The Other Boleyn Girl

A Novel

By: Philippa Gregory

Narrated by: Ruthie Henshall

When Mary Boleyn comes to court as an innocent girl of 14, 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.

©2001 Philippa Gregory Ltd (P)2007 Simon and Schuster Inc.

Critic reviews

"[A] fresh, wonderfully vivid retelling of the story of Anne Boleyn." ( Publishers Weekly)

a1

Now I am a big history buff, after I read this book. I don't buy the incest stuff either, though that is what (as I understand it) the hysterical witch hunt around Anne was suggesting. PG does extrapolate rather a lot from a little I think (she does the same again re Anne of Cleves' home life in The Boleyn Inheritance, which I thought was a rather better book and certainly gives an horrific insight into the paranoia at court in the latter days of Henry VIII's reign when he was a bloated monster, not at all the pretty boy of The Tudors).
I liked this at the time, and thought McElhone was great, though I did find the incest stuff a bit wince making (but had that reaction to reading it too.) Haven't seen the big screen version yet, but would be interested to compare.
overall i loved the book and i ended up getting other sequels related to this book.

Loved It

Ruthie Henshall did a wonderful job with one of my favorite books. This was a great first choice for me to get into audio books.

Great Book!!

This abridged version was very good, I usually don't like abridged but had no choice. I was pleasantly surprised.

Disappointed

I had high hopes for this audio book. I downloaded it to listen to after I had read the book and really enjoyed it, but this is abridged! They left out half of the book!

Pretty good

I read this book straight through. The narrator was excellent and the imagery left much for the imagination.

The Other Boyelyn Girl

I was attracted to this book after seeing the movie... I was completely ignorant of the activities that occurred in this time period and felt that it was intriguing as well as informational. I also felt that it cleared up the movie a bit and made some of the relationships a bit clearer.... I would definitely recommend this book if the movie left you wanting more information on this story

The Other Boleyn Girl

The audio book is great and a little better to understand than reading it, but you miss alot in the abridged version. Can't wait to see the movie hope it lives up to this great book.

Compelling!

Having seen the movie before listening to this book it really was a delight that it was so much more than the movie. I really enjoyed it.

Historical Listening Pleasure!

All I remembered about any Boleyn was that Anne had her head chopped off by the king. Who knew how much more there could be to it?

This is a great tale of a different era - when women were breeders and playing in the royal world was both desired and dangerous.

Every once in awhile, I listen to a book and think "Gee, this is probably better heard than read" (a BIG confession for someone who prefers reading to just listening when I have the chance). Because of the accents and time period - this is one of those tales. I was swooped into another world as I drove along in mine.

Excellent

I love smut and this doesn't disappoint. Lots of drama, intrigue, and beheadings!