February 9, 2011

The Boleyn Inheritance, by Phllipa Gregory

The Boleyn Inheritance is the sequel to The Other Boleyn Girl.

I know, I know, I'm behind the times. These books have been out forever, right? But, I just recently read The Other Boleyn Girl and knew I wanted to continue the series, but wanted to do it in order. So I sought out the sequel and here we are. Most likely 2 years after you've read them, but just in case you haven't, I wanted to share my thoughts!

Plot: The Boleyn Inheritance follows directly after Anne Boleyn is killed and Mary Boleyn leaves the Henry VIII's court. This story is the "what happens next" view, profiling three women that take on the next generation of Henry VIII's reign. As in her other books, Gregory injects a healthy dose of intrigue and descriptive text that helps you feel like you're living at court with the characters and keeps the plot moving along.

Characters: The story is centered around Henry VIII's new queen, Anne of Cleves, his new mistress Katherine Howard, and the ever-present spy and gossip Jane Boleyn, who was a supporting character in The Other Boleyn Girl. Though most of the characters were new to me, it helped to have context from the first book. Each of the women were engaging characters and I loved them or hated them. They annoyed me, made me root for them, and made me wish they'd just fade into the background. In short, they were key in keeping the plot moving and my interest high.

Structure: In case you haven't noticed, I'm a fan of short chapters. I need to be able to tackle small chunks so that I can read for 5 minutes or 2 hours depending on the time I have and still find a convenient stopping place. In this book, each chapter is from one woman's perspective, and they're only a few pages. This structure made it really easy for me to follow, and kept me wanting to read more because just when I'd get into one woman's story, Gregory would switch to another perspective.

I'm finding that I really enjoy learning about this period in history with the help of these books. I'm excited to check out the other ones in the series! 5 stars.



4 comments:

  1. i've read three of these books and i love them. i want to read the whole series but i keep getting sidetracked! it's all so fascinating though.

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  2. You're not the only one who is behind the times! I've had this sitting on my shelf for over a year now. One day I'll get to it.

    2 Kids and Tired Books

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  3. I've also had these books sitting on my shelf, probably around 2 years! have even lent them all out to my mother in law. MUST get around to reading them.

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  4. This is a great series, I have read them a while ago. I could definately read them a second time!

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