PLENTY romance and cotton candy to make the reads seem light while informing of the period.

�The Boleyn Inheritance� is the story of King Henry VIII and his fourth and fifth wives. The fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, the fifth wife, teenager Katherine Howard (cousin to Anne Boleyn Henry�s second queen), and Lady Rochford (Jane Boleyn) take turns narrating the story.

Gregory does a beautiful job of creating an individual and unique voice for each narrating character. The life of the court at the time is so vividly painted that it makes you feel as if you are there taking part in it yourself. Taking a rather unique approach in writing in three different first-person narratives, Gregory manages to make each character more understandable, and really brings them to life.

While little is known historically of Anne of Cleaves or Katherine Howard, Gregory did a fantastic job of bringing these characters to life, and offing us an insight into the past that is little known. A discussion at the end of the novel with the author provides further information on her research and character choices (as does the list of references).

If you have any interest in the time of King Henry VIII (and who doesn�t?), then I highly recommend that you read �The Boleyn Inheritance�. It is a fantastic novel, and it is remarkably well written. Pick it up today! You don�t even need to read �The Other Boleyn Girl� first. Although, it will help you better understand some of the characters: Lady Rochford, and the Duke of Norfolk, as well as King Henry VIII himself.

I love all of Philippa Gregory's books, but this was one of my favorites. It got off to a slow start but picked up quickly. If you are a fan of hers, or enjoy reading about the Tudor women, you will love this book.

I loved this book! It was so much better than The Other Boleyn Girl in my opinion. It is not necessary to read them in order but it was helpful to know the back story on Anne Boleyn and Jane Boleyn. This story is told from 3 different perspectives - Anne of Cleves (Henry VIII's fourth wife), Katherine Howard (his fifth wife), and Jane Boleyn (Lady Rochford), AKA George Boleyn's wife. Like other reviewers have said, Katherine is an idiot but she makes the story so much more interesting. The story details the rise and fall of the three women.

Another good book by Gregory. I found this one a little harder to read from the three different women's views but it added and interesting dimention to the story to see how differently the situation was precieved.
For Jane, Gregory gets to you understand if not like her character. Hemmed in by historical fact, I didn't like the way Jane's story ended.
For Anne of Cleves, I found the insight to this character plausable and I liked this strong woman.
For Katherine, Gregory developed a believable frivolous little girl . . .she was only 15!

LOVED this book. I have also recently read The Other Boleyn Girl, The Constant Princess, The Virgin's Lover and The Queens Fool. They were all excellent, but I think I liked this one the best, with The Other Boleyn Girl as a close second.

I absolutely loved this book, I thought it to be the best one in the series,it tells the story from three completely different women,Anne of Cleves(who I knew nothing about,)
lovely, spoiled, Katherine Howard, and then of course Jane Rochford, who sent her huband and sister-in-law to their deaths...
I was also mesmarized by the mad man King Henry the eighth...
it was a very quick read and I just wished it would continue...

Phillipa Gregory does it again with this novel. The Boleyn Inheritance is a striking tale of the least known wives of Henry the VIII, Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard. We also meet Jane Boleyn known mostly in history only for her part in seeing her husband George and her sister-in-law Anne go to the scaffolding. We follow the tale from Cleves when Anne is being selected, right on up to the scaffolding and eventually the Kings death, and the whole book will hold you spell bound.

I could hardly set this one down, and yet at parts I had to. It is so descriptive and so heart breaking you will cry for the way these women are terribly caught up in this court. Henry VIII truly was a mad man bent on his own whims, his own desires and no one ever dared tell him no, for if they did they could, and would end up dead. Watch as the body counts of those sent to the scaffold tally higher, for small crimes like simply loving a girl. And those who are the true masterminds of the plots get away from the axe man like a slippery snake in the grass.

You will shake your head at how stupid and frivolous young Katherine is as a Queen. And yet you will feel utterly horrified for her in the end she was really only a child of 16 years who could not possibly know right from wrong when she only ever did was she was told. I believe in the end the only one I did not feel sorry for was Jane Boleyn, to me she made her own bed. Through pure jealousy, ambition and self preservation, in the end she got what was coming. Though preferably no one should have died because of the whims of a selfish King, who thought he was a god. If you haven�t read this book yet, do. You will be emotionally grabbed and riveted to each and every page.

Like most Phillippa Gregory books it's a quick read filled with intrigue, deception and passion. This book can be tricky since this story looks at several different woman's stories from their persepective. It's well worth the flip back and forth!!

Really great book if you like this genre. Not totally true to history but close and interesting to read. If you like this time in England's history this is one book to read along with Georgory's, "The Other Boleyn Girl."

This book is incredible! I absolutely love Philippa Gregory and historical fiction. For anyone that read The Other Boleyn Girl they must read this book. The Boleyn Inheritance kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. Also the depictions of the characters Anne of Cleves, Katharine Howard, and Jane Boleyn were fascinating and captivating!

I enjoyed this book as much as "The Other Boleyn Girl"( which is my favorite book by this author). This is a must read if you like Philippa Gregory books. I read it in two days. I couldn't put it down!!!!

Enjoyed this one as well. I partically liked the way she wrote this one, from three points of view of the primary characters - two of the Queens and Jane Bolyen (Rochford), the lady in waiting to them and the first two Queens. Sometimes funny, sometimes very sad, sometimes ick. (I do hope that PG got some facts wrong with this one, particularly in re the age of Katherine... otherwise huge ick there...) I really enjoyed Anne of Cleves and hope to find more about her. What an interesting person, so lucky and ahead of her time!

I absolutely loved The Other Boleyn Girl, and I don't think any of Philippa Gregory's other works have managed to live up to that example.

This book is billed as a "direct sequel" to The Other Boleyn Girl, and while its events occur directly afterwards, it's not really necessary to enjoy or understand it.

The three viewpoints -- Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard and Jane Boleyn -- is a novel approach, but I've read a much better example of the technique in The Poisonwood Bible. There isn't enough variation in the "voices" used here: you have the plain, smart, oppressed woman in Anne of Cleves; the pretty, dumb, oppressed woman in Katherine Howard; and the remorseful, vindictive oppressed woman in Jane Boleyn.

Overall, it was an interesting but unsatisfying read, but just about any approach to the soap opera that was Henry VIII could have boasted that.

This story is so well written. The three lives of Katharine Howard, Jane Boleyn and Anne of Cleves are played out as they may have been down to their worst fears and most heartfelt longings.

I loved The Boleyn Girl, but this one is even better.

This is a spellbinding account of the hijinks of the English court in times before our lifetime. It is a most intriguing read.

Absolutely bewitching to read and understand the lives of three women forced under King Henry VIII's rule. You may not love all the characters, but you'll swallow their stories!

I love Gregory. she is the author that got me first interested in historical fiction. And this book doesn't dissapoint. It has all of the elements of her other books. Very good read.

“Three women who share one fate: the Boleyn Inheritance” (from the back cover)

This quote really sums up what I consider to be the third book in the Tudor saga by Philippa Gregory. The Boleyn Inheritance is narrated through the voices of three narrators: Anne of Cleves (the 4th wife of Henry VIII), Katherine Howard (Henry’s 5th wife), and Jane Rochford (the late Anne Boleyn’s sister-in-law). Each of these women has a lot on the line because of the cloud that hovered above with the name of Boleyn. Each has earned their current place, in a sense, because of the death of Anne.

I enjoyed the parts of the book that were narrated by Anne of Cleves the best. She was only really part of the Tudor Court for a very short time and was new to the country of England as well. Her chapters brought an outside eye to the story while Jane and Katherine’s brought the inside eye. One thing that I really saw in this book was how easily used Katherine Howard was. She was manipulated by all sides and didn’t even have a chance to realize quite what was happening. I wasn’t a huge fan of Katherine’s sections for that reason – she was completely oblivious to everything that was happening – come on girl! Jane’s sections were interesting to see her wrestling with the guilt over what she did to her husband and sister-in-law. It was also enlightening to see the way she rationalized everything she did.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book just as much as The Other Boleyn Girl and The Constant Princess. A unique way at looking at this short period of time and the events that quickly unfolded.

To borrow a little more from the back cover to wrap this up nicely “Anne of Cleves – Her Boleyn Inheritance: accusations and false witness. Katherine Howard – Her Boleyn Inheritance: the threat of the axe. Jane Rochford – Her Boleyn Inheritance: a fortune and a title, in exchange for her soul.”

4.5 out of 5 stars.

Well written.

I found this book slow going and did not enjoy it nearly as much as The Constant Princess. I felt that the author has particular trouble getting into the character of th 14-year-old queen. However, I will try reading another book or two by the author to see how I like her writing. REK (bigstone)

Philippa Gregory does a wonderful job of describing the times and scenery. The characters are so real. I enjoyed this book.

Not as good as the others in this series, but definately worthwhile. It is a little distracting in the beginning being written from 3 points of view. Once the viewpoints start to weave it is easy to find a rhythm and really enjoy this book.

I really enjoy Philippa Gregory's writing, but this book was a bit disappointing. For those wanting to read the entire Tudor's series, its worth reading, but definitely start with the other boleyn girl. Perhaps its the material she had to work with, but the story here goes from bad to worse. Unlike other boleyn, nothing ever goes right for any of the characters... Bottom line, only read this if you are interested in the series as a whole, and definitely dont start here.

I find all of Phillipa Gregory's books interesting. She bases her stories on true events that happened in history. Although her books are fiction, she tells a tale of how she thinks history took place. She portrays King Henry as this horrible crazy person. It was a fascinating book, but not as good as the other Boleyn girl. I recommend it to anyone who is interested in this period in history.

This is not the sort of book that I usually read but it was really good. It was very interesting. I learned a lot about Henry and his wives even though the book was fiction.
I enjoyed the way that Philippa Gregory wrote from the different perspectives throughout the book.

I didn't like the book as well as TOBG. The three character telling by Katharine Howard, Anne of Cleves and Jane Boleyn seemed a bit contrived, due to the amount of repetition of the plot. Although historical, this account is clearly fictionalized. The ending did come as a surprise, but the story lacked the passion and competition of TOBG.

Not as good as her other Tudor books, I didn't like a single character in this book - maybe Anne a little in her later years. I found this really disappointing, and Katherine was just too stupid to live.

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