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    The Boleyn Inheritance: A Novel
    The Boleyn Inheritance: A Novel
    The Boleyn Inheritance: A Novel
    Audiobook17 hours

    The Boleyn Inheritance: A Novel

    Written by Philippa Gregory

    Narrated by Georgia Maguire, Pippa Bennett-Warner and Cathleen McCarron

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    From “the queen of royal fiction” (USA TODAY) comes this New York Times bestseller featuring three very different women whose fates are each bound by a bloody curse: the legacy of the Boleyn family.

    After the death of his third wife, Jane Seymour, King Henry VIII of England decides to take a new wife, but this time, not for love. The Boleyn Inheritance follows three women whose lives are forever changed because of the king’s decision, as they must balance precariously in an already shaky Tudor Court.

    Anne of Cleves is to be married to Henry to form a political alliance, though the rocky relationship she has to the king does not bode well for her or for England.

    Katherine Howard is the young, beautiful woman who captures Henry’s eye, even though he is set to marry Anne. Her spirit runs free and her passions run hot—though her affections may not be returned upon the King.

    Jane Rochford was married to George Boleyn, and it was her testimony that sent her husband and infamous sister-in-law Anne to their deaths. Throughout the country, her name is known for malice, jealousy, and twisted lust.

    The Boleyn Inheritance is a novel drawn tight as a lute string about three women whose positions brought them wealth, admirations, and power, as well as deceit, betrayal, and terror.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateMar 26, 2019
    ISBN9781508292722
    The Boleyn Inheritance: A Novel
    Author

    Philippa Gregory

    Philippa Gregory is an internationally renowned author of historical novels. She holds a PhD in eighteenth-century literature from the University of Edinburgh. Works that have been adapted for television include A Respectable Trade, The Other Boleyn Girl and The Queen's Fool. The Other Boleyn Girl is now a major film, starring Scarlett Johansson, Natalie Portman and Eric Bana. Philippa Gregory lives in the North of England with her family.

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    Reviews for The Boleyn Inheritance

    4/5

    1,704 ratings100 reviews

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    • 2/5
      The narrators were really annoying in the audio version of this book. The German woman learning English sounded Asian and the attempts to throw the voices of different characters just sounded grating and weird.
    • 2/5
      This novel is part of a series about the wives of Henry the Eighth, and centers on two of the wives, Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard. Also of prime importance is Jane Rochford, whose testimony helped to send her husband, George Boleyn, and sister-in-law, Anne Boleyn, to their deaths. This novel illustrates an interesting facet of English royalty – the absolute rule of a monarch and the woe that envelopes those who displease the king. But this novel dragged on and on, with repetitive themes and dialogue. We understood that the king was older, decrepit, and smelled; no need to keep stating that fact. We know that some wives just wanted the luxuries and power that came with being queen. But others in the court wanted power, too, and secret dealings and underhandedness abounded. Not the best written tale, this novel would have benefited from some serious editing and rewriting of the dialogue. Long before this novel ended, I was wishing for the beheadings, just to get it over with.
    • 5/5
      Outstanding book. I just love this author and adore getting lost in her medieval world.
    • 5/5
      My favorite so far in the series. So much that it’s the only one I’ve written a review for.
      I was really moved at the end of Queen Kathryns story, quite sad...
    • 4/5
      A very good and surprising read - surprising in that at the beginning, I simply disliked each of the main characters. I found them grating and sometimes impetuous, or in Anne of Cleve's case, too one dimensional... by the end, I was engaged and invested in each of them and owe it all to Phillpa Gregory's skill in storytelling. She unpacked each character carefully and I remember each chapter where my mind was changed for each one of the women. I will be back to read this again someday!
    • 4/5
      Fans of Phillipa Gregory or the Tudor family will not be disappointed. This time around, you'll learn about Henry VIII's wives #4 through #6. There was the stalwart Anne of Cleves, set quickly aside, but awarded property. The young and beautiful, but fickle, Katherine Howard, the 2nd wife of King Henry to -literally- lose her head. And the survivor, Jane Rochford, whose son briefly succeeded Henry as kind of England.

      Gregory always delivers, and her history is spot ton, if a bit tainted by modern feminism. She is, however, a magician at bringing aged timelines to life in a very modern and sympathetic fashion.

      If you loved "The Other Boleyn Girl", then this one should be on your must-read list as well.
    • 4/5
      The first in this series that I've read, and it's chiefly about the 4th and 5th wives of Henry VIII - Anne of Cleves (the German speaking Dutch wife, and the only one to survive the marriage without being accused of treason) and Katherine Howard (the young girl who took her place).

      Told in several different voices, primarily Anne, Katherine and Jane Boleyn (Anne Boleyn's sister in law who helped send her to the scaffold) and the voices are different enough that it's easy to switch chapters and their narration. Anne of Cleves is shown to be intelligent to understand court and the danger of having such a man as a husband. Kitty is flighty and vain, able to turn a man's head but unable to recognise danger when it's in front of her. Jane is a manipulative, but ultimately blind-to-danger, and doesnt realise that she can be betrayed as soon as she stops being useful.

      I dont know much about the wives of Henry VIII so unable to determine how much of the book is "poetic license" - as a fictional book, rather than a biography, I suspect a certain amount, but the book is no worse for it. It is a relatively easy read, especially once I got used to the chopping and changing beterrn all the different voices
    • 3/5
      Three women:
      Jane Boleyn, (Georges's wife and Anne Boleyn's sister-in-law), used as a p0awn by the Duke of Norfolk,
      Anne of, who may have escaped an awful family, for what other reason would she risk living so near Henry VIII after narroly escaping the block?
      Katherin Howard, (the fifth wife) and a mere girl certainly not raised in court as a maid to the queen in France as Anne Boleyn was. They were cousins and both were beheaded.
      It was a good book. The only part that bothered me was the over use of Henry VIII being old enough to be Katherin's father or even her grandfather.
    • 4/5
      Typical Phillipa Gregory fun read. I especially liked the way the chapters were told from the first person of three women: Jane Rochford (widow of George Boleyn) whose testimony sent her husband and sister-in-law, Anne to their deaths. Anne of Cleaves, the only wife of Henry VIII to survive the marriage, and Katherine Howard, fifteen, foolish, and married to the obese, mad Henry.Basically the story stays very true to history, but of course the narratives are all imagined. Just a good fun read.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this book. Poor silly little Kitty. Jane is shown as one of those people who never takes responsibility for what a mess she made of her life.The author makes Anne`s brother into a horrible person who treats his sister Anne badly. The author`s reasoning is it explains Anne`s willingness to remain in England. Another explanation is Anne realizes Henry would never let here leave England. If she leaves he losescontrol. He could not stop her brother from declaring that the previous wherewithal had been properly ended and since the marriage to Henry was never concentrated Anne is free to marry again. Henry couldn't let her marry and have children with some one else.
    • 2/5
      Henry's fourth wife, Bavarian-born Anne of Cleves; his fifth wife, English teenager Katherine Howard; and Lady Rochford (Jane Boleyn), the jealous spouse whose testimony helped send her husband... and sister-in-law Anne Boleyn to their execution. Attended by Lady Rochford, 24-year-old Anne of Cleves endures a disastrous first encounter with the twice-her-age king—an occasion where Henry takes notice of Katherine Howard. Gregory beautifully explains Anne of Cleves's decision to stay in England after her divorce, and offers contemporary descriptions of Lady Rochford's madness. While Gregory renders Lady Rochford with great emotion, and Anne of Cleves with sympathy, her most captivating portrayal is Katherine, the clever yet naïve 16th-century adolescent counting her gowns and trinkets. Male characters are not nearly as endearing. Gregory's accounts of events are accurate enough to be persuasive, her characterizations modern enough to be convincing. Rich in intrigue and irony, this is a tale where readers will already know who was divorced, beheaded or survived, but will savor Gregory's sharp staging of how and why.
    • 3/5
      Historical fiction around Anne of Cleves & Katherine Howard - 4th & 5th wifes of Henry VIII. Good light reading.Read mar 2007
    • 4/5
      Sequal of The Other Boleyn Girl - it was almost as good, and written in a very different style. While I love the ornate, descriptive writing of 18th and 19th century novelists, Gregory's easy ""adaption"" of 16th century English makes these novels easy to fly through - while still maintaining the historical relevence I so love. Highly recommed it to anyone who loved Boleyn Girl..
    • 4/5
      An interesting title, actually, once you finally come to understand what it means. I would have liked to have known ahead of time that it is the story of the two wives of King Henry VIII before his very last wife who actually survived (probably because King Henry himself died before he could have her killed). Namely, Anne of Cleaves and Katherine Howard (I'm not sure if spelled right since I listened on audio).

      I enjoyed the author's portrayal of Katherine Howard the best. At least, she was the most entertaining one. While she certainly had her faults... for all of them she did not deserve the end she got. Sad. I don't much like King Henry.

      And yes, I'm a bit addicted to Tudor England right now.
    • 5/5
      The Boleyn Inheritance was my second Philippa Gregory book and I enjoyed it even more than the first (The Other Boleyn Girl). I loved seeing how things panned out, depending on which side of the fence the narrator was on, and I really felt like I knew the characters and their motivation by the end. The end just came too soon for me. I'd have liked it to carry on and on, especially Anne's part.

      Anne's and Katherine's chapters were more entertaining than Jane's but that's probably because Jane's chapters/thoughts/narration were primarily about her own self inflicted torment and delusions over her husband's and Anne Boleyn's betrayal. Her narrative had a definite air of madness about it as the story progressed. By the end she was a broken woman and I don't doubt she was as mad as box of frogs. I don't pity her though.....well, not much anyway.

      I love that I feel I know these women a little better now (albeit in a fictional way) and will look out for other fictional works which cover the Tudors.

      King Henry was vividly repulsive in the pages, to the point where I swear I could smell the supporating wound on his leg every time I opened the pages. At best he was delusional, at worst he was a maniac and I wonder how anyone could bear to be around him.

      All in all it's a great read, I just hope I can find a worthy bedtime read to replace it, now it's finished. That's the worst part of a good book.....it's over too soon.
    • 5/5
      This was an amazing book! The detail that was in this book made me feel like I was actually there. I loved that there were three different viewpoints during the book. It gave a more precise explanation of what happened to Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard, and Jane Boleyn. Katherine of Aragon is still my favorite queen, but I did like Anne of Cleves quite a bit. Katherine was just a young foolish girl and Jane Boleyn seemed to be a bit crazy from the loss of her sister-in-law and husband due to her testimony.
    • 3/5
      Too much repetition and simple characters. On the other hand, I think we all form our ideas of historical characters, making historical fiction difficult to write. As for Jane Boleyn (nee Parker), I think she's on my family tree.
    • 5/5
      The court of King Henry VIII was a court ruled by fear and abject horror at the time that the German princess, Anne of Cleves arrived to become the fourth wife of the King. Having escaped living life under the thumb of her abusive brother and cold, domineering mother, Anne arrived in England, relieved but hopeful in her marriage to Henry, that she would have a much better life.Instead of the tall, majestic personage of King Henry VIII - an image which was continually fostered abroad - Anne of Cleves encountered a man for whom she could only feel intense pity and no small measure of revulsion. This was the infamous King Henry VIII - a man whose volatile temper was legendary at court and a man whom Anne of Cleves feared above all others. A King who would eventually come to despise her when she proved unable to conceive a son and heir. Anne of Cleves bore Henry's bitter recriminations, accusations and false witness with as much quiet grace as she could - finally agreeing to grant Henry a divorce.Katherine Howard was a woman in love - but certainly not with the diseased old man who made her his queen and bedded her night after night. In desperation, and to avoid the constant threat of the axe, Katherine Howard turns for help to Jane Rochford - otherwise known as Jane Boleyn - the Boleyn wife whose testimony sent her husband and sister-in-law to their deaths. In an effort to save their lives, a dangerous and treasonous plan is concocted, but to no avail. Throughout Europe, the name Jane Rochford is synonymous with malice, jealousy and twisted lust - however, her ultimate Boleyn inheritance was a fortune and a title, in exchange for her soul.I absolutely loved this book. I've always been fascinated by the reign of Henry VIII, and especially the lives of his six wives. The setting of The Boleyn Inheritance really highlighted for me the fear that Henry's subjects lived with constantly and how tyrannical Henry's rule had become. I give this book an A+! Philippa Gregory is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.
    • 4/5
      I did not expect to like this book; I thought it was going to be all fluff and steamy romance. I found it to be intriguing, and to be a fictional look into England's Tudor past...
    • 3/5
      I have this love hate relationship with Philippa Gregory's books. In the beginning, I have such a hard time getting into them. There's something about her writing style that I find hard to read. But in the end the fiction she weaves around the strange truths sucks me in.

      I found the fact that this was told from 4 points of view hard to follow at first. I was alwasy confused about who was speaking. As the characters grew, it became easier.

      All and all, I didn't dislike the book, but I'm not going to start telling people to read it.
    • 1/5
      Not as good as the rest of the series. This one seemed like odds and ends cobbled together. A pretty dreary story.
    • 5/5
      Loved it! I'm a bit obsessed with King Henry and his many wives, and this book is about Lady Jane Boleyn, Anne Boleyn's sister-in-law - the one who helped send both her husband and her sister-in-law to their deaths. Philippa Gregory is a gifted writer whose books I really enjoy. Who doesn't love a big fat book?
    • 4/5
      Wow. I am surprised that I was still very engrossed in this book even though I knew most of the outcome. That is a talent of this author.

      I was most interested in the story of Anne van Cleve's because there is not much written about her (that I know of) and Philippa Gregory did not let me down. I was not sure what would happen to this woman so for me there was still suspense. Enjoyable read. Oh what an ass that Henry the VIII was.
    • 4/5
      This book alternates between the voices of 3 interesting women: Henry VIII's 4th and 5th wives (Anne of Cleves & Katherine Howard) and Jane Boleyn, the lady-in-waiting who serves them (as well as Henry VIII's previous 3 wives). The book focuses on the differences between the women and their relationship to one another, as well as Henry VIII's decline into tyrannical madness. Of the 3 women, Anne of Cleves is definitely the most admirable. Occasionally Katherine Howard's chapters annoyed me, since of the 3 she was the most shallow and naive in some ways, but somehow managed to make perceptive insights. But I pitied her. Jane Boleyn was definitely the most complicated -- I did pity her, but in this book, she also shows a malicious and evil streak. And both Henry VIII and the Duke of Norfolk emerge as villains (who seem to go basically unpunished, especially the latter). And I loved how each woman consciously dealt with her Boleyn inheritance.

      Ultimately, I think I sympathized with all 3 women -- as fascinated as I am with this period, I would not have wanted to live through this time! Although you could read this book without having first read The Other Boleyn Girl, I strongly recommend reading The other Boleyn Girl first.
    • 3/5
      not as good as the other boleyn girl, but i enjoyed this one, actually i think mostly for the history. I wasn't thrilled with the was that phillipa gregory wrote some of the sections but oh well. I just skipped them :-)
    • 5/5
      A brilliant follow-up to book-turned-movie The Other Boleyn Girl also by Philippa Gregory
    • 1/5
      Compared to The Other Boleyn Girl (which is one of my favorites), this seemed as if it weren't even from the same author. The Boleyn Inheritance is pretty much the same three boring chapters over and over and over and over and over again. Not exaggerating. And King Henry is so disgusting at this point in his life that I wanted to puke every time she mentioned (over and over and over again) that he stank, he was fat, he wobbled, his breath smelled, his wound stank, he stank, he stank, he stank. I think she fell short here. I'd have to be thoroughly convinced before reading another of her books. Huge disappointment and waste of my time.
    • 3/5
      I listened to the audio version and it was quite a treat. The story is told from three distinct points of view and the narration is done by three excellent actresses (Davina Porter as Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford; Bianca Amato is Anne of Cleves; and Katherine Howard is read by Charlotte Parry). I don't have to worry about spoilers because I am quite certain that we all know the particulars about how this story turns out. The book is broken up into sections, with each character relating events from her unique perspective. I love the way Gregory reminds us that Katherine Howard was no more than a teenager when she caught the eye of Henry VIII. Katherine is concerned about her gowns, flirting and having fun. Even after she is sentenced to death for treason, she believes that she will be forgiven and returned to court because she has apologized. Her young mind does not grasp the seriousness of her position. Anne of Cleves is steady and composed. She has become the first wife of the Tudor monarch to lose her title and keep her head. She remains cool and collected throughout, although she lives in constant fear of Henry's whims and his wrath. Lady Rochford is an opportunist, willing to use and be used so that she can be a part of the court while she fights the ghosts of her past. Hers is the most complicated story. The narrative of her willingness to spy for the Duke of Norfolk, her denial of the part she played in the deaths of her husband and his sister, Anne Boleyn, and her slide into madness all unfold with conviction. You can't help but get caught up in the drama that unfolds. I enjoyed this book.
    • 4/5
      Philippa Gregory has written another good continuation to the Tudor Series. This book is about Ann of Cleves, Henrys fourth wife and Katherine Howard, Henrys fifth wife. Jane Boelyn rounds out the cast of characters and the book alternates between these ladies perspectives. An interesting view of the madness of the English Court during this timeframe.
    • 4/5
      this was much better than the other boleyn girl!