The Other Boleyn Girl

The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory was the first book I ever read by her. Within a few pages I was completely drawn into the world of England when Henry VIII was on the throne.

You follow the story of the two sisters, Mary and Anne, and each of their involvements with Henry as the story progresses. You feel how they are manipulated by family members to get into a position of power. You follow the extraordinary tale of how a king is willing to completely change the religious system of England so that he can get the girl he wants. And yet, within a few years of finally having this girl he has desired for so long, he is done with her, and has moved onto another love interest. (Since this is historical fiction, I don't think I am spoiling anything here.)

I loved the writing style. I felt that I was learning about history and about each of the characters, but in such a non-obtrusive way that I could have been watching a movie. The story is so unbelievable I kept going to Wikipedia to see if all of these events really took place in the way described by Gregory. I didn't know much about this time period before starting this book, but I was desperate to read more about it by the time the book was over. Lucky for me, she wrote more books.

Out of 5* possible-
***** Overall
***** Hooking me into the story
***** Desire for a sequel
**** How far removed from this world
I only rated it a 4 on the last category because it takes place in England, a few hundred year ago, so compared to other books that are completely removed from present times, it is only a 4.