Helpful Score: 1
I absolutely loved The Other Boleyn Girl, and I don't think any of Philippa Gregory's other works have managed to live up to that example.
This book is billed as a "direct sequel" to The Other Boleyn Girl, and while its events occur directly afterwards, it's not really necessary to enjoy or understand it.
The three viewpoints -- Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard and Jane Boleyn -- is a novel approach, but I've read a much better example of the technique in The Poisonwood Bible. There isn't enough variation in the "voices" used here: you have the plain, smart, oppressed woman in Anne of Cleves; the pretty, dumb, oppressed woman in Katherine Howard; and the remorseful, vindictive oppressed woman in Jane Boleyn.
Overall, it was an interesting but unsatisfying read, but just about any approach to the soap opera that was Henry VIII could have boasted that.
This book is billed as a "direct sequel" to The Other Boleyn Girl, and while its events occur directly afterwards, it's not really necessary to enjoy or understand it.
The three viewpoints -- Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard and Jane Boleyn -- is a novel approach, but I've read a much better example of the technique in The Poisonwood Bible. There isn't enough variation in the "voices" used here: you have the plain, smart, oppressed woman in Anne of Cleves; the pretty, dumb, oppressed woman in Katherine Howard; and the remorseful, vindictive oppressed woman in Jane Boleyn.
Overall, it was an interesting but unsatisfying read, but just about any approach to the soap opera that was Henry VIII could have boasted that.
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