The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory - #12

I adored this book. This is the story of Mary Boleyn, the sister of the second wife of Henry VIII. Mary comes to court as a young girl and is quickly married. Eventually her sister, Anne, joins her and their love-hate relationship begins in earnest. Mary is chosen by her family to seduce the king and do what his wife, Queen Katherine, has not been able to do - produce a son. She does as her family bids her and begins a passionate love affair with the king. Eventually she bears him two healthy children. However, Henry's interest in her begins to wane and her family sees their chance to the throne slipping away. This is when they decide to put Mary aside in favor of Anne. Mary is to help Anne seduce and keep Henry's attention. As Mary's life begins to unravel and Anne's climb to the throne begins Mary realizes that she does not have the stomach for court anymore. She wants to live out her days in the country with her children and new husband. However, the debauchery of the court keeps pulling her back until it threatens to destroy her and her happy life.

This was the first novel by Gregory that I read but it will not be the last. She is an amazing storyteller and knows how to keep you enthralled. She makes you feel every emotion that Mary is feeling and you really begin to sympathize with her. I was afraid at first that the book would be heavy and difficult but it was not like that at all. There was a BBC version of the novel made in 2003 starring the beautiful Natascha McElhone as Mary. There is also a major movie version that will be released in 2007 starring Scarlett Johansson (Mary), Natalie Portman (Anne) and Eric Bana (Henry VIII). It will be interesting to see this beautiful novel come to life.