The Boleyn Inheritance
Philippa Gregory
516 pages



The Boleyn Inheritance recounts the lives of King Henry VIII's fourth and fifth wives:  Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard.  The book begins in 1539, when Anne is chosen to be Henry's wife.  Once at court, she is attended by Jane Boleyn as her lady in waiting.  During Anne's brief reign as queen, Katherine is a young lady's maid.  She is no more than 15 years old, and portrayed as self-centered, materialistic, and loose.  Jane is older and wiser, and has the dubious distinction of having given evidence against her husband, George, and her sister-in-law, Anne Boleyn, which led to their execution (Gregory's earlier novel, The Other Boleyn Girl, covers that period in Tudor history).  Throughout the book, Jane is in cahoots with her uncle, the Duke of Norfolk, developing schemes to build her family's wealth and status at court.

The story is told from three points of view:  Anne, Jane, and Katherine.  This is an excellent device, which allows for many aspects of the story to be revealed in ways that would be impossible if told by a single narrator.  I most enjoyed Gregory's portrayal of Anne of Cleves.  Anne comes across as the smartest one of the bunch, level-headed and able to forgive the egregious allegations against her.  The descriptions of court life, and Henry VIII's tyrannical rule, make for compelling reading.  While some liberties may have been taken in the interest of storytelling, Gregory includes an author's note at the end of the book, where she acknowledges the aspects of the story based on historical record, and those she had to invent (chief among them, Jane Boleyn's motives in perpetrating evil on the two queens).  This was an enjoyable read, and at some point I'd like to add to my knowledge by reading non-fiction works on Tudor history. 


I read this book for the Celebrate the Author challenge:  Philippa Gregory was born 9 January, 1954.