I was looking for more of a "story" to read when I picked up this book and this one is more of a textbook about the Anne Boleyn era in
Tudor England, but I still found it interesting!. First let me say that I always find it sad to read about this time period and know that women who miscarried a child were believed to be a sinner or a witch and that is why the baby was lost - how sad for a woman going through such a traumatic time. Next, I have to wonder if Mary's status as a "bastard" and her treatment during this time affected her and how she chose to treat people when she ascended to the throne. Had she been treated more gently and lovingly as a child, would she have been gentler as a queen? I do feel sad for Anne Boleyn and her fall. I don't doubt that she was outspoken and a flirted a little too much but I do believe she was framed by Cromwell so that King Henry could marry his next conquest - Jane Seymour (what would have happened to her had she not died in childbirth so quickly after her marriage?!?) I loved the story of Anne Boleyn asking for some "marmalade" as a supposed key word for her lady to bring her one of her love affairs! Hee! Hee! I doubt this really happened but it is a hysterical story. As the author pointed out, Queen Anne was too closely watched to have truly been involved with all the lovers she is accused of having had during her reign as queen! I also had to shake my head that she was accused of having had an affair just days after having given birth - any women who has been through childbirth knows this is very UNLIKELY to have happened! Again, more speculation that Cromwell framed her because he wouldn't have thought about this detail when he was gathering "evidence" to discredit her! I do find it curious that Anne said she had never offended with "her body" just before being beheaded. Did she sin some other way against the king or was she just trying to defend herself specifically against the charges made to her? We'll never know! It does make me angry that while Anne was fighting for her life, Henry was already covorting with Jane and planning his wedding to her! Rather suspicious that they were married just 10 days after Anne's execution. In my book that makes Henry look guilty as heck! I was totally grossed out by the medical description of what a person might feel during beheading - pain probably lasting up to 13 seconds and that the person's eyes and facial muscles still move after their head is chopped off. That is the stuff of nightmares!!!! I also feel so sorry for Anne's daughter, Elizabeth and how all of this surely affected her. At least Elizabeth went on to rule England for 40 years and brought a little peace and tolerance to her country! I do not believe in ghost stories but did enjoy reading some of the legends that have survived over the years of Anne Boleyn still haunting various places in England!!!