Book Review: The Boleyn Inheritance

Title: The Boleyn Inheritance
Author: Philippa Gregory
Published: 2006, Touchstone
Rating: 5/5

In this novel Gregory embarked on a journey to tell the story of the more fortunate fourth wife and the less fortunate fifth wife of Henry VIII. Told from three compelling and beautifully crafted POV the reader experiences the inner thoughts of Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard and the infamous Jane Boleyn. 

Anne of Cleves marries the King of England out of duty to her brother's kingdom. Everything goes splendidly wrong for her. The King abhors her and is unable to consummate the marriage. Fearful for her life, she agrees to the terms the King sets for the marriage to be annulled. She will be his "sister" and the highest lady after the Queen and the King's two daughters. She will have an allowance and her own small court. She discovers with unexpected joy the advantages of becoming a discarded wife. 

Jane Boleyn is the infamous wife of George Boleyn and sister-in-law to Anne Boleyn. She will do anything to get back to court. She will lie and tend to the needs of her family and of herself. She lives half in the present and half in the past. She is a murderess without committing murder.

Kitty Howard is a young girl. She cares only for clothes, jewels and looking pretty. She is shallow and the petted fifth wife. She is perhaps the most tragic of the wives, for her childhood upbringing will be her downfall. Against better judgment, she listens to the advice of Jane Boleyn and their uncle. Who could blame a young girl for taking a lover? Who can blame a young girl who cried out "I die a Queen but I would rather die the wife of Culpepper" when married to a beast like Henry VIII?

Gregory shows her readers that history is never truly in the past. History affects the present and the future. What happened in England when Henry VIII was on the throne with his second wife would haunt his future wives, his children, and England for years. The life of those in the royal circle always had to be wary of the past as they were of the future. 

Gregory has made me consider this aspect in my own novel. The present circumstances of my novel have been influenced by events that took place before the start of my story. The political plots in my novel are born from past incidents in my characters' lives. Sibling rivalry, favored children, jealousy, a sense of injustice, and ambition are just some of the elements influencing my characters and their political word. Those raised and involved in ruling families, I believe, had a very different mentality. These psychological influences from their childhood would show through in their adulthood and would determine what kind of rulers they would become.