The House of Boleyn
A Novel
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3.8 • 12 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
“Historical fiction at its absolute best.”—Alison Weir
Acclaimed Tudor historian Tracy Borman weaves the dramatic history of the Boleyn family into a richly imagined novel of ambition, bloodlines, and the opulent and deadly court of Henry VIII
When nobleman Thomas Boleyn, lord of Hever Castle, is called to London in 1509 to present himself to a newly anointed King Henry VIII, he sets in train events that ensure the Boleyn name will never be forgotten. His daughters Mary and Anne were young then, and though he was ambitious for his family to prosper, he could not imagine what would transpire in the two decades to come.
Blending the history she knows so well with the creativity of her imagination, Tracy Borman brings the Boleyn family’s three-decade rise and precipitous fall to vivid life. Borman surrounds the main dramatic events of the Boleyn saga with a colorful tableau in which familial and inter-familial rivalries threaten and true love often loses out to keen ambition. Anne’s ever-loyal attendant Esther Frideswide and Thomas Boleyn’s perfidious steward Robert Cranwell are as memorable as Cardinal Wolsey, Thomas Cromwell, or anyone in the increasingly dangerous orbit of the royal court. Henry VIII pursues Anne relentlessly, showering her with gifts as the Boleyns are catapulted to political prominence. But when she can’t give him the son and heir he desperately seeks, the family faces a terrible and bloody fate. With lavish and compelling historical detail, Tracy Borman displays her keen gift for storytelling in this resonant novel of family, fate, and intrigue.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Author and historian Tracy Borman finds a brilliant new way to tell Anne Boleyn’s timeless story in this groundbreaking historical novel. Borman’s take on the woman whom King Henry VIII infamously reshaped England’s entire religious landscape to marry (only to later behead her for not bearing him a son) widens its scope to include the whole Boleyn family. What’s more, she sets the story entirely at the Boleyns’ ancestral home at Hever Castle. It might sound a bit odd, but trust us, it works. Remaining within Hever’s walls creates intensely captivating, character-driven drama, even (or especially) as weddings, miscarriages, and executions at court play out for the family in the forms of letters and visitors. The format also lets Borman give us crisp, three-dimensional views of young Anne, her important but seldom-discussed grandmother Margaret, and her siblings Mary and George. For lovers of both lush historical fiction and proper Tudor history, this immersive and utterly unique novel is an absolute must-read.
