riverECHO

I remember bits and pieces from a high school history class about Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, but learning about them again through a historic novel made the era much more interesting. The novel is written from the perspective of Anne’s younger sister, Mary, who is in fact Henry VIII’s mistress for about five years before Anne takes her place. It makes Anne out to be a dreadful, selfish woman that you want to feel bad for, but can’t help from despising. Mary on the other hand, although immature and ignorant in her younger years, is easier to relate to. She follows her heart instead of her greed and is able to eventually escape the power hungry ways of the court, marry for love and live in the country. I think the book would appeal to most women and not to many men, but I thought it was a fascinating story and very entertaining way of learning about England in the sixteenth century.