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    Mary Boleyn: The Mistress of Kings
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    Mary Boleyn: The Mistress of Kings
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    Mary Boleyn: The Mistress of Kings
    Ebook549 pages7 hours

    Mary Boleyn: The Mistress of Kings

    By Alison Weir

    3.5/5

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    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    NATIONAL BESTSELLER • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE
     
    New York Times bestselling author and noted British historian Alison Weir gives us the first full-scale, in-depth biography of Mary Boleyn, sister to Queen Anne as well as mistress to Anne’s husband, Henry VIII—and one of the most misunderstood figures of the Tudor age. Making use of extensive original research, Weir shares revelations on the ambitious Boleyn family and the likely nature of the relationship between the Boleyn sisters. Unraveling the truth about Mary’s much-vaunted notoriety at the French court and her relations with King François I, Weir also explores Mary’s role at the English court and how she became Henry VIII’s lover. She tracks the probable course of their affair and investigates the truth behind Mary’s notorious reputation. With new and compelling evidence, Weir presents the most conclusive answer to date on the paternity of Mary’s children, long speculated to have been Henry VIII’s progeny. Alison Weir pieces together a life steeped in mystery and misfortune, debunking centuries-old myths to give us the truth about Mary Boleyn, the so-called “great and infamous whore.”
     
    Look for special features inside. Join the Circle for author chats and more.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRandom House Publishing Group
    Release dateOct 4, 2011
    ISBN9780345521354
    Unavailable
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    Reviews for Mary Boleyn

    3.5/5

    170 ratings40 reviews

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    • 3/5
      This is really a treatise of what can or cannot be verified in Mary Boleyn's life. It was tedious; a big disappointment from a talented writer like Weir.
    • 4/5
      I really liked this book. It's a new angle on the well-covered area of Tudor history, and I really enjoyed Weir's explanations of how she reconstructed Mary's life, and where and why she disagreed with other historians. I also was happy that Weir was very clear when she was speculating about unknown facts. If you like this time period, and you have a high tolerance for reading about the historical process, you will most likely enjoy this book.
    • 5/5
      Like Alison Weir's other works, this is a well written and closely argued examination of the life of its subject that provides about the best account of that life that we are ever likely to have, given that we know comparatively little that is hard fact about Mary Boleyn's life compared to that of her far more famous sister. That said, there is also much about Anne we don't know, and there are differing views about which sister was the elder and in which years they were born, views which Weir analyses carefully to come into what seems to be the likeliest conclusion that Mary was the elder and that they were born around the turn of the 15th/16th centuries. Mary's reputation as encapsulated in the subtitle here is based on her having had a brief affair with the French King Francois I (a notorious philanderer) and her later being a mistress of Henry VIII (surprisingly perhaps to some readers, not quite as much so); but these affairs were by no means so significant and long-lasting as is sometimes supposed, were not generally known about at the time, and likely not entered into willingly. Mary was twice married. Her first marriage was to William Carey, by whom she had two children; her daughter Katherine may have been the King's, whereas her son Henry almost certainly wasn't, contrary to screen depictions, including in The Other Boleyn Girl. The evidence for the paternity of these children is also painstakingly examined to arrive at those conclusions. After a period of widowhood following Carey's death in the sweating sickness epidemic of 1528, Mary then married for love a much younger man, William Stafford. Her story therefore ends relatively happily with some nine years of happy marriage before peacefully dying in 1543 in her mid 40s (a not unreasonable life span for a woman at that time), certainly compared to her sister Anne and her brother George, both of course executed back in 1536. So she was really the "most happy" sibling, more deserving of that epithet than Anne. One of the most shocking aspects of the siblings' stories is in some ways is the ruthlessness of their father Thomas Boleyn who "showed himself willing to participate in the destruction of two of his children in order to protect himself and salvage his own position and career". All in all, a fascinating look at a life just outside King Henry's charmed circle.
    • 1/5
      Alison Weir is one of my favourite authors, though she wouldn’t be if all her books were as off-topic and tedious as this one. Having had similar experiences with this author’s “biographies” on Eleanor of Aquitaine, Isaballa of France, and – most notably – Katherine Swynford, I did wonder in advance if this volume on Mary Boleyn would be in the same mould. It is, with only the off-topic account of Katherine Swynford being a bigger disappointment. I got the impression early on the the author wanted to use this book as a way to debunk myths about Mary. I wish she could've found a more engaging way of doing it.Mary Boleyn is another historical woman of whom little details are known today. As a result, the reader is subjected to a book featuring repeated phrases like, “we do not know”, “can’t be sure”, “there is no evidence”, “there is no record”, “this is unlikely”, “Mary may have been there”, “probably was not”, “possibly was”, etc.This produces a tedious read, telling the reader everything that Mary didn’t – or *probably* didn’t – do, while revealing little of what she did – or *possibly* did – do.As I predicted – after reading those other “biographies” mentioned above – much of the narrative is about the more well-known people of Mary’s time, particularly Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII. This means pages often go by without Mary being mentioned, and often when she is, it is just that – a mention.I don’t see why such space should be devoted to Henry VIII’s affairs with other women. I realise the author is trying to draw comparisons, but to me, it feels needlessly off-topic, or a way to fill the pages up in the absence of info on Mary.The first chapter proved especially tedious, dragging on and on about whether or not Mary was born before Anne. Some may argue that it shows how thorough the author was being, but for me it’s just boring to read. It’s like filler material, as are the two appendixes at the end.The first appendix is among the most interesting parts of the book, despite it being off-topic again. It follows what happened to Mary’s family after she died, and names some of her ancestors. I was surprised to learn that P. G. Wodehouse and Winston Churchill are among her descendants.I didn’t bother to read the second appendix, as descriptions of portraits aren’t of interest to me.Overall, this misleadingly-named book is a huge let down by a talented author.
    • 4/5
      I had to smile, halfway through this book, when I realised that the subtitle 'The Great and Infamous Whore' was publicising a book where the central tenet refutes that Mary Boleyn was any such thing. The other curious thing about this edition is that the lady on the front cover is not Mary Boleyn, but Queen Claude, the rather likeable wife of the French king Francois 1st. Anyway, curiosities aside, and despite difficulties I had in keeping track of all the people mentioned in the book, I was pleased to read this biography of a seemingly much maligned and neglected character. I was heartily relieved to read that Mary ended up marrying for love and survived unscathed the bloodbath that surrounded her unfortunate more famous sister Anne. I also learnt more about the significance historically and politically of Mary's relationship with Henry V111. Effectively it cast an unspeakable shadow over Henry's marriage to Anne, as technically at the time you couldn't marry the sibling of someone with whom you had had a relationship. Considering Henry V111 used this 'prohibition' to justify his annulment of his own marriage to Katherine of Aragón, who had been married to Henry's brother, you do wonder at the hypocrisy of Henry V111 and at the machinations he went through to try and unpick the fall out from his affair with Mary. Fascinating. The family trees in my edition are in such tiny print that I found them pretty impenetrable.
    • 4/5
      In this biography of Mary Boleyn, Alison Weir attempts to debunk many of the myths and rumors surrounding the sister of Anne Boleyn. Yes, she was the mistress of two kings. No, this was not a position she sought or ever publicized. The book also says that Henry VIII was probably the father of Mary's daughter Katherine Carey. And illustrations point to a remarkable likeness between the two. It's a good book that gives Mary some redemption. Unlike many of the film or television portrayals of Mary, this is the real deal.
    • 2/5
      Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII had a love affair that catalyzed a political and religious revolution in England. But years before they married, Henry had an affair--no one knows for how long, or how serious--with Anne's sister Mary. After writing numerous books about Henry VIII and his wives, Weir has set out to delve into the history of Mary Boleyn.

      The problem is, there isn't much history to delve into. We have two letters by her, and some information about her travels during young adulthood. But we don't know what she looked like (no portrait has been authenticated, and the portraits associated with her have a very low probability of actually being her), or what color hair she had, or when she was born, or if she was older or younger than Anne, or when she left France, or what her feelings were about any of the men in her life, or who fathered some of her children, or how many children she had, or anything at all, really. And that's my issue with this book. Weir has clearly put in due diligence to discover everything she can find about Mary, but there just doesn't seem to be much known. And so instead the majority of this book is taken up with either mocking other scholars' theories about Mary (and rightfully so--the fanciful, downright prurient language they use to describe this woman they know nothing about, whose sex life is a near complete mystery to everyone, is shockingly unprofessional) or making up her own theories.

      I've been impressed with Weir's scholarship and careful weighing of fact vs possibilities before, but I think she goes a bit overboard into fiction here. She theorizes all sorts of things, based on very little evidence indeed. One of Mary's children named one of her children "William," and from this Weir concludes that William Stafford was a good step-father to the Mary's children and that they loved him. What the heck? William is a perfectly ordinary, very common name! Or Weir uses the royal imagery in a poem by Sir Philip Sidney (when he was courting Katherine Carey, Mary's eldest child) as proof that Katherine was secretly Henry VIII's bastard daughter. Again, that's very flimsy indeed! By the end of the "biography," I was very frustrated with Weir. I think she did her reputation more harm than good with this book.
    • 3/5
      I liked this and found it very interesting, but not enthralling. It was a good book to help recover from The Other Boleyn Girl, but I don't think it could have hooked me on its own.
    • 4/5
      Alison Weir attempts to present the facts and then gives us the probable conclusions as to what really happened. She is not afraid to bring up differing points of view and lists the source where it generated. I did well with the book until the end and then I have to admit I skimmed through summary of what happened to all the people mentioned. I was really only interested in the info on Mary and the end was getting tedious. I give this book a 4 out 5 stars.
    • 4/5
      Alison Weir never writes a bad book, as far as I can tell. This one suffers a little from the lack of available information about Mary Boleyn, but Weir still tells a good (true) story. If only more history were this well-written and accessible.
    • 5/5
      An analysis of the life and times of Mary Boleyn told through examination of contemporary documents, including diaries, government documents, letters, and paintings. Alison Weir has the ability to take a subject, thoroughly research it, and write about it so it comes across as a story and not a dry historical thesis. With Mary Boleyn, Weir definitely worked hard on compiling a life story from what little factual information is available; her hard work resulted in this book - one of the first factual based and complete stories of "the other Boleyn" girl. In this book Mary's story is told through established facts about her more famous sister, Anne and Henry VIII. Weir uses contemporary accounts to establish a basic timeline for Mary's life and fills in the blanks using Mary's remaining 2 handwritten letters and other diary accounts contemporary to the time; resulting in this biography of a woman thought to be one of Britain's most notorious woman. In reality, Mary was an older sister who lived her life in her charming younger sister's shadow and was fortunate enough to find love, be happily married, and outlive all her other siblings to die a natural death.

      A compelling biography, Alison Weir outdid herself and has maintained her reputation as a one of the best British history writers of this age.
    • 3/5
      Weir offers a historiographical/biographical treatment of Mary Boleyn, about whom so little is known for certain that it would hardly make a short pamphlet, let alone a book. But Weir's done well and picking through the historical detritus and telling us what is known, as well as busting lots and lots of myths.That said, there is a huge amount of repetition in the book, which got old fairly quickly. And because of the paucity of reliable sources, Weir's forced to speculate or qualify practically everything she writes. And that rarely makes for a very pleasant or enjoyable read.
    • 3/5
      Although the nerd in me loves all the details, there just seemed to be such a lack of facts that nothing could be said for certain about Mary. Some good stuff but a lot of conjecture and boring nothing.
    • 3/5
      This is not the place to start one's Tudor exploration, but if you are already a fan of the family, you'll enjoy this scholarly and exhaustive examination of Mary Boleyn. There's not much solid fact about Boleyn extant, but Weir has done her homework and presents as much evidence as there is for each step of Boleyn's life. Fascinating if a little dry.
    • 2/5
      This is the "Biographical" story of Mary Boleyn, sister to Anne who was Queen of England and married to Henry VIII. I agree with K00kaburra about the book. I was looking for something with a little more real information about Mary but unfortunately there does not seem to be much new to learn. There is a lot in the book about Anne-and while she was the "star" of the Boleyn family her story has been told many times before.
      I found myself having problems following the story and some of that might have been due to it being an ARC without the pictures, tables and charts that the finished copy has.
      I appreciate the opportunity to read the book but really can't recommend it to others unless you are are a true Tudor fan.
    • 3/5
      The book rambled a bit more in places than I like and a lot of it was conclusions from comparisons, but overall it was an interesting book and a valiant effort to clear the woman's reputation.
    • 5/5
      I have enjoyed reading all of Alison Weir's non-fiction books (I haven't read any of her fiction novels) and "Mary Boleyn: The Mistress of Kings" was no exception. The book is meticulously researched and well-sourced, allowing Weir to go about debunking some of the popular myths and legends about Mary Boleyn, which have been reinforced by decades of popular fiction (and now) television shows.For those who don't know, Mary Boleyn was the mistress of Henry VIII years before her sister, the unfortunate yet cunning Anne, became the second of his six wives. There are few contemporary accounts of her life, so Weir sets about reconstructing her history based upon the little evidence that is available.If you're looking for historical fiction... this book isn't it... it's steeped in facts and Weir is quick to back up her assertions with explanations of her evidence -- or admit that certain theories are mere supposition. However, the book is extremely readable and really interesting. While I liked some of her other books even more (The Princes in the Tower and The Six Wives of Henry VIII in particular,) I thought this was also amongst her best.
    • 4/5
      Like many of the women who are the new focus of popular history, Mary Boleyn has left a very slim paper trail. There are entire periods of her life where no one is quite sure where she actually was, let alone what she was doing or feeling. Only two of her letters survive, to our knowledge, and our ideas of her as a legendary whore are based mainly on much later opinions of her. With very little to work with, Weir attempts to reconstruct Mary's life and, in several cases, set the record straight.In a lot of this book, Weir engages in one of my favourite things, evaluation of other historians. I love historiography, and she does a good job picking apart others' arguments and showing what was based on actual source and what wasn't. Unfortunately, a number of the historians she chooses to engage with were working a considerable amount of time in the past, rather than those who are working now and would be more likely to follow current standards for documentation and analysis. Saying that, I'm not sure how many historians are presently working on the Tudors and Mary Boleyn, as popular culture is not necessarily connected to academic culture, so it's possible she didn't have much more recent to work with; her main focus is revising people's opinions of Mary as an infamous whore, and I did enjoy her investigation of how that reputation came about.Unfortunately, because of the scarce information, some flaws pop up in Weir's work; it's extremely repetitive, as she has the need to make an assumption about Mary's past, then treats it as fact and tells us about it over and over again. Her reputed affair with the French king is constantly discussed, for example. I've definitely appreciated some of Weir's other works more than this one in this respect. There just isn't much here. I felt like Mary's life would have been much more suited to a longer article or inclusion into a collection, instead of a book on its own. I failed to really get a sense of who she was; the most affecting and interesting part of the book, for me, was when Weir actually quoted a letter that she wrote. I understand that there are only two letters, but the difference really demonstrated to me how little I'd felt for Mary up until that point.Mary Boleyn was a book I didn't mind reading; it may be considered dry by others who aren't particularly used to reading history and expect it to be more like a novel (there are pages of speculation about Mary's birthday, for instance), but if you do enjoy biography you won't have any trouble getting involved here. Unfortunately, I found the end result ultimately disappointing, and I hope Weir chooses a better documented subject for her next full-length work of popular history.
    • 4/5
      As usual Alison Weir has written a very good historical book. This time she breaks ground with the first full biography of "the Other Boleyn", Mary Boleyn. She presents a kinder more sympathetic view of the infamous character who slept with two kings. Ms Weir always manages to add new material to her histories which make reading them tantalizing, but I found one or two things that distracted me in this book. Frequently information is repeated throughout the volume which made me say "ok, I got it the first time." Hopefully, this will be corrected in the final proof. I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in the Tudor period because Ms Weir's easy writing style will make it readable to all.
    • 4/5
      I have a hard time being critical of Ms. Weir; as I have enjoyed and learned from all her books. I have heard her lecture twice on the subject of theTudor monarchs. For this book, the word that comes to mind is "maybe." It appears there is a lack of concrete information on Mary Boylen. Her life was not as well documented as that of her sister, brother and father. Sources appear few. They often conflict with each other. Some sources had political agendas that may have colored their observations and recollections.That makes this a hard book to get your hands around. Maybe it has something to say on the subject, maybe not. I read this book right after reading a book about Henry VIII's mistresses. (The Mistresses of Henry VIII.) Both books, read together, proved interesting and complemented each other. Ms. Weir information on Katherine Carey was compelling. Read alone, without knowledge of the period, or having only seen TV shows like "The Tudors" or moives such as "The Other Boylen Girl"- this volume would be difficult and likely frustrating to read.I would have loved to see this expanded into a book about the entire Boylen family - their origins, history prior to Henry VII and what happened to their fortunes after Anne's execution, and how they got on during the reign of Elizabeth I.
    • 3/5
      This was a rather tedious book to read. It seemed to be very well researched but it ended up being so much of "this might be true but we don't have enough information" or "this was previously though true but can't be backed up by any reliable sources" or "this might have happened but then again maybe not." There was just so much speculation and uncertainty that it didn't add up to good biography.
    • 2/5
      In a word: DULL. When a 400-page biography starts out by telling you that very little factual information is known about its subject, I guess you should know what to expect: a lot of repetition (to the point of irritation), endless debunking of what others have stated as fact, and vague speculations about what "may have" happened, been thought, or been felt. The result was a real bore. The writing is flat and, again, repetitive, not only in details but in phrasing, and the chronology is fractured. There is so little focus as she jumps between persons peripherally related to May's story that at times I even forgot that I was supposedly reading a biography of Mary Boleyn. I kept thinking that Weir was finally running out of Tudor-era women to write about. A number of readers have defended Weir's tedious style, claiming that it is simply because the book is not fiction but rather "academic." As an academic specializing in Tudor England, I can attest to the fact that an academic book can indeed be an exciting read--as have been several of Weir's previous biographies. I'm giving the book 1.5 stars on the basis of her research but was sorely tempted to downgrade the score to only one. After reading the other reviews posted here, I'm surprised that so many readers, after making many valid criticisms of the book or stating outright that it was boring, still gave it three or four stars, resulting in an overall rating of 3.69. Since most had received LTER copies, perhaps they thought that giving the book a score below three would affect their chances of getting future ARCs?
    • 3/5
      I have loved Allison Weir’s other books and was so looking forward to this new one, however the beginning is dull as dirt; do I really need pages and pages and pages of speculation of when Mary was born and still don’t ever get an answer. She starts out saying she wants to write a definitive biography of Mary but there is a lot of; well this is what is known, not known, speculated, but I still can’t give you any answer, so why am I reading if you’re not going to tell me anything?I have to say I like Alison Weir’s fiction better than her non-fiction this one she just seems to be calling out other historians mistakes but she doesn’t really give the correct information just what others have said is wrong.This did get better in the second half and kept my interest as I said I am a huge fan of Alison Weir however, this one won’t be up there with my favorites of her books.I think this book should have been a biography of the Boleyn family there is so much more about Mary’s father, brother, sister and of course Henry VIII. I think I wouldn’t feel like she’s padding the book if it told you in the beginning that this is a biography of a family because we sure don’t really find much out about Mary, what does all Henry’s other affairs and illegitimate children have to do with a bio of Mary?I am sorry as much as I like Alison Weir this one just didn’t do it for me I know she is a great researcher and that’s what this book is lots and lots of research told in a very textbook like manner, I think I will stick to Weir’s historical fiction rather than her non-fiction.If you are new to Alison Weir don’t start here, start with Innocent Traitor: A Novel of Lady Jane Grey then The Lady Elizabeth I loved these 2 books, this one not so much.I must give props to the undeniable amount of research Weir does. And the rating on this has to do with the fact that this book does not answer any questions about Mary and was about so many other people than her and there is a lot of guess work still going on. There is just too much, must have, maybe have, could have, and not enough really did!3 Stars***I won this book from Librarything early Reviewers Program**
    • 4/5
      In my experience, Alison Weir's nonfiction generally offers lively writing with a few strange interpretations. In this case, the writing isn't so lively. There is apparently some demand for a biography of Mary Boleyn; I opened this eagerly since even books allegedly about her are really about her sister Anne, and generally end with Anne's death. Mary outlived her sister by seven years. Unfortunately, there just isn't enough factual material surviving to make a good biography. This isn't necessarily a disaster: very often a book about a little-documented person can be the basis of a fascinating exploration of there time period, with all the little social details that are left out of the biographies of more important people. That is one of the approaches that Weir has taken. She gives great detail about places and people associated with the Boleyns. One of the parts that I especially enjoyed was the detail about Mary's children and their relationship with Elizabeth I. This is the sort of intimate detail not often covered in biographies of Elizabeth. Interestingly, there is a series of swashbuckling mysteries by P. F. Chisholm starring Mary's grandson Robert Carey (sometimes Cary) (The first is A Famine of Horses. He also wrote his memoir which have been printed several times and are currently in print. Weir includes genealogical tables and a number of colored plates. Weir has also decided to do here is to examine all the primary, secondary, and sometimes tertiary writings about Mary and assess the validity of their statements. This is quite valuable in its way for those with a real interest in the period but it doesn't make for lively reading. It also is quite interesting as a case study of historiography. I enjoyed it, but one needs to realize what the book is and what it isn't. I agree heartily with Weir that historians too often make assertions without backing them up with citations. I also wish they would tell a bit about their source when it is from some source not generally available. I recognize that it is a lot of work to check every single tangential fact, but that is how misapprehensions arise. There are a few times when she should have taken her own advice. I found some of Weir's arguments unconvincing. A few examples:Weir tells us that the only evidence that Mary Boleyn had an affair (or fling) with François I is a statement made twenty years later by Rodolfo Pio, Papal Nuncio in France, that “the French king knew her here in France … 'for a very great whore and infamous above all'”. She then tells us “Pio was demonstrably not the most accurate of sources, often treating gossip as fact” and was “inclined to vilify the antipapal Boleyns.” She dismisses the idea that Mary was a great and infamous whore, but tries to interpret the statement to mean that François “knew” her in the biblical sense, which seems doubtful to me, and asserts that that part must be true even if the rest is false. I find it a very unconvincing reading and was left skeptical that Mary ever slept with François . (pp.72-74) I am aware that Henry was within one degree of affinity with Anne because of his relationship with Mary, but I have never heard of it being tied to a Levitical prohibition against marrying a wife's sister as a concubine. Weir, annoyingly, doesn't give the reference for the passage, and I did an electronic search of two versions of the Bible without finding it. Since there is a reasonably simple system of citation for the Bible, which exists in multiple translations, I severely fault not giving chapter and verse. (p. 186) She doesn't list J. J. Scarisbrick in her bibliography, and I think he is an essential source on Henry's annulment/divorce. Anyone interested in the subject should read his Henry VIII, especially the chapter on the ins and outs of church doctrine and procedures regarding marriage.Further, Weir argues that the dispensation that Henry received allowed him to marry either his mother or his daughter (or presumably a sister). She says that the dispensation explicitly refers to affinity “arising from illicit intercourse,” so the part about his mother and daughter is nonsense. They are related to him by blood, not by intercourse, even though blood relationships involve intercourse. Even if one tried to twist that into affinity via intercourse, he surely isn't going to argue that he is his mother's illegitimate son (p. 188)At the risk of seeming picky, there are several small mistakes that Weir makes (and her copy editor misses.) She refers to Arthur Plantagenet, Viscount Lisle, illegitimate son of Edward IV (Henry VIII's grandfather) as Henry's cousin when Lisle was in fact his uncle. (p. 215) He speaks of Wiltshire, Mary and Anne Boleyn's father, as contemplating leaving Mary's share of his property to “his niece, the future Elizabeth I”; Elizabeth was of course his granddaughter. (p. 228, 242) As much as Weir has written about these people, you'd think these relationships would be automatic. Presumably in the latter case, she meant “her” not “his” and was referring to Mary. Perhaps her copyeditor misunderstood and changed it. So, once again, an interesting, but not altogether convincing book on the Tudor era.
    • 4/5
      I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, despite there being so much speculation and uncertainty - I suppose that's to be expected when writing a biography of a person about whom very few facts are actually known. It was interesting to see the myths about Mary Boleyn dispelled, which is one of Weir's goals in writing this book, and I enjoyed reading about her children and husbands. Weir is always very readable and this book was definitely no exception. I found much to admire in Mary Boleyn, even if there is still a lot about her that we don't know.
    • 3/5
      I love Alison Weir, but have to say this book was a disappointment. The problem is that there are not enough trustworthy sources to write a good history/biography....the book is mostly a collection of perhaps, maybe, not likely, that can't be true because...etc. There's plenty of dramatic material in Mary Boleyn's life for a great novel, however - oh, wait, it was done The Other Boleyn Girl, and a movie as well! The most interesting part of this book was learning what happened to Mary's children (and why Weir thinks her daughter but not her son was probably fathered by King Henry VIII) and grandchildren, and the most interesting part of all was the very last paragraph in the book, listing people known to be descended from Mary Boleyn.
    • 5/5
      Alison Weir is probably my favorite non fiction historical author since she can make the drollest facts read like fiction. She really brings to life the true story about Mary Boleyn based on excruciating details she unearths from snippets of letters, official royal documents and details that were overlooked by other biographers. Weir claims that Mary was probably not the "whore" history has portrayed her to be, but a victim of circumstance and was forced into a brief relationship with the King of France. Since women are a minor footnote in history during this age, there is not much for Weir to go on, so she recreates Mary's life from know facts of the time and pieces those together with well researched truths. This is not a book for the casual reader of history. The details might overwhelm some, but those who have read Weir's other books and are Tudor fans will adore this one. I am a big fan of Weir's writing and style and although this is not my absolute favorite of hers, it certainly adds to my fascination of all things Tudor. Just reading about the lifestyle and times of Mary Boleyn will make you crave even more detail about this period in time. Although, the fictionalize account of Mary Boleyn is fun to read, the truth is even more alluring.
    • 3/5
      I had a lot of problems with this book. I waited for a few weeks after finishing it to write this review because I didn't want to be overly critical. Essentially what I gleaned from this book is that not much is really 'known' factually about Mary that hadn't been published before. Most of the book is "this could refer to Mary, this painting could be of Mary., this was where Anne was so therefore Mary could be"..........There is a real problem for the modern popular historian to try to write about characters who make wonderful fiction, but not enough is known and documented about the individual to warrant a true biography either popular or scholarly. Nevertheless some people who like to just gain a surface view of Mary, Anne or the Boleyn family in general may really like this work. Alison Weir seems to be moving further and further away from clear historical scholarship with each work she writes. Recently she began writes fiction as well as historical biography. I am hoping she keeps writing the fiction because the non-fiction is frankly becoming almost impalpable. Having read extensively on the Tudor period of English history I really learned nothing new from this book, but it might serve as a good starting point for someone having a new interest in the topic or that generally prefers fictional accounts.
    • 4/5
      I have several books by Weir now, both fiction and nonfiction, and I have to say that I favor her fiction. This biography contains a great deal of information on Mary Boleyn--a person who the world became obsessed with after Gregory's "The Other Boleyn Girl." Certainly a good resource for anyone looking to learn more about Mary, but a bit dry if you're more of a fiction reader (which I usually am).
    • 2/5
      Disappointing. I have read and enjoyed many of Alison Weir's biographies, but I think the subject of Mary Boleyn defeats her. Perhaps because there is so little confirmed information on Mary, Weir spends entirely too much time discussing what information on Mary is likely to be false that on what Mary was really like.