Read of the Week

This week I decided to review The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn by Alison Weir to accompany the podcast I posted earlier this week. It was book I greatly enjoyed. Despite only covering the last several days of her life, the book is over 300 pages. In this book you will discover Weir's theory for the downfall of Anne, that Cromwell was solely responsible for the plot against her and that Henry believed the charges of incest and adultery against her. I love the way this book does not romanticize Anne's last days, the book reads like a forensic report. Weir carefully examines each piece of evidence in Anne's case including the court records, personal letters and eye-witness accounts of the time. I do have certain issues with some of the evidence she presents; first of all that Anne miscarried a deformed fetus in late January 1536. There is absolutely no primary evidence of this, in fact Weir cites a modern author as her source for this information. I have deeply researched this topic and each author who writes that Anne carried a deformed baby cite each other as their source, with no credible beginning information. Secondly, Weir claims that Jane Boleyn testified against her husband and sister in law, accusing them of incest. This is an inaccurate claim. (To read my research regarding these claims click here.) Other than these inaccuracies, Weir's book is incredibly well written and fun to read. Despite knowing how the book will inevitably end, the writing is fresh and suspenseful. Pick it up today!

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