The Falcon's Flight: A Novel of Anne Boleyn

by Natalia Richards

Anne Boleyn's life is threatened, intrigue, gossip and treachery abound, and her destiny is finally revealed. A young Anne Boleyn and her sister are sent to Paris to attend Mary Tudor, the new Queen of France. Unclear where her loyalties should lie, Anne soon makes an enemy of the queen. When the widowed Mary returns to England, Anne stays on in France to serve the new queen, Claude, but Anne's sister's actions put the girls' new court career at risk. A dangerous love affair follows and Anne finds an unlikely ally in the French king's mistress. But nothing ever goes to plan... The Falcon’s Flight is the second part of Natalia Richard’s vivid retelling of Anne Boleyn’s early life. Book one, The Falcon’s Rise , vividly portrayed Anne’s early life in England. The Falcon’s Flight takes us on to Anne’s ever eventful life on the continent.

Genres: Tudor Period, Historical Fiction, Fiction

474 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 19, 2020

About the author

Museum curator and researcher for forty years. Passionate about the Tudors and Anne Boleyn. Loves travelling and researching Anne's early life, in England and France.
The Falcon's Flight is part two of The Falcon's Rise and follows Anne Boleyn as she serves Queen Claude in France

Reviews

[Tony Riches · Rating 5 out of 5]

Evocative and atmospheric, the second book in Natalia Richards' series on the life of Anne Boleyn covers her time in France. Often skimmed over by historians, understandably keen to move on to the tragedy of Anne's later life, this immersive, first person narrative places the reader firmly in Anne's shoes.

I particularly enjoyed Natalia's description of the sights (and smells) of medieval Paris, and to find myself returning to the The Field of Cloth of Gold, where King Henry VIII met King François I of France, on the five-hundredth anniversary, as it took place in June 1520.

In her author's note, Natalia Richards reveals her secret was to personally visit the actual locations used in the book, and says, 'Anne's years in France honed her intelligence and wit, and she had much to offer long before she ever met King Henry.'

Highly recommended.

[Helen Hollick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a novel of the early life of Anne Boleyn, particularly interesting as we know so much about her later years, but not so much about her pre-English-queenship period. The novel delved into the day-by-day routines and rituals of Anne's days as maidservant to the queens of France, the courtly intrigues, scandals, jealousies, loves and relationships, which any devotee of the Tudor period will find fascinating.

The research appears impeccable, although I do wonder if perhaps there was a little too much information given at the expense of the narrative. There was quite a bit of dialogue in places giving a 'tell' not 'show' impression, which in my opinion slowed the story down in places. There was a lot of traveling from one place to another - maybe a little tedious for the reader? And a host of characters, some of whom were difficult to remember, especially as many had the same or similar names - although that is not the author's fault!

A good read; will be of particular enjoyment for Tudor fans.

Originally Reviewed for Discovering Diamonds

[Rozsa Gaston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Could not put this down

This book is so well done that I couldn't put it down. The protagonist Anne Boleyn is painted unsparingly and not sympathetically. She would throw her own sister under the bus to get ahead. And does. There were inconsistencies in her behavior that didn't seem believable. Perhaps this is what continues to fascinate so many of us about this complex historical figure who achieved her ambition to become queen of England yet lost her life because she couldn't produce a son or curb her sharp tongue. A well-written book that paints in more of the picture of one of history's most enigmatic figures.

[Candace Hickman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Looking for the Final

This book did not flow for me, as easily or as swiftly as the first. I had a difficult time keeping up with who was who in the French court and lost interest in all the journeys from place to place as the all seemed to be much of the same. However, as much as Anne has always intrigued me, I will look forward to her days back in England if the author is so kind to share as she imagines. I did learn much a lot about this time in history.

[Melissa Hogan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only gave four stars bc I had to keep looking up names and history to keep track of what was going on. But this a nice account of what Anne Boleyn’s life may have been like while living France, before returning to England. I believe the author worked hard in her research. Definitely a good example of what French court was like at the time. And the politics of England, Spain and France from Anne’s viewpoint, including her continued learning about the Reformation.

[Denise Knowles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anne Boleyn/Life before Henry

The two books about Anne Boleyn as a child and then a young woman,are breathtaking.
Her time at the French court is intriguing,and the discriptions so clear that you could be there beside her
The books are so well written,that it was a joy to read them,and I look forward to more by the same author.

[Karen Phinney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Living with Lady Anne in the French Court

You truly feel as you are at the side of Anne Boleyn as she comes into her own. The descriptive writing and mostly accurate historical detail has you accompany Anne and other court characters on a seemingly never-ending adventure as you travel through France and beyond.

[Samantha Morgan-hewitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can I say.

The Falcons Rise and the Falcons Flight are superbly written accounts of Anne Boleyn’s early life from childhood in Kent through to the French Court. So colourfully written I was actually there.

I didn’t want it to end and would so love a third instalment.

[Teresa Araujo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Natalia Richards

I find the style of writing excellent and the history, as she unveils it, leaves you wanting the story to never end. Loved " The Fallon's Flight: A Nove!l of Anne Boleyn.

[Tessa Winchcombe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Books one and two great reads

Great read how early experiences forged her nature from thirteen to 21 in The Royal Courts of France and Burgundy

[Jill James · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed seeing Anne Boleyn in a new light by viewing her younger years and the places and people who formed her and made her who she was.