Bad History, Good Story

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	• The Other Boleyn Girl Philippa Gregory Touchstone, 2003 - 672 pages average customer review:based on 816 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Bad History, Good Story

Other Boleyn Girl / 0-7432-2744-1

If history is written by the victor, then thus do we have two separate histories for the engaging character of Anne Boleyn. The first history, written by those who succeeded her after her descent from power, is the history of the cruel, commanding, incestuous, evil witch. The second history, written after the ascent of her powerful daughter Elizabeth, is the history of the pious, strong, faithful, kind wife. The truth, as always, is located somewhere between these two caricatures. As a 'historian', it is indefensible for Gregory to wholeheartedly cling to one side of the story and dismiss the other without question; yet, as an author of fiction, it is her right to do so, if the result is a good story.

Make no mistake - this is not history. For the sake of a story, Gregory takes a several major "what if?" questions and runs with them. What if Anne really was an evil, conniving witch? Well, her innocent sister Mary, provided here for contrast, would certainly have had a hard time of it! What if Mary's affair with the king had been an affair not of her own choosing, but - once she fell in love with the king - what if Anne had deliberately and cruelly supplanted her, rather than Henry simply discarding one sister for another as one of his mercurial whims? That would certainly be a page-turning tear-jerker! What if Mary's disappointing marriage to a displaced noble was not one of disgrace, but rather a marriage of true love and happiness? Well, that would certainly be very satisfying for the reader, while providing a vital contrast to Anne's own ill-fated marriage! And, wouldn't you know it, these assumptions, though bad history, do make for a good story device.

The characters here may be inaccurate, but they are compelling. Henry comes closest to accuracy, with his mercurial moods and petty childishness highlighted superbly. We are lead to understand that Henry is a bad monarch, first and foremost, because he lacks the self-awareness to realize that the flatteries laid upon him by his courtiers are just that - flatteries - and not the incomparable truth. Mary, as the Madonna/Virgin of the story, is sweet, innocent, desirable, spiritually virginal, and has such a bad head for politics that even her lover calls her a 'sweet idiot'. This is done for our benefit, as a plot device to so that things can be carefully explained to the stupid Mary and, thus, to us, but it is done with a minimum of fuss. Anne, as the Whore of the story, is cruel (most especially to her sweet, long-suffering sister), conniving, vicious (and, possibly, a murder), tempestuous, and also surprisingly stupid, despite her ability to lead Henry by the nose for one part of the novel. It doesn't make sense that she can be fantastically charming prior to marriage, yet descends into a withering shrew afterwards, considering the stake she has in keeping her moody husband happy, but we are lead to believe that the distracted Anne is descending quietly into madness - hence, her desperate liaison with her brother.

Despite these cheap tricks of Virgin/Whore contrasts, excessive exposition, and pliable character traits, the story still moves at a very enjoyable clip. The tale of one sister waiting patiently in the wings while another grabs all the glory, to her eventual ruin, is an old motif, but it plays out well here. We worry for Mary - will she find happiness, will she find love, will she escape her family? We fret for Anne, even as we hate her, because - in the end - we hate Henry more. We recognize, at the ending, that Anne's literary cruelty may have been the one saving trait that protected her from being used and abused by Henry as all his other lovers had been. And, while I would have preferred a more historically accurate novel, in the end, I still enjoyed this one, and you may too, as long as - again! - you remember that this is bad history in order to make a good story. A Boleyn "alternate reality", if you will, and nothing more.

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Wonderful Author

This was a fabulous book that I could not put down and when I finished it, I immediately went looking for more of her books!

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very entertaining

Of course this isn't historically accurate... its "Historica FICTION". The purpose of it is to be entertaining based on events... and that it is!

The Best!!!

This is by far, the best book in the series. It had me hooked and I read every other book by Phillipa Gregory simply because this one is so good. I found the rest were not as good as this, but were wonderful too. This is simply not to be competed with. This story starts with Catherine of Aragon tolerating her husband Henry's dalliances with her ladies in waiting and goes on to Anne's overtaking of the thrown. Very detailed..Very informative of the times and the food and customs. Really takes you into another world. Feels like you time traveling. I was angry at parts at the injustice of it all, especially concerning Mary, the narrator. But rest be assured, it ends well for her. I was grateful for that. She was a wonderful character, a pawn in the adults game, but she rose above in the end. Cannot say the same for Anne Boyeln.

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