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Mary Boleyn: The Mistress of Kings

3.75 of 5 stars 3.75 · rating details · 2,603 ratings · 287 reviews

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 exten...more

ebook, 400 pages

Published October 4th 2011 by Ballantine Books

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Sep 22, 2011 Jemidar rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history-biography

I think the real problem with biographies of lesser known women in history, is that there just isn't enough known information out there about them to make their biographies interesting. Women's lives just weren't recorded in any detail so there is often no "paper trail" to follow and we just don't know what they thought or even where they were at any given time, so a biography like this one comes pretty much down to speculation from very little hard evidence or the author has to admit that we ju...more
I think the real problem with biographies of lesser known women in history, is that there just isn't enough known information out there about them to make their biographies interesting. Women's lives just weren't recorded in any detail so there is often no "paper trail" to follow and we just don't know what they thought or even where they were at any given time, so a biography like this one comes pretty much down to speculation from very little hard evidence or the author has to admit that we just don't know. Neither really makes for riveting reading.

While Mary Boleyn lived in interesting times and belonged to a family which was at the heart of politics at the time, she herself seems to have made very little impact. There are two extant letters, some legal paperwork to do with an annuity and her inheritance, and a whole raft of rumours. Not much for any biographer to go on, and Weir struggled to make much of it.

The good bits though, were the fact that Weir did seem to do thorough research and did turn up some interesting facts about Henry VIII and the Boleyn family that I was unaware of. And although she didn't "explode the mythology" or "present compelling new evidence" as claimed by the jacket blurb, she did reach some credible conclusions regarding Mary's life. It is not to say however, that I agreed with all the conclusions she came to in regards to Mary, as a lot of the stuff just can't be proved either way (there is really just not enough evidence or information) and it mostly comes down to an educated guess.

It was nice to see Weir take a more even handed approach in this biography as a common complaint about her work is bias, but in doing so she seemed to loose something because despite what others have said about her historical accuracy, I have always found her biographies very readable and at times, page turners. This one however felt like it was missing something, and I fear her efforts to be taken seriously as an historian has been detrimental to her writing style.

On the whole though, this biography was an enjoyable read and probably the most comprehensive book on Mary Boleyn available at this time.
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Dec 27, 2011 Hannah rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-reads, historicals, non-fiction

Rating Clarification: 2.5 Stars

I've enjoyed reading Alison Weir's non-fiction books for a long time, but sadly have to say that I think she did her fans a disservice with the publication of this book.

There is just too little known about the life of Mary Boleyn, and although I'm confident Weir did her best with the mountains of reference material culled by and available to her, this book suffered from far too much conjecture, speculation, and educated guesses. In the end, all Weir (and we as read...more

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Jun 30, 2012 Peter Weissman rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: histiory-england

I read this book because I was asked by the publisher to copyedit it (which I do freelance, for several publishers). More precisely, in this case, to "unanglicize" the English version of Mary Boleyn for the American edition.

Though while editing I'm more involved in the text than the average reader--albeit less than usual on his assignment, which had been edited before and thus called for no "styling" from me--I do actually read the books I edit. (I'm asked about this often.) And as a reader, my...more

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Carol Rogers Serious question. Why should the American audience want to read an unanglicized version of a book about English history? Would you expect an English a...more
Jun 30, 2012 05:46am

Peter Weissman I've been asked that question before, Carol, and the answer is pedestrian: it's what the publishing house asks me to do with books published in the UK...more
updated Jun 30, 2012 02:16pm

Carol Rogers Thanks for your answer. I didn't realise that there were so many differences, particularly in relation to punctuation. I often read a book which chang...more
Jun 30, 2012 11:53am

Jun 05, 2012 Rick F. rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

too too too much facts and names and no narrative- I do not need to read 10 pages about what year Mary might have been born

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Sep 06, 2011 Maia B. rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical, nonfiction, nothing-special

Correct me if I'm wrong, but biographies normally focus mostly on their subject, no? The vast majority of the pages in the book are given to whoever the author has chosen to write about. The biographee is supposed to emerge as a real person and not only a story by the end, and we are supposed to come away knowing a lot about him/herher.

If those are the standards for biographies, I'd say this book kind of fails. I've read Philippa Gregory's "The Other Boleyn Girl" (but didn't enjoy it much), and...more Correct me if I'm wrong, but biographies normally focus mostly on their subject, no? The vast majority of the pages in the book are given to whoever the author has chosen to write about. The biographee is supposed to emerge as a real person and not only a story by the end, and we are supposed to come away knowing a lot about him/herher.

If those are the standards for biographies, I'd say this book kind of fails. I've read Philippa Gregory's "The Other Boleyn Girl" (but didn't enjoy it much), and I didn't learn a whole lot from Alison Weir's book that I didn't know already. Mary is so insignificant in the grand scheme of things that she fades into the background of her own biography. Two hundred pages into the book I was still relatively uninterested in Mary, but I was expecting her to be redeemed once she'd married William Stafford, a marriage which was apparently for love, an extreme rarity in those days. But no. Of even this I was cheated. Instead, this important second marriage is passed over in terms something like this: "Mary appeared at court visibly pregnant. Anne was furious and demanded an explanation; Mary told her she had married William Stafford in a secret ceremony. She left the court." Then we read perhaps ten pages about where Mary and William probably lived (Calais) immediately after their marriage.

Fascinating stuff. Mary is still totally boring. I am not a great biography reader, but I've read Antonia Fraser's "Marie Antoinette", in which MA seems to have a real personality. I have also read Amanda Foreman's lamentable "The Duchess"; even in this unfortunate work Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire has more than a few characteristics. She seems like a real person. But Weir doesn't seem to believe in this: Mary is just as boring at the end of the book as she was at the beginning. I'm no longer interested in anything to do with her; I'd rather read about her sister. Mary is the other Boleyn girl: she's too dull to be anything but.

Besides this awful lack of interest in the subject of the book, the worst thing about it was that Weir spent pages and pages and pages on the most trivial of things, and skipped over vital events like Mary's second marriage. She writes no less than six (6, as in six) pages about which sister, Mary or Anne, is older, and it doesn't really matter who's the eldest anyway. Throughout the book, she seems more interested in criticizing other historians' assertions than writing about Mary. And she writes considerably more about Henry VIII than she does about Mary Boleyn, despite the title.

A friend of mine saw me reading this book and asked me, "Why waste your time on Mary Boleyn?"

"You think she's a waste of time?" I asked (yes, clever, I know. I'm prized for my witty repartee).

"Yes," said my friend.

She was right.(less)

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Sep 02, 2011 Carol rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011

This my first venture into anything about the Tudors. I had a difficult time reading it and will tell you why. I think that the aim of this book is to set the record straight on Mary Boleyn. The author, Alison Weir is an extremely meticulous researcher. This is evidenced by the text of the book, bibliography and Notes and References. She, states that she researched the original sources as much as possible.

Each fact about her family and Mary, herself was gone through with a fine tooth comb. Becau...more This my first venture into anything about the Tudors. I had a difficult time reading it and will tell you why. I think that the aim of this book is to set the record straight on Mary Boleyn. The author, Alison Weir is an extremely meticulous researcher. This is evidenced by the text of the book, bibliography and Notes and References. She, states that she researched the original sources as much as possible.

Each fact about her family and Mary, herself was gone through with a fine tooth comb. Because I was background poor, I had not read the other books about Mary Boleyn prior to this book, it felt tedious and like there were too many details. Each fact was carefully researched and arguments for and against it being true were covered one by one. That left me, feeling like I was making no progress in learning about her life and also wishing that I had several books about Mary Boleyn before this one. Because each side of pro and con of a statement was covered in such great detail I felt like I was reading a continuous debate. That made me weary of the book. However I can understand someone who has read several books about Mary prior staying up all night discovering which things were true and which were not.

Mary Boleyn, The Mistress of the Kings, begins with the background of the Boleyn family. Instead of inheriting their place in society, they had to earn it through marriages to elevate the family, supporting the right side during the War of Roses and trade.

There were three chapters before Mary Boleyn is actually discussed. The author states and backs up her statement that a lot said about Mary was untrue. Since King Henry VIII was so discreet, we really don't know much about the affair between the King and Mary Boleyn. She was a married woman of some social height, she had nothing to gain from it.

I did learn some about Mary Boleyn but the most prominent truth is that there is quite a bit that simply not true. There were rumors during the days and some historical fiction writers picked up on them, also there have been movies that perpetuated the untruths.

My recommendation is to read several books concerning Mary Boleyn and then read this book. Do not read it as a "starter".

I received this book as a part of the Amazon Vine Program but that in no way influenced my review.

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Oct 30, 2012 Kara rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: tudor-fact

It doesn't grab you by the throat and shake you the way her Lady in the Tower does, but it is very, very thoughtful, leaving the reader pondering possible new angles of the Tudor court and Mary Boleyn.

Also, I have never seen so many question marks in a book *ever*, which probably makes this the most honest history book ever.

EDIT:

Just bought a copy. Review of second-time-round thoughts to come.

EDIT:

For a long time, the British Historians Bathroom had graffiti scrawled on the stalls reading: ‘For...more

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Mar 23, 2013 Heather rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: owned

Having read a realm of theories on Mary Boleyn - was she a family pawn? a nit wit? a fallen woman (several times over)? - I was looking forward to some factual answers. What I found was - we just don't know. Given the limited primary sources, we can assume all manner of things about Mary, but we simply don't have an accurate record of the history. This book gives the reader excellent access to the primary sources, and perhaps stills the wilder assumptions about Mary. Does it give the final answe...more

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Apr 07, 2013 Mer rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

While there is very little on the historical record about the less (in)famous sister of Anne Boleyn, mistress to King Henry VIII, Weir has done a good job not only of piecing together what remains but theorizing about the grey area. While the tantalizing possibilities of phrases like "may have been" or "probably" became a bit grating after a time, and admittedly, much of the book is about Mary's contemporaries, looking at those what-if's in conjunction with the people with whom she surrounded he...more

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Jul 26, 2012 Amerynth rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction, read-2012, tudors, british-monarchy

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 unfortu...more

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May 23, 2012 Elizabeth rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Having read Philippa Gregory's The Other Boleyn Girl (and enjoying it somewhat, while finding many faults with it), I appreciated Alison Weir's biography of Mary Boleyn for its attempts to recuperate Mary through historical fact. However, although Weir claims in the introduction that there are many misconceptions and misrepresentations about Mary Boleyn that Weir intends to set straight, Weir's biography is riddled with mere suppositions, and she merely interprets, in a different way, the same f...more

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May 22, 2012 Wealhtheow rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: british-history, non-fiction, historical

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 w...more 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.(less)

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Apr 18, 2012 Heather rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have done quite a bit of research on the Tudors and that whole era so this topic was not new to me. I have read many books by Alison Weir and others on the Tudors and the Boleyns. Because I had a decent background into this time period and Mary Boleyn, this book was a little easier for me to understand and digest than newer readers. Alison Weird is a meticulous researcher and that shows in her writing style and the extensive bibliography and notes section.

Alison Weir rightfully argues that th...more I have done quite a bit of research on the Tudors and that whole era so this topic was not new to me. I have read many books by Alison Weir and others on the Tudors and the Boleyns. Because I had a decent background into this time period and Mary Boleyn, this book was a little easier for me to understand and digest than newer readers. Alison Weird is a meticulous researcher and that shows in her writing style and the extensive bibliography and notes section.

Alison Weir rightfully argues that this book is the first full biography of Mary Boleyn and that it is also a historiography of sorts since she does reference other historians and their views. Alison uses other historians to delve deeper into Mary's life and seperate truth from fiction, which is a difficult thing to do during this time period. Weir's book focuses on the life of Mary Boleyn from start to finish, trying to seperate out the rumors. She successfully argues that Mary was not the "great whore" that previous writers have made her out to be. Ms. Weir did not study Mary in a bubble, she also discussed Henry VIII's other potenential love affairs (including the infamous Anne) and used that as evidence to prove Mary was not what the rumors stated she was.

Although this book is ladened with details and pulls in references to other historians and their theories, I think it was a great book. Alison Weir provided a new look at Mary Boleyn and tried to pull the fog away from her. I feel that after reading this book, I have a better understanding of who Mary really was and what her life was like. I think this is a great addition to the historiography of the Tudors and the Boleyns and definitely is a book that history buffs should read.

However, if a reader is new to this time period and the story of the Boleyns, I would not recommend this book as their first read as it is heavy on the details and can become slightly confusing for people who are not already familiar with the story and the timeline. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is already somewhat familiar with this time period and the Tudors.(less)

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Apr 04, 2012 Fajar rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, europe

3/5 Bintang

Menulis sebuah biografi untuk tokoh seperti Mary Boleyn memang sebuah tantangan. Permasalahannya, tidak banyak data dan informasi yang menjelaskan secara detail siapa tokoh Mary itu sebenarnya. Dibandingkan saudarinya, Anne Boleyn, Mary jelas kalah populer. Akibatnya, Alison Weir banyak menggunakan data-data dari tokoh lain untuk kemudian dihubungkan dengan Mary. Porsi Mary sendiri dalam buku ini tidak benar-benar banyak. Seringkali tokoh lain harus mengambil alih cerita karena terlal...more

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Feb 15, 2012 Claire Johnson rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Did I need to read yet another Tudor biography? Apparently. I think I have all of Alison Weir's books or damn near all of them. She always does a fine job of marshaling together the facts, and if she doesn't have the humor of Antonia Fraser or the truly biting (delicious) wit of David Starkey, then she makes up for it in a solid presentation that doesn't leave too many questions.

This is largely a book not so much about Mary Boleyn--because it becomes glaringly obvious very early on that you can...more Did I need to read yet another Tudor biography? Apparently. I think I have all of Alison Weir's books or damn near all of them. She always does a fine job of marshaling together the facts, and if she doesn't have the humor of Antonia Fraser or the truly biting (delicious) wit of David Starkey, then she makes up for it in a solid presentation that doesn't leave too many questions.

This is largely a book not so much about Mary Boleyn--because it becomes glaringly obvious very early on that you can't write a biography of Mary Boleyn--but a book about debunking all the myths that surround Mary Boleyn. Weir does a decent job of proving that there is a paucity of credible sources and only two letters that can be attributed to her hand. The woman didn't rate much if any commentary by anyone, not even those perennially gossipping French and Spanish ambassadors! Which given that is a biography of Mary Boleyn makes this book inherently problematic. We have a biography about an unremarkable woman (literally) who lived in remarkable times.

If you can't write about Mary, then you're left with no choice but to write about the other people who've written about Mary. The entire book is basically Weir taking on a slew of other historians for what she considers inaccurate and in some cases just plain made-up assertions about Mary Boleyn. And while I am not knocking Ms. Weir's research, the problem is that when you take away the fantasy (she seems to have a real bee in her bonnet about Phillipa Gregory's "The Other Boleyn Girl" and all I can say is that, hey, it's fiction!), the leaping to conclusions, the suppositions, and the basic inaccuracies, then we are left with a bland young woman in an age of huge personalities whose only claim to fame is that she bedded two kings. A person who left so little mark on history that no one really has anything to say about her that doesn't relate to her much more famous (infamous) sister and her brother in-law/ex-lover, Henry VIII. Mary Boleyn seems to have been pretty enough to have attracted the attention of two kings, but even that is speculation. We don't even have a portrait that can be legitimately traced to her. In fact, the miniature on the book jacket is NOT her, and I think it a perfect metaphor for a book about someone who remains completely obscure despite the 400 pages devoted to telling her story. I came away feeling that the historians who made up a bunch of stuff or really stretched their interpretations of the sources to a strained degree did so because there really is nothing to tell here. It's kind of understandable.
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Jan 16, 2012 Kristy rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have enjoyed many of Weir's non fiction works in the past. I have found that for history books they read more like fiction as Weir tends to write in a colourful manner that adds life into facts.

The two star rating is not for the style of writing but more for the fact that this book mainly highlights the fact that there is very little reliable information on the life of Mary, and as such was it really necessary to write a book on someone when there are not many sources to provide a detailed acc...more

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Dec 08, 2011 Deni Skeens rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Alison Weir has executed yet another textured journey back into Tudor times. As with all of her non-fiction biographies and Historical prose, I tend to become lost with her way of phrasing and writing, more often than not loosing that feel of reading non-fiction. She avoids becoming wordy, with vivid explanations and examples, telling a story over reading directly from transcripts.
Sadly, the book is short. Really short. And to lay further insult, Mary is obscure for most of it. A lot of the hist...more

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Oct 11, 2011 Sue Bursztynski rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have read a fair number of Alison Weir's books. I find them very readable and this one is on a subject I have never known much about. She has this rep as a bit of a slut who embarrassed the family. Alison Weir suggests it wasn't quite like that and argues that, whatever else is true, she was the luckiest Boleyn. She lived into middle age, unlike her prettier, smarter sister and, the second time around, married for love, to a man twelve years younger than herself - not bad for a woman who was g...more

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Sep 19, 2011 Jaylia3 rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Mary Boleyn’s story is full of drama, twists of fate and changes in fortune. She was probably the mistress of both Francis I of France and Henry VIII, who was her sister Anne’s future husband, but based on an exhaustive study of the historical record Allison Weir believes Mary may have had very little choice in the matter both times. She was married off to William Carey, a marriage that was arranged by her family and approved by the king, and there is some indication that her daughter with Willi...more

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Sep 17, 2011 Carol rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: british, history, nonfiction, tudor-mania

Before you read this book, you need to decide whether you want a romanticized but historically inaccurate interpretation of what Mary Boleyn might have been like, or a serious historical biography that debunks myths and gives "just the facts, ma'am." If you are interested in the latter, then and only then should you dive into this book. I have been reading a lot about the Tudors and was perfectly happy to take a historically-based, no-myths-allowed look at what we know about Mary Boleyn, Anne's...more

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Oct 14, 2011 Jennifer rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction

The U.K. edition of this book was subtitled "The Great and Infamous Whore", so it's understandable that you might pick this up expecting salacious details and scandals. If so, you'll be disappointed (and may I direct you to Philippa Gregory's The Other Boleyn Girl - trust me, you'll like it).

Alison Weir is an enjoyable writer, and her work is meticulously researched. The problem here is that there just isn't much verifiable information on the subject. Mary Boleyn is best known for her affair...more

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Jan 06, 2013 Bridgett rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: can-t-finish-bad-book

I understand, there is not much evidence to find about Mary. As interesting as it would be to learn more about this elusive person. She rubbed elbows with many great people in history. I would love to know what she thought about most of them, what her impressions were, what she thought about her own life and how she felt her family treated her.
Alas, it is not to be!

One is already used to Mrs. Weir contradicting herself within the same page of her own books, nothing new in this department also he...more I understand, there is not much evidence to find about Mary. As interesting as it would be to learn more about this elusive person. She rubbed elbows with many great people in history. I would love to know what she thought about most of them, what her impressions were, what she thought about her own life and how she felt her family treated her.
Alas, it is not to be!

One is already used to Mrs. Weir contradicting herself within the same page of her own books, nothing new in this department also here in this book. Furthermore, the padding (desperately necessary in a book about a person where so little is known) is utterly irrelevant! The padding is not even about Mary, or her contemporaries! It is pages upon pages about improvements to the diverse manor houses and castles her family owned, made by her GRANDFATHER. Or Pages on which child was born first (ok, this is rather a point about Mary, I give you that, but the "proof" Mrs. Weir cites for her theory is utterly laughable!)

Mary is an interesting personality, however Mrs. Weir managed to make her sound utterly boring and redundant! I think this book has done poor Mary more harm then good. She has not only been overlooked by history, but evidently also by her attempted biographer, Mrs. Weir.

Save your money, do yourself a favor and read something less aggravating and ANY of Mrs Weir's books! This was not the first one I attempted. I have the same problem with ALL of her books. After a few pages I fin myself arguing out loud with the incredible audacity of Mrs. Weir's theories and the haphazard way she "proofs" them.
I am -by no means- a historian, or even what I would consider to be a expert in any way, shape or form, but I do recognize a bad book when I see one! There are much better books on the Tudors out there, albeit none about Mary at all and after having a look at this book, it should be clear why there haven't been previous attempts and why there should not be any more, unless new material is discovered about her.(less)

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Sep 16, 2011 Amanda rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

With all the hype surrounding the world of Tudor England these days, it's become nearly impossible to discern fact from fiction. Many people, including myself, pin the modern obsession with Henry VIII's semi-soap opera-like love life on Philippa Gregory's popular novel The Other Boleyn girl, which told the unknown story of Mary Boleyn, the infamous Anne's sister and one-time mistress of Henry VIII. The book spawned two movies and was likely instrumental in Showtime's decision to pick up The Tudo...more With all the hype surrounding the world of Tudor England these days, it's become nearly impossible to discern fact from fiction. Many people, including myself, pin the modern obsession with Henry VIII's semi-soap opera-like love life on Philippa Gregory's popular novel The Other Boleyn girl, which told the unknown story of Mary Boleyn, the infamous Anne's sister and one-time mistress of Henry VIII. The book spawned two movies and was likely instrumental in Showtime's decision to pick up The Tudors. Though entertaining, The Tudors has been highly criticized for being incredibly historically inaccurate, from making Henry a short brunette who never put much weight to merging Henry's sisters Mary and Margaret into one character.

In her new non-fiction novel, historian and sometimes-fiction-author Alison Weir takes on the now-famous Mary Boleyn in an attempt to clean up her modern reputation as a "whore." Sick of the many fictional stories about Mary that have been perpetuated in modern culture, Weir dives into what we know -and don't know- about Mary in the most in-depth biographical exploration of Mary's life ever written.

As someone who enjoys historical fiction, though I am aware of the common inaccuracies, I was curious to see just who the real woman was behind The Other Boleyn Girl. As a fan of Weir's fiction, I suppose I was expecting the writing here to be a little more in line with what I have come to know about Weir in the fiction world. Instead, the writing was much more straight-forward and academic. Though there's nothing wrong with that, it did tend to make the book feel a little dull and slow-moving. For me, though, the biggest issue is that Weir was incredibly long-winded in her discussion of just about every aspect of Mary's life (it took nearly 10 pages to discuss what year Mary was born). While I appreciate that she presented all the evidence on different sides of the arguments about Mary, it seemed to take so long to get to her conclusion that my head was left spinning and I wasn't completely sure just which side Weir was on.

Despite this, Weir offers the most accurate speculation into what Mary Boleyn's life may have been like. While this was fascinating, it was even more fascinating to see what we don't know about her life, or are unsure about. Not only is Weir's Mary Boleyn unlike the woman depicted in books, movies and TV, but Weir's Mary seems to be a more realistic, understandable woman who was simply a victim of her own times, rather than something of a social-climbing whore (though Weir suggests that the rivalry between Anne and Mary regarding Henry was likely real). Weir offers a unique look into the often misrepresented Mary Boleyn's life that will please fans of Tudor-period nonfiction -and those who are interested in who the real Mary Boleyn might have been.(less)

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Feb 02, 2013 Lynn rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Mary Boleyn is the Boleyn everyone forgot. She was the eldest child but apparently was not the flashiest or the most beautiful. She ended up being a mistress of two kings either by bad judgement or an inability to say no. She was married in a usual arranged marriage to William Carrey the first time and he appears to have treated her well. Two children survived from that marriage Henry Carey and Katherine Carey. The author speculates that Katherine Carey could have actually been Henry VIII 's chi...more

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Apr 25, 2012 Joan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: british-history

I didn't know much about Mary Boleyn before reading this book other than that she'd been the (overshadowed) sister of the more infamous Anne Boleyn, 2nd Queen of Henry VIII and suspected mistress of Henry VIII at one point. Alison Weir takes on the many disputed birth dates and places for the Boleyn sisters here and makes convincing points with evidence for her earlier dates of their birth and likelihood at court. Mary seems to have been the undervalued sibling in her family - quieter, not quite...more

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Nov 30, 2011 Chantay rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biography, sovereignty

I will read anything about Elizabeth I/ Mary Queen Of Scots/The Tudors/Anne Boleyn. Which means I will (and have) read anything relatively related to the lives of the people they were related to and friends or associates with. I've read many the fictional books based on Mary and Henry's affair (even that factual mess that was The Other Boleyn Girl) This is a biography based on Mary Boleyn. You are made to believe you are getting to know her based upon very little evidence. A lot of the book is b...more

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Jan 05, 2012 Janessa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

An excellent, thorough biography that showed me just how little I know about Tudor times in England. I enjoyed being immersed in that historical period, and getting to know its characters through the life and experiences of Mary Boleyn. Weir is a master historian and biographer. She explores every avenue of Boleyn's life and every significant relationship, using an exhaustive amount of contemporary source materials. Weir is slow to jump to conclusions about Boleyn, and only bases her portrait of...more

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Mar 25, 2013 Kcatty rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: p-s, history

I have a conflicted relationship with this book.
On one hand, I love how Weir has taken another look at Mary, who was always more interesting to me than Anne, simply because Anne's personality (ambitious, slighted, short-tempered) was set by all the books I'd read as a child, but Mary's was always different. The two most memorable books regarding her - Doomed Queen Anne and The Other Boleyn Girl - portray her as either a superficial, snobbish older sister or as a puppet of her family who just wan...more

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Oct 22, 2011 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I had been greatly looking forward to reading this book from the first moment that I heard Alison Weir was writing a book on Mary Boleyn. Mary has always fascinated me, I think she is an extraordinary woman and it seems as though there is so little known about her life. I was eager to start reading Weir’s book in the hopes that I would learn a little more about the mystery that is Mary Boleyn.

Weir states that there is very little evidence at all to suggest that Mary was a “great and infamous who...more

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Jun 14, 2012 Destiny rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 1500s, ebooks, history, non-fiction, tudor-era

What I knew of Mary Boleyn came from biographies on Anne Boleyn. I looked forward to reading this book seeing as it was written by Weir.

I enjoyed the book, but for some reason I couldn't really connect with Mary like I did with Anne. Maybe it's because of the lack of information on her, but the text felt like it was missing something. The parts I most enjoyed were the first index where it talked about Mary's children and their connection to their cousin Elizabeth.

The book had all the facts, but...more

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About Alison Weir

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

Alison Weir (born 1951) is a British writer of history books for the general public, mostly in the form of biographies about British kings and queens. She currently lives in Surrey, England, with her two children.

Before becoming an author, Weir worked as a teacher of children with special needs. She received her...more

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