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Book Review By Joelle Imus
The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory

This is a story told from the point of view from the rarely heard from Mary Boleyn, sister of the infamous Anne Boleyn, the second wife to King Henry the VIII, who was beheaded. In this story we learn about how Mary is chosen as the King's mistress, and then is made to marry William Carey, who is cuckholded, while the king keeps his wife as his mistress, and impregnates her twice, and forces Carey to acknowledge the king' bastards with Mary as his own.

The King eventually tires of Mary and starts to pursue her sister Anne, who manages to keep him at arm's length for six years through the tumultous times of his divorce from Katharine of Aragon. During this period Anne is presented as an evil woman who is coy and vain, who flirts with every attractive man in the court. Even her brother, George shares an almost incestous closeness.

Mary spends time in obscurity and suffers from poverty after her husband William Carey dies of the plaugue. But she eventually finds new love and a step father for her two children, and ends up living away from court and in the country which brings her happiness.


Plot & Themes
Tone of book? - thoughtful
Time/era of story - 1600-1899 -
Life of a profession:
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Job/Profession/Status story Yes

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status:
Ethnicity/Nationality

Main Adversary
Identity: - Female
Age: - 20's-30's
Profession/status:
How sensitive is this character?
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Very much smarter than other characters

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 8 ()
Europe Yes
Forest? Yes
City? Yes
City: - London
Small town? Yes
Small town people: - nice, like Andy/Opie/Aunt Bee
Misc setting

Writing Style
Sex in book? Yes
What kind of sex: - vague references only - descript of kissing - touching of anatomy - impregnation/reproduction - Boob talk!
Weird Victorian/Shakespearean English? Yes
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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