A very readable account of Anne Boleyn. I've been a 'fan' of Anne since high school and this book helps add to the 'drama' of Anne's brief life. From her plotting to marry a King to her demise, Marie Louise Bruce adds color to the life of Anne.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

There is a lot more to Anne Boleyn than just her getting beheaded, and this book does a great job of showing the breadth of her short life.

I loved this book for its multifaceted evocation of Anne Boleyn and Henry the eighth. Too often Boleyn is portrayed as a victim of Tudor patriarchy. Ms. Bruce"s Anne has heft, she is a girl/woman in the round and all the better for it.
If I have a quibble it is the treatment of Cromwell's religious life as merely a means to an end. (Read Diarmaid Muculloch's biography for a more sympathetic view)

I read this ARC for an honest review
All thoughts and opinions are mine

I love this period of history and devour anything I can find
This is a great, fact packed retelling of Boleyn's life

I enjoyed it immensely

I was able to read this book thanks to NetGalley. I enjoy Tudor history a great deal and have always been fascinated in particular by Anne Boleyn. I loved this book. It seemed very factual but it was also well written snd very entertaining. It’s a must read for Tudor enthusiasts. Thanks again to NetGalley for the opportunity to review and read this book.

A really good biography on Henry viii second queen, full of interesting facts I do wish it had more about her time at the French Court

417 pages

4 stars

Ms. Bruce omitted adding a portion of Anne's education. Margaret of Austria, daughter of Maximillian I the Holy Roman Emperor, ruled Austria tutored Anne from the Spring of 1513 until October 1514. Only then did Anne go to France to serve Queen Mary.

When Anne caught King Henry VIII's eye, the trouble began. It was to last for several – about seven – years.

Anne and Cardinal Wolsey had a love-hate relationship going on. It seems to depend on the mercurial and immature Anne's mood.

From her text, one may surmise that Anne may very well been her own worst enemy. I wondered that she might have been bi-polar.

The common people hated Anne, especially the women. I did not know that Henry went to such extremes to suppress discontent. To deport so many people and search houses for weapons in order to protect Anne sounds extreme. This reader has to wonder just why he stayed with her. (Well, I can guess...)

There are many interesting little tidbits such as these littered throughout This is a very readable book that is written in an informal, conversational style. It is a well plotted and consistent telling of the life and times of Anne Boleyn. She seems so real. I could see her acting and speaking as though I were in the room with her. (It was not a pleasant experience.) Ms. Bruce also illustrates well the pagentery and color of the court life – as well as the smells...Thr information about the coronation of Anne was very interesting.

The distracted and deluded (to some degree – look what happened...), king, the whole drama with Wolsey, the “Great Matter” fiasco and Anne's greedy and grasping family are are told in brilliant color in this book. It'd wonderful stuff! Add to that the major part that Thomas Cromwell played in obtaining Henry's “divorce.”

There are many conflicting theories on the downfall of Anne. Some lay the blame on Henry's doorstep, while others believe it was all Cromwell's doing. I agree with Ms. Bruce in that Henry told Cromwell to get rid of Anne, and Cromwell did – by any means necessary. There is also a debate over whether Mark Smeaton was actually tortured. Was it physical or psychological? Did Anne commit adultery and treason? Even this is subject to a contentious disagreement among historians and scholars. Many points in this book are a matter of conjecture.

This very well written telling about a short period in Anne Boleyn's life is interesting and food for thought. I enjoyed it very much. The work contains a bibliography and extensive notes.

I want to thank NetGalley and Sapere Books for forwarding to me a copy of this great biography for me to read, enjoy and review.

I had no idea this book is a classic when it comes to literature about Anne Boleyn - the more you know.

As retellings of a historic person’s life goes, this was comprehensive and followed Anne’s life from childhood, to her education at the French court, her way into queen Catherine’s court and her love affair with King Henry VIII to her way to queendom and her fall from grace. I find Anne Boleyn to be a very smart woman who knew how to play the game perfectly – and I find it very sad she got the end that she got in the end.

Nothing really to note – the book said what it promise in the synopsis. Did I learn something new from reading this book? Not really, but I enjoyed it all the same.

A detailed history of Anne Boleyn, which chronicles her early days in France, her relationship with Henry, and the end result of it. The book refers to many sources and cannot be faulted as a history book. I recommend it highly.

In ANNE BOLEYN, MARIE LOUISE BRUCE has given us a fascinating and sometimes even sympathetic history of this queen who changed history and was largely responsible for Protestantism taking over from Catholicism in England. The book is well researched and very interesting.
I was given a free copy of the book by NetGalley from Sapere Books. The opinions in this review are completely my own.