Anne Boleyn much maligned ..,

Well written and well read.

Poor Anne Boleyn falsely accused of adultery and incest.

Alison Weir mixes fact and fiction together into a tale which kept me entertained while I did mundane tasks during lock down.

Did Anne deserve her fate? Or was she just an insecure pawn? Personally I think she was a pawn used by both her family and the king. A sad ending.

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Fantastic

What a wonderful and well narrated audiobook that brings Tudor life alive in your imagination as the colourful description of life at court under Henry VIII at the battle between the Kings Will and His Wives unfolds

Great listen :)

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The Rise & Fall of A Queen

Ask most people about Henry VIII and they will invariably mention his second wife, Anne Boleyn. She is perhaps the best known of Henry's six wives. There may be some casual readers who might decide to opt for this book in the series only but having just read it and the first, I'd have to say Weir's first book in this epic series, Katherine of Aragon: The True Queens clearly the better of the two in my opinion. That is not to say that this second book is an uninteresting read, far from it, it's just that there is likely far more source material from which to draw upon with regard to Katherine and her long marriage to Henry than for Anne's relatively brief rise to fame and fortune. Not being an historian myself, I imagine this is true purely given the length of time Katherine was queen combined with her brief history with Henry's brother, Arthur. SO, I would speculate that this fictionalized work of historical basis has to rely on much more by way of indirect references to Ann's early life and her initial dealings with Henry. I may well be wrong about this but I felt this was so when reading this book. In truth, I did find the Katherine of Aragon story much more compelling as I felt it had more substance to it.

Having said all that, please do not be put off this book. Weir does an overall excellent job and paints in detail the rise and tragic fall of this ambitious woman that would be queen. As the book progresses and Anne finally becomes Queen, there is more depth to the book perhaps due to the increased level of source material at this pivotal point in Anne's life. . As this book is written from Ann's perspective, we do not get a sense of the machinations going on behind the scenes, chiefly led by Cromwell that lead to her ultimate downfall. For more on this and an excellent complimentary work of historical fact about Anne, I highly recommend Weir's book "The Lady in The Tower" also available here on Audible

Weir does an excellent job of portraying Ann's final days and there is genuine poignancy here that really gives the reader a sense of the terror and confusion Ann must have endured in her last days. I have visited the Tower of London and stood inside the small chapel just feet away from where Ann was buried and have thought on the horror of her execution and the fear she must have felt with deep sympathy for her. For all Anne's foibles, this was not the end she deserved. It was a brutal period to live in which Weir alludes to several times in the book with respect to how Henry dealt with those that would oppose him.

As mentioned in my review of the first in this series, I'd like to have seen the same narrator used throughout. The narrator used for this book does a good job and is easy to listen to. However, as usual with me I have to mention some minor typos and two editing errors I noticed. I have to labour the point of proper proof reading and due diligence in this regard. perhaps it's just me that notices such things and they do not detract from the book as a whole but I do find such things surprising to see.

Given the historical record of Ann's life - in particular her early life, Weir has done a fine job of doing what she does so well, depicting historical figures as real people.

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Awesome, but need a break now to deal with roiling emotions…

This really brings home how diabolical life was for women in Tudor England. It’s both moving and shattering at the same time. This is a great audiobook and the narration is fantastic, but I don’t think I can take any more accounts of the prevailing culture of misogyny for now. Sometimes a book leaves you rattled, and this was one of them for me.

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six tudor queens, Anne boleyn

Really enjoyed this book, thought it had been well researched. I enjoyed the way fact and fiction were cleverly interwoven. Obviously a lot is known about the wives of King Henry, there was still lots more in this that I hadn't come across.
I thought the narrator did a really good job of bringing the story alive, it was very well read.
Good book, looking forward to the Jane Seymour book.

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Wonderful fresh telling

Very interesting to to have Anne approached in a way that contrasts the many other novels of her life.
Alison Weir has long been my favourite author of historical fiction, and I have enjoyed the first two books in the 6 wives series almost as much as innocent traitor, which I still believe to be her finest work.
I enjoyed the performance of Anna Bentinck, but the version I listened to needs editing, there are several mistakes and even a double take of the same initially mispronounced sentence.

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2 people found this helpful

Fabulous

A fabulous series
Narration that is easy to listen to
Quite addictive, I listen around the house and in the car

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1 person found this helpful

excellent listen, would definitely recommend

obviously we know the inevitable end but nonetheless this book is an incredible listen and a lovely narrator.

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Amazing

An amazing book. From start to end it gripped me into hearing more. The ending of book is something that will stick with you for a while so bare that in mind.

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Anne Bolyn

Excellent book, well read. Good research and time line of events. Alison Weir always recounts good actual books in a good narrative.

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