Have any of you watched the movie ‘The Other Boleyn Girl’?
It is a very good movie.
In a similar way, I loved this book by Julia L.A. Kelly. It is an insightful account of the life of Anna Boleyn, much loved, much wronged. The work is written in first person, which makes the joys tangible and the grief, palpable. Anna, a simple girl, like any other is catapulted to the throne as the
Queen of England (wife of King Henry VIII) during ‘a cruel, barbaric age where people were murdered in the streets for food, every man was clambering for power, and every woman treated as a nonperson’.
Along with a life of aristocracy came a life of ploys, lies, and deceits. Wronged by her husband, cheated on by her friends, and stabbed in the back several times by her courtiers, this simple woman was blamed and framed throughout her life. Yet she forged on bravely. I love strong women, I am fascinated by them. People were malicious to her, slander was atrocious. Simple emotions of love and tenderness were portrayed as evil deeds and witchcraft! At one point in the book, there is a quote that I thoroughly believe in.
‘But Anna Boleyn … does not believe in forgiveness. I believe that it is better that people do no wrong in the first place than expect everyone to go around forgiving them after the deed is done, for if they do no wrong there would be no forgiveness needed. People should have no excuse for committing a crime.’ So true…
Following the coronation of her daughter, Elizabeth, as queen, Anna was venerated as a martyr and heroine of the English Reformation. Anna has been called ‘the most influential and important queen consort England has ever had’…
Another highlight of the book is the delightful number of men that feature in the book. Everyone from Nostradamus to da Vinci, to Shakespeare! So awesome to meet them as they were, men with pure passions for their arts 🙂
This book is a must read!
I received a complimentary copy of ‘The King’s Great Secret’ as a member of the Dorrance Publishing Book Review Team. Visit dorrancebookstore.com to learn how you can become a member of the Book Review Team. Please visit http://dorrance.stores.yahoo.net/ as well.
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