The Boleyns by Amanda Harvey Purse

My review

4/5 stars

I will happily read anything I can find on the Boleyn family, as I am endlessly fascinated by them, so imagine my joy when my parents presented me with this latest addition to my shelf last Christmas (yes I have only just got around to reading it).

Everyone thinks of the Boleyns as predominantely being Anne and Elizabeth, but this book picks up the story of the surviving Boleyn sibling, Mary, and how her lineage can be traced all the way down to the current Royal family. I love the idea that the Boleyns managed to access the throne in the way they always wanted, even if it did take several hundred years.

The running theme I picked up on through all of the different individual stories is one of struggle. All of their lives seem challenging and troublesome in some way or another. The author encapsulates their stories in a bubble of enthusiasm that shows clear evidence of caring deeply about their lives as she writes about them. I learned about connections that I hadn't been aware of before (including the fact that Robert Devereaux was actually related to Elizabeth I) and really enjoyed following the family tree right down through the ages.

I'm sure there are so many more Boleyn descendants out there with amazing stories, and would love to read a second instalment of this book somewhere down the line - the author writes with such passion and purpose that it would be a very easy read I'm sure!

Book blurb

Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII, was executed on 19 May 1536. Her sister Mary, rumoured mistress to the monarch, lived on and survived the king’s wrath. But this is not the end of the tale of the Boleyns and the British Royal family – their stories have remained entwined for almost 500 years, through countless wars, crises and triumphs.

In this book, Amanda Harvey Purse delves into the archives to tell the remarkable story of a number of individuals who form part of the Boleyn bloodline, spanning the worlds of the military, art and politics. Among those featured are Robert Devereux, executed for treason after leading an army against the government in the early seventeenth century; Lettice Knollys, banished from the court of Elizabeth I after marrying the wrong man; and Cecilia Nina Bowes-Lyon, the grandmother of and godmother to Elizabeth II, who married Claude Bowes-Lyon and played a significant role in the convalescence of soldiers during the First World War.

More...

You can buy the book here now. It was published by Amberley Publishing.

For more on the author, you can check out her Goodreads page.