Friday, March 26, 2010

The Boleyn Wife

Title: The Boleyn Wife
Author: Brandy Purdy
Reading level: All
Paperback: 320 pages
ISBN #: 9780758238443
Received From: contest @ Passages to the Past
Publisher: Kensington Books
Group Genre: Hit/Fic
Cover: A
Overall: A+


"Shy, plain Lady Jane Parker feels out of place in Henry VIII's courtly world ofglamour and intrigue--until she meets the handsome George Boleyn. Overjoyed when their fathers arrange a match, her dreams of a loving union are waylaid when she meets George's sister, Anne. For George is completely devoted to his sister, andcold and indifferent to his bride. As Anne acquires a wide circle of admirers, including King Henry, Jane's resentment grows. But if becoming Henry's queen makes Anne the most powerful woman in England, it also makes her highly vulnerable. And as Henry, desperate for a male heir, begins to tire of his mercurial wife, the stage is set for the ultimate betrayal...Encompassing the reigns of five of Henry's queens, THE BOLEYN WIFE is an unforgettable story of ambition, lust, and jealousy, of the power of love to change the course of history, and of the terrible price of revenge."


Jane Parker-Boleyn is a fascinating character in Tudor-esque England and very controversial as well. Most books paint her as an evil woman focusing on her testimony against her husband George Boleyn and sister-in-law Queen Anne Boleyn. However; few go into details of her life which catapulted her to this fate. Purdy's version of her life delves into all that makes her to become the immortalized, jealous wife!

I was thrilled when I heard about this novel finally someone is trying to set the record straight about Jane Parker. She was driven to madness by her uncle,her husband and the court itself. She was outcasted from the beginning and treated like a third wheel. In this book she is shown for who I to believe she truly is.....someone looking through a window at life passing them by! Purdy does an amazing job capturing Parker's torment and anguish over not being one of the "popular" kids so to speak. An she shows us the depth of Jane's madness as it seeps in through 5 wives of Henry VII. You begin to understand how someone could go insane from the pressures on Jane's shoulders and you even pity the poor woman hopelessly in love with a husband who doesn't even care if she exists!

I loved this book and could not put it down once I started! Every line is suspenseful and foreboding to the later events of the book. And although it tells the tale through 5 of Henry's wives it doesn't seem rushed or hurried along. I felt drawn to Janes character wanting to fight for her, wanting to comfort the character as if she were my own sister! The author does a beautiful job of capturing a more realistic version of Jane Parker and for anyone who thought she got the wrong end of the stick this novel will cast some light on a woman only deemed a liar and a husband -killler!


LOL=Lots Of Love

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