Looking for a good read?

I just finished this book and LOVED it. Would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a good read. It was a page turner for me...over six-hundred pages and I finished it in about a week-and-a-half. That's how good it is!

I have to admit that I can't think of a time that I read a piece of historical fiction that wasn't part of an assignment in school. So this book would've flown under my radar if my mom hadn't had it laying out the last time I was home.

The author, Phillippa Gregory, does a fantastic job of weaving real historical facts with rumours, speculation and just plain fiction. She brings her characters to life so well, and chose a fantastic point of view when she chose Mary Boleyn, the sister of Anne Boleyn (King Henry the VIII's second wife). It starts out with Mary as a young courtier in Queen Katherine's court and as a pawn in her family's game to become the most favored family in England. From there we see Mary struggle with right and wrong, loyalty to her family, her King, and her own desires. As the book continues we watch her mature and start to catch on the ploys of those around her. She transforms from gullible and frusteratingly obedient to strong and admirable.

This book exposes the life in the King's court, and shows that while we outwardly see richness and propriety and beauty, we aren't seeing the whole story. It goes back to that old adage of "if it's too good to be true, it probably is."

I can't tell you how many times I put down the book to run to the computer and Google information about the Boleyns, King Henry and the Tudor court. It was amazing to me to see how well Phillippa tied together bits of fact with intriguing fiction. I will be picking up the follow up (The Boleyn Inheritance) soon. Happy reading, friends!