I was going through my book journal this morning, comparing entries to my blog entries, and discovered that I forgot to post a review of a book I read last October. What is really funny about that is that I had forgotten to post a review of the sequel to that book until a month or two late; but I didn't notice then that I had never posted the review of the first book.
The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn shows a very different Anne Boleyn than The Other Boleyn Girl. Both books are works of fiction.
Anne kept a secret diary that is given to Elizabeth shortly after Elizabeth becomes queen. The diary shows Anne's "fierce determination, her hard-won knowledge about being a woman in a world ruled by despotic men, and her deep-seated love for the infant daughter taken from her shortly after her birth." She was a much more sympathetic character than in The Other Boleyn Girl, where she was much more scheming and calculating. I enjoyed both books; both were well written. I rated this book 4 out of 5.
4 comments:
This does sound worthwhile to read. I will add that to my summer reading list. Thanks again.
Hi there! We recently watched the movie version of "The Other Boleyn Girl" and it was very entertaining, although I doubt it was entirely historically accurate. It was fun all the same! :-)
I have just finished The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn and I agree with you, it was a great read and did show Anne's feisty character and determination. I enjoyed The Other Boleyn Girl too but wasn't so keen on the film - too much cut out and it focused on Anne, rather than Mary.
I've also just read The Boleyn Inheritance, which I thoroughly enjoyed. It was interesting having the story told from the characters of Anne of Cleves, Jane Rochfor(Boleyn) and Katherine Howard.
You would enjoy "The Lady Elizabeth" by Alison Weir. Maybe you would like to see the illustrated review I did of it: http://by-my-hand.blogspot.com/
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