Philippa Gregory - The Boleyn Inheritance

Title: The Boleyn Inheritance
Author: Philippa Gregory
ISBN # 0007190328
Publisher: Harper Collins
First Published: 2006
518 pages
Format: Hardback
Rating: 8/10

(Olympic Challenge - Kenya)

Synopsis:
From the bestselling author of "The Other Boleyn Girl" comes a wonderfully atmospheric evocation of the court of Henry VIII, and the one woman who destroyed two of his queens. The year is 1539 and the court of Henry VIII is increasingly fearful at the moods of the ageing sick king. With only a baby in the cradle for an heir, Henry has to take another wife and the dangerous prize of the crown of England is won by Anne of Cleves. She has her own good reasons for agreeing to marry a man old enough to be her father, in a country where to her both language and habits are foreign. Although fascinated by the glamour of her new surroundings, she senses a trap closing around her. Catherine is confident that she can follow in the steps of her cousin Anne Boleyn to dazzle her way to the throne but her kinswoman Jane Boleyn, haunted by the past, knows that Anne's path led to Tower Green and to an adulterer's death. The story of these three young women, trying to make their own way through the most volatile court in Europe at a time of religious upheaval and political uncertainty is Philippa Gregory's most intense novel yet.

Review:
From the outset, this was a very interesting prospect, as it's from the perspective of three very different women, each with their own agenda and each reliant on the whim of the King...

Although not much seemed to be happening for a good while, it was not-happening in an intriguing way, if you get my meaning. I loved getting to see things from multiple points of view, and getting the whole story where the characters are only seeing one side of things.

I already knew a fair amount about the fates of Henry's wives, but even though I knew what would be happening to both Anne and Katherine, it was wonderful to read about them both in such a lavishly rich way - Philippa Gregory really does have a way of completely immersing the reader in the lives of these people and giving them a very human face, where before they were just names and dates. If you enjoyed the likes of The Other Boleyn Girl, then you really must get hold of this one too.