REVIEW: Anne Boleyn - A King's Obsession

Anne Boleyn: A King's Obsession
Author: Alison Weir

I have read many, many books about the Tudor era. It's an obsession on my part. Henry VIII, even almost 500 years after his death, is still larger than life. A bad king obsessed with the continuation of the Tudor line he made poor decision after poor decision and left England almost bankrupt. But when the dust settled after his death (and his other children died), Elizabeth was on the throne and ruled for 44 years. At least history got more than scandalous stories out of Henry's years on the throne. Elizabeth was one of the greatest monarchs in English history. All is well that ends well? Maybe?

But I digress.....Anne Boleyn:A King's Obsession is part of Alison Weir's Six Tudor Queens series. The series starts with Katherine of Aragon, Henry's first wife.....and continues with this book about Anne before proceeding to Wife #3, Jane Seymour.

I enjoyed this book, but it seems pretty evident that the author does not like Anne Boleyn....or at least has little sympathy for her. Anne is portrayed as a vengeful, jealous, often paranoid (sometimes rightfully so), emotional wreck. But, to quote Cersei Lannister from Game of Thrones...."When you play the game of thrones, you win....or you die." Anne didn't win. So history paints her as a pawn...a schemer....a whore.  And she might have been all of those things, but perhaps she was just a very strong, intelligent woman who got caught up in the business of kings and paid dearly for it. Women today often make the mistake of dallying with powerful, married men and pay a big price. At least they don't cut our heads off on a scaffold anymore! Divorce is much simpler these days.

Weir also takes a bit of creative license with history. This is historical fiction so a bit of that is expected. But some of the changes I found a bit cringe worthy....like Katherine of Aragon being murdered. It was rumored at the time that Anne had Katherine poisoned, but most likely it was a natural death from cancer or just years of stress and depression from The Kings Great Matter. There is no historical proof that Katherine was poisoned with herbs. It's difficult to fill in emotions, thoughts, and motivations for people who all died almost 500 years ago.....so the author filled in the blanks with the stuff of fiction. It makes for a good read.....but it's not historically accurate. In this case, that's ok....this is historical FICTION. She can do that.....for the most part she sticks true to actual events. I read a few reviews that totally attacked this book for being historically inaccurate. It's a fictionalized story about Anne Boleyn.....not a non-fiction reference book. Jumping off the main track for the purposes of drama is allowed when writing a fiction novel, even about real historical characters. Want pure history? Read non-fiction. Want to experience the drama of court and a bit of Henry VIII style naughtiness? Read historical fiction.

I listened to the audio book version of this story (Recorded Books, Inc) Narrated by Rosalyn Landor, the audio is just short of 20 hours long. I caught myself a few times talking back to my phone as I listened. When Anne waxed long about how it would be when she was queen and how much Henry loved her, etc etc....I just kept saying "No! Don't do it.....it isn't going to end well!''  But, offering advice to women who had their heads forcefully removed centuries in the past doesn't change the outcome. Messing with powerful, wealthy, married men didn't end well in the 1500's and it still doesn't end well today. Monica Lewinsky is a great example. Poor decision.....very public shaming. At least she didn't lose her head over it!

Enjoyable read. Since I have already read the 3rd book on Jane Seymour, I'm moving on to the fourth book in this series....Anna of Kleve: The Princess in the Portrait.