The Boleyn Inheritance

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Jur ca nu voi fi prima care sa rosteasca un cuvant impotriva acestei regine." (juramant incalcat, este printre doamnele care depun marturie impotriva ei) Anne Boleyn has been a shameful secret in our family for so long, it hardly matters whether she was innocent or not... It is not as if I have to follow in her footsteps, it is not as if there is a Boleyn inheritance of the scaffold and I am her heir..." A moment of clarity by Katherine Howard. Does she learn to curb her actions/thoughts/deeds? She's fifteen, beautiful, she thinks life will go all her way... The novel spans Henry VIII’s marriages to Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard, and is narrated by three women: Anne, Katherine, and Lady Rochford (Jane Boleyn, sister-in-law of beheaded Anne Boleyn). Anne of Cleves is both intelligent and honorable, and I felt for her as she slowly realizes that she’d exchanged the humiliations of her brother’s court for the life-threatening humiliations of Henry’s court. The only problem with Anne is her repetitive “realizations” of Henry’s insanity. “I think he must be mad!”; “I fear the king is mad!” “The country is ruled by a madman!” How many times can you be surprised by this? Anyway, it got a bit old, as did her droning on about her life being in danger, especially as we already know she doesn't end up beheaded. (Remember the rhyme: "Divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, survived.") And besides, Henry VIII wasn't insane, just selfish and corrupt. Learn more about the Tudor monarchs (and see portraits of Henry VIII's six wives) at www.tudorhistory.org. Set the scene by serving traditional English tea and pastries. A variety of teas is available at www.englishteastore.com, along with Norfolk Manor biscuits, Currant Scone Mix, English Clotted Cream, and other delicacies. You'll also find a selection of English Tea Party Recipes at www.joyofbaking.com/EnglishTeaParty.html.

The repetitiveness also seeps into individual lines and wording. The reader is beat over the head with almost every detail: that Henry is old enough to be Katherine Howard’s father or even grandfather, that Jane claims she loved her husband and didn’t mean to send him to the gallows, that Henry is a disgusting and morbidly obese old man who is literally rotting and has the smell to match, that Anne Boleyn was beheaded and the wives who follow her fear the same fate. At a certain point, authors should trust that their readers can remember details from one chapter to the next.First, there is Anne of Cleves, a twenty-four year old queen, who reigns some six months, but is savvy enough to survive being disposed of by Henry VIII, a feat that few of his wives could boast. Anyone familiar with her story must have wondered why she elected to stay in England after Henry set her aside for Katherine Howard and how she managed to become regarded as his “sister” after she had been his wife. We are mostly told by historians that he found her ugly, but Gregory’s explanations are far more believable and credible than that, and she gives this shadowy queen life. So, he is dead at last. The man who failed the promise of his youth, the king who turned tyrant, the scholar who went mad, the beloved boy who became a monster. How many did the king kill? We can start to count now that death has stilled his murderous will. Thousands. No one will ever know. Up and down the land the burnings in the marketplace for heresy, the hangings at the gallows for treason. Thousands and thousands of men and women whose only crime was that they disagreed with him. This is the man they call a great king, the greatest king that we have ever had in England."

Katherine Howard is the young, beautiful woman who captures Henry’s eye, even though he is set to marry Anne. Her spirit runs free, and her passions run hot - though her affections may not be returned upon the king. We are players in this game, but we do not choose our own moves. The men will play us for their own desires. All we can do is try to survive whatever happens next... Howard’s song “ All You Wanna Do” in Six is slightly less than seven minutes long, and it makes her a more sympathetic, better rounded character than the whole of The Boleyn Inheritance. Gregory’s version all but turns her into a nymphomaniac. She’s in love with a new boy every twenty minutes. She’s so overcome with lust that she happily has sex in front of Jane Boleyn as if she weren’t there. She agrees with everyone around her that she’s an idiot. It’s reiterated over and over again that she doesn’t understand anything about what’s going on around her and that she’s happy as long as she gets new jewels and gowns. Despite being the queen, she is unable to control the people around her. There are a few passing moments when Gregory apparently remembers that Katherine is a protagonist and will let her think something like I’m afraid of the king right after someone else observes that she’s too stupid to know to be afraid of the king, but that’s it. A vengeful and unpredictable king, Henry descends deeper and deeper into madness. The peril runs deep, especially for these three women, recalling the terrified days leading up to the death of Anne Boleyn five years earlier. To be a favorite of the king comes at a risk. Will one of these three women inherit the fate of the former queen and pay with her life?He then starts to plan his exit. Best way to angle a move he thinks? Play shit and act like a moody wanker. Va recomand romanul mai ales pentru portretele personajelor si pentru atmosfera, haosul si teroarea ce caracterizeaza domnia lui Henry, cruzimea sa fata de propriile neveste, paranoia ca ar putea fi uzurpat in orice moment, neincrederea in curtenii sai si persecutarea religioasa pe care o practica cu ajutorul ducelui de Norfolk, mana sa dreapta si calaul ideal.