Read of the Week

Though it has taken me a while, I finally finished another book. Over the past few weeks I have been enjoying Mary Boleyn: The Mistress of Kings by Alison Weir. The book is a much needed exploration of Mary's life, despite a lot of guesswork and conjecture on the part of the author. Mary's life is much like a blank slate, with little details available to fill in the gaps. This book discusses her affairs with both Francois and Henry as well as her marriages, children and reputation. I really enjoyed reading it, despite the fact that I felt it lacked a certain support system of primary source evidence. Weir, a clear Anne enthusiast also spends quite a lot of time focusing on Anne in relationship to Mary. So much in fact, that sometimes I would forget I was reading about Mary and not Anne. Weir obviously does the best with what evidence is surviving and available to her and she dug deep into not only historical documents but also social customs and context to paint the most clear portrait of of Mary that I have ever read. It is interesting to explore the "other" Boleyn girl in a historical, rather than Hollywood created, setting. I would recommend it to Weir's fans and those interested in learning more about general Boleyn family history.

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