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Aug 30, 2007

Kristen rated it:

My favorite Phillipa Gregory book was "The Other Boleyn Girl." I read that book about 6 months before it blew up the bestseller list. My father had seen it at a book store and thought I might like it. So, he bought it for me. I read it. I liked it. It blew up. So then came 'Queens Fool' 'The Virgin's Lover' 'A Constant Princess' and now, 'The Boleyn Inheritence.' Things seem to have gotten worse with each Gregory book. I liked 'The Boleyn Inheritence' in the same way that More...

3 comments like (24 people liked it)

Jul 27, 2010

Laura rated it:

You have to hand it to Philippa Gregory — she creates a lot of suspense out of a story everyone knows the ending to. Normally I don’t much go in for historical fiction, but this was available at the library on cd and I had a road trip coming up, so, in the words of Katherine Howard, “Voilà!” I was entertained, though not enthralled.

The novel spans Henry VIII’s marriages to Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard, and is narrated by three women: Anne, Katherine, and Lady Rochford (Jane More...

0 comments like (11 people liked it)

Nov 28, 2007

Agnes rated it:

Oh, bad historical fiction, how I love thee!! I must confess that I had a hard time putting this down, much like its prequel "The Other Boleyn Girl." To be fair, the historical research is impressive, with the author using the most up-to-date resources and theories available about the reign of Henry VIII, but still...the sex scenes! The maidens! The lack of discussion of politics and historical context! Never mind, it was a great read and I'm sure I'll reread both books in a coupl More...

1 comment like (8 people liked it)

Dec 06, 2011

Shy rated it:

I was first introduced to Philippa Gregory when I watched movie adaptation of one of her novels. The Boleyn Inheritance is actually the third installment in her Tudor series and was preceded by The Constant Princess and The Other Boleyn Girl (The movie was adapted from this novel). I was a bit skeptical while reading the first few chapters of the book but was pleasantly surprised at how good it eventually turned out to be.

In The Boleyn Inheritance, King Henry VIII was no longer the h More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Jun 03, 2008

Katie rated it:

I read The Other Boleyn Girl first and that book should bow down to this one. The books hardly compare. This one is by far the better book. Although I greatly enjoyed both, for me this one was told in such a unique way and by women I didn't know much about that it grabbed me from the beginning. It tells the story from three different perspectives. One unexpected and extremley interesting the wife of Anne Boleyn's brother, now a widow. Lady Rochford (Jane Boleyn) is now a bitter older women wanti More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Apr 18, 2008

Michelle rated it:

Hmm...do I recommend The Boleyn Inheritance?

NO.

Here's why:

1. It makes me acutely aware that if I enjoyed this series of Phillipa Gregory books in my youth, that when I get crumbly (read: old), I'll probably end up enjoying Harlequin Romance novels.

2. In The Boleyn Inheritance, as with The Other Boleyn Girl, Ms. Gregory writes with such myopic vision that I wanted to scream from the claustrophobic feeling. She writes around in circles, covering the More...

4 comments like (10 people liked it)

Feb 09, 2008

Jenn rated it:

I picked this up immediately after reading The Other Boleyn Girl, unable to slake my thirst for more of Henry VIII and his court. I was skeptical, as all should be when embarking on a sequel of any sort, but was pleasantly surprised. Divided between three narrators, the evil and half-mad Jane Boleyn, the ill-fated Katherine Howard, and the strong survivor, Anne of Cleves, the reader gets a new perspective on the fourth and fifth wives of Henry VIII. Indeed, though I always knew that Anne of Cle More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jun 12, 2007

Sammy rated it:

When I read that Philippa Gregory had a new book out I knew I just had to get it. Thankfully Christmas was just around the corner and there was still room under the tree for a book! I fell into reading it within days of unwrapping it and found myself in a completely different world in the first page.

Gregory has caught up, somewhat, to the successful story of The Other Boleyn Girl. She corrects the flaws from The Virgin's Lover with the way she presents the different perspectives. It More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 12, 2009

Bunny rated it:

When I realized it was this book's turn on the list (I keep about 15 or so books in my car out of the library at a time, and go by order of the list on the library's site), I really wasn't excited. I considered returning it and thinking about picking it up later. I'm glad I didn't.

I really, really enjoy Gregory's style of writing, I have to admit. It's extremely easy to read, which isn't so easy when dealing with historical fiction.

I did not sympathize even a little bit More...

9 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jun 16, 2011

Monique rated it:

Well have taken a break from reading (I do that periodically when I get a string of disappointing reads and have no time to go library--been using lunch breaks to exercise but am again realizing I must excercise my mind too:) Anyways back to this glorious book..I must say I was pleasantly surprised by Mrs Gregory as I LOVED the book and movie The Other Boleyn Girl and so was hyped to read a tale of what happened after all that? In this book you learn the status of the poor beheaded Queen Anne's More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 03, 2010

Lushbug rated it:

Fantastic read. Really sucks you into the terrible Tudor age. Henry is brought to life as an old, smelly, fat, puss filled tyrant-deluded and feared by all, his every whim catered to.

Book is narrated by three people, Anne of Cleves who comes over as Henrys fourth bride, Katherine Howards who becomes his fifth wife and Lady Jane Rochford who is lady in waiting to both these brief queens.

Anne of Cleves comes across as a very sensible, kind woman. You can understand everyo More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 15, 2009

Kallierose rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 04, 2008

Joyce rated it:

I quite enjoyed reading The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory. I knew little of Henry VIII’s two wives, Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard, beyond the 1970 BBC television series, “The Six Wives of Henry VIII”. Once I accustomed myself to the first person present narrative of Gregory’s book (which was a bit jarring at first), I found her telling of the stories of these two lesser-known queens fascinating. Katherine Howard particularly became uniquely sympathetic to me, her end quite heartbr More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 15, 2008

Holly rated it:

This book is a sequel to the Other Boleyn Girl. Since I did not know that, it seems safe to say that it does not matter if you have read the prequel, this book is, and of itself, a good read. If you like reading about the devastating reign of Henry VIII and the women he destroyed in his wake, you will enjoy this historical fiction book!

The point of view is from three women whose are entwined in Henry’s court. The book begins with Anne of Cleves, on her way to Hampton Court from Germ More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 14, 2008

Lisa rated it:

"So, he is dead at last. The man who failed the promise of his youth, the king who turned tyrant, the scholar who went mad, the beloved boy who became a monster. How many did the king kill? We can start to count now that death has stilled his murderous will. Thousands. No one will ever know. Up and down the land the burnings in the marketplace for heresy, the hangings at the gallows for treason. Thousands and thousands of men and women whose only crime was that they disagreed with him. This More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Aug 21, 2007

Johanna rated it:

Don't get me wrong, this novel is pretty well-researched and there weren't any points at which I scratched my head and said, "Hey, wait a minute...." but it is a little trashy, with some elements of the bodice ripper. Also, I had to deduct a whole star for Gregory's excessive use of "little" as an adjective. All women were "little" (except for Jane Boleyn, who is batshit crazy), at some point or another, with Katherine Howard being referred to as "Little Kitty More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 04, 2008

Christina rated it:

I must admit, I was not so determined to read this book - I hated Jane Boleyn with a fiery passion and therefore did not really care for her thoughts and views, and I loved Mary Boleyn as a narrator in 'The Other Boleyn Girl'. I'm so glad I read this though. The Boleyn Inheritance is just as fascinating as its predecessor; I could not put it down, wanting to know what would happen next even though I already knew what the outcome would be. I thought I would be irritated by the switching of charac More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 28, 2009

RunRachelRun rated it:

Picked this up in the Las Vegas airport on the way to a company meeting. Read it on the flight back - pretty good - Gregory did a wonderful job capturing the three heroines voices, Jane Boleyn, Queen Anne and then the wonderfully idiotic Katherine. It's always interesting to look back from feet firmly planted in 2009 to the past where women were really bought and sold, pawns in the game of power. We're not there yet, but it's a hell of a lot easier now than then.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 27, 2010

Kristen "Kirby" rated it:

Ugh, does Philippa Gregory know how to craft a repetitive and excruciatingly slow story, or what? She awkwardly repeats the same phrase and idea, over and over. For ex- " Henry, England's fat, selfish king sits on the throne with a murderous gaze. Henry seems so angry, the court is unsure how to act, so they dance without their hearts in the act. They dance slowly, unsure. They dance under his murderous gaze with fear. The court shall act passive. Shall try to help him cool, as he is murder More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Teddy rated it:

Read With Books Around the World Book Club.

Here's the review I posted on Amazon.ca:

A Great Sequel to The Other Boleyn Girl!

Philippa Gregory does her magic again, in this sequel to The Other Boleyn Girl. Her writing makes history come alive as she entrances her readers to hang on every morsel.

I didn't enjoy this quite as much as The Other Boleyn Girl. I'm not quite sure why, however, I was a bit annoyed with one of the central characters Jane Bol More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Stacy rated it:

Philippa Gregory dropped the ball on this one. This book covers the reigns of Henry VIII's fourth and fifth wives, Anne of Cleves and Catherine Howard. I have enjoyed most of her other books covering the Tudor years in England, but here she leans on the device of having three narrators to lengthen a less-developed story by having them repeat the same ideas over and over. If I had a nickel for every time a character mused some version of "Henry VIII is a selfish, smelly, fat tyrant with a More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Aug 05, 2011

Nicola added it

Overall, a good read. Life in the court and shadow of King Henry VIII during his years of marriage to Queen Anne of Cleves and Queen Katherine Howard is portrayed through the eyes of three women, all trying to ensure their survival and fortunes during these fearful times. The women are the two Queens and the Lady Rochford, a lady in waiting who serves both during their short marriages to the King.

As well as depicting the vanity and increasing madness and/or selfishness of the King, the book More...

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May 12, 2010

Jennifer added it

Pub. Date: December 2006

* Publisher: Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing
* Sold by: Simon & Schuster Digital Sales
* Format: eBook, 528pp
* Sales Rank: 4,580

* Series: Philippa Gregory Tudor Series, #3
* Product Browse duration in Minutes: 60
* File Size: 603 KB
* ISBN-13: 9780743298544
* ISBN: 0743298543

The Boleyn Inheritance is told from three points of view: Jane Boleyn (wife to the decease More...

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Mar 31, 2009

Nicola added it

An unevocative retelling of Henry VIII’s doomed marriages to Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard.

First, I should note that this book contains a lot of paragraphs of the following structure:

“Could this book really be so overwritten? I couldn’t believe that this book was so overwritten. It was overwritten and yet I didn’t know why. Why was it so overwritten?”

No, really. I’m not exaggerating. I wanted to attack the thing with a red pen. I realize that the trend i More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 28, 2009

Melissa rated it:

I devoured this book in three days. I love history....I love a good story. King Henry VIII was a madman....claiming to be the only one in his kingdom that knew the will of God....and he used that to manipulate people and policy. England, at this point in time, is not protestant(the king is afraid of them), and is not Catholic(He hates papists)...but has a church where King Henry makes the rules and is second only to God. Women in that day were used as exchange to help the family gain favor More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 08, 2009

Amanda rated it:

The narration of this novel was interesting. Gregory took three women and tried to create distinct voices for each woman and use them to relay the action around them to the reader. At times this approach to narration worked and other times it was hard to see the difference between the characters. They all have their quirks which is the defining marker of their voice. Towards the end of the book each time we read Katherine she would begin her chapter by listing the things she had, which would hel More...

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Dec 26, 2008

Marilyn rated it:

This is the book following in sequence after The Other Boleyn Girl. After reading several other Philippa Gregory books in this series, I liked coming back and reading this one which included several familiar characters. King Henry VIII really was a madman and it would have been difficult living under his reign. But, having read the previous books, The Constant Princess and The Other Boleyn Girl, you knew that he was once handsome, charming and somewhat reasonable, and you feel sad for him.
More...

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Oct 11, 2011

Alyssia rated it:

This isn't the first book by Phillipa Gregory that I've read, and from previous experience of her I've been very impressed with her style of writing. The last one I read I found gave a unique view on the period of history being covered whilst weaving an engaging story line through it, so when I saw this one in a charity shop for £1.50 I couldn't resist. And I have to say I was horribly disappointed. I had deliberately stayed with her historical novels because the previous ones I'd read were so g More...

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Jul 28, 2011

Melisa added it

Another great book by Philippa Gregory! At first, I was turned off by how the "chapters" were told by a different person, either Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard, or Jane Rochford. But I soon saw why the author chose to do that and it worked well for this book.

Once I got past the chapter thing, I was immediately transported. I always feel like I'm in King Henry VIII's court! Although, I must say, I'm glad I wasn't! The authors' descriptions of the vile king, ditsy Katherine Howar More...

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Mar 05, 2011

Stefy rated it:

I am generally not a fan of Philippa Gregory (I did not like her "The Virgin's Lover") so I was quite doubtful when I bought this book. Yet, the story sounded quite interesting so I wanted to give it a try.
The characters shifting (passing from Lady Rochester's point of view to the one of Queen Catherine Howard and Queen Anne of Cleves) adds some variety to the story. The book in itself is less boring and predictable than "The Virgin's Lover" although still quite far from More...

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