The Other Boleyn Girl

• Mary's gaze, together with the author's fluent and engaging style, is precisely the added value of this book, offering a fresh point of view on a well-known historical event: Henry VIII's divorce from Katherine of Aragon and his subsequent marriage to Anne Boleyn, who would ultimately be beheaded.

• Even knowing the ending, I could not stop reading. Mention Henry VIII and you think of six wives: the first cast aside through forced annulment, two executed, one died in childbed... so many queens met wretched fates. Anne Boleyn is the most famous, but the story begins with her sister Mary, who remained a mistress. Everything was swayed by the king's moods, and they became pawns for their clan. Queens and nobles alike had no easy lives. The contrast between Katherine's dignified, calm composure despite humiliation and Anne's almost monstrous volatility and cunning is incredible.

• The atmosphere and society, rich in curious details, and the well-drawn personalities easily transport us back to the Tudor era. The moments among the three siblings are my favorites because of their deep complicity. Here, Anne Boleyn proves to be a unique and ambitious woman above all else, capable of walking over anyone without a trace of remorse. Mary is not innocent either, and grows up quickly in that court of intrigue.

• A PERFECT blend of history and fiction. I have never read a book so well written telling the story of Anne Boleyn, but especially from the point of view of her sister. 10/10 it was incredible, read it if you love history and the Tudors.

• Rather than settling for a picturesque rendering of court life, Gregory conveys its claustrophobic, all-consuming nature with consummate skill. In the end, Anne's famous, tragic end is offset by Mary's happier fate, but the self-defeating folly of the quest for power lingers longest in the reader's mind.

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