The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory

It has taken me so long to finish this book. April is the month of birthdays in my family (my mom, myself, my cousin, my aunt, my brother and my husband) so I have been busy with all of that. Also, my brother-in-law is staying with us during his high school's spring break. I'm glad I finished the book today, though, because it's due back to the library today!

The Other Boleyn Girl is an historical fiction about the rivalry between Mary and Anne Boleyn who are sisters. Mary, the younger sister, is a lady-in-waiting to Queen Katherine, Henry VIII's wife, when she starts to notice the king is paying special attention to her. Her family notices, too, and they push Mary to become the king's mistress. Her older sister, Anne, is jealous that Mary is getting all of the attention, but there is nothing she can do. Eventually, the king tires of Mary and Anne captures his attention. The rest of the book is about Anne's journey to the throne and what she is willing to do to get there and then stay there.

The Other Boleyn Girl is told in the first person perspective of Mary Boleyn. It makes it very interesting to see the story through the eyes of the "underdog", the one who couldn't become queen. I loved the descriptions in this book, especially of the sibling rivalry between Mary and Anne; it made me glad that I don't have a sister! At first, I was sad that Henry chose Anne over Mary, but then I realized that it was definitely better for Mary that way, I mean, at least she kept her head on her shoulders! (OK, bad joke, I know) Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I liked it a lot more than The Constant Princess which is also by Philippa Gregory but is about Queen Katherine. I definitely want to read more books about the Tudors especially Gregory's next book, The Boleyn Inheritance.

5 out of 5 stars