Borman points out that most historians draw a sharp divide between the lives of Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth I, but here Borman goes to great lengths to show just how much the lives of these two women overlapped and intermixed.

She starts by running through a biography of Anne Boleyn's life, then, once Elizabeth is born, she makes a point to dig through invoices, receipts, and schedules, to show how involved Anne was in her daughter's life, but and making clothes, blankets, accessories, etc., giving her jewelry, setting up the nursery, and spending time with her, even keeping baby Elizabeth with her on a pillow next to her own seat in her main room, a thing unheard by the noble and royal parenting standards of the time.

Then, as Anne Boleyn nears her end, Borman suggests she might have had some inkling just how bad things were going to get as we see records of Anne appointing and asking numerous people she trusted to care for Elizabeth.

Once Anne Boleyn is executed, Borman follows the life of Elizabeth I through the lens of just how much Anne Boleyn continued to influence Elizabeth all her life, as well as how much Elizabeth trusted and hired members of the extended Boleyn family. Far from the accepted idea that Elizabeth had nothing to do with her mother during her reign, Borman shows how much Elizabeth used her mothers furniture, jewels, fashion, styles, heraldic symbols, and very much borrowed from her playbook to rule in a patriarchy.

An excellent biography of two amazing women.

Many thanks to Grove Atlantic for an advanced readers’ copy of this book! I have been looking forward to it since I first saw the title on Twitter. One of the things I find most compelling about Tudor history is the relationships and I’ve often wondered about the one between Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth I. This book sheds light on that with lots of historical evidence. I was surprised by just how much Anne impacted Elizabeth during her reign! I also appreciate that this was a straightforward and easy read. My only complaint was it got a little too list-like towards the end when it came to presenting evidence of Elizabeth and Anne’s relationship, but I will take that over other books that make history dull and hard to follow. This one is interesting and accessible, especially for those new to the topic. I can’t wait to read more from the author!

To be honest, I picked this book to review mostly because I thought it might contain some new info on Mary Boleyn, who showed up in my family tree. I thought I pretty well knew the story of Anne Boleyn and her daughter, Elizabeth I. Boy, was I wrong. The author obviously did painstaking research and it shows. Just the emotional and psychological impact of their times and all the political and religious fervor that surrounded them is thought provoking.

Who knew Anne was such a strong proponent of reform that it shook the British Empire to its roots by the time the full story had played out. It's hard to imagine a time when translating the Bible/scriptures into English was a crime, potentially punishable by death. Anne, who was largely educated and grew up in the French court, flew in the face of that. Her daughter, not even three years old when Anne was tried and beheaded, would bear the imprint of both her mother's love and reformist beliefs all her life. That and the horror of her mother's death and the reasons behind it shaped Elizabeth's actions, including her determination never to marry.

I won't even attempt to summarize further, the details just kept coming, and I couldn't even come close to encapsulating it in a mere review. Anne was far more than just a pretty face that caught Henry VIII's eye. The background info provided tells why events may have unfolded as they did, changing history forever. If you're a history buff, particularly a fan of Tudor history, this one is a must. While heavy on the names, it's a relatively fascinating read that goes a long way toward giving you a better understanding of the humans behind the often frightening, tragic events that surrounded both Anne and Elizabeth, not to mention Elizabeth's step-sister, Mary. Reading about Elizabeth's enforced stay in the very place her mother spent her last days, ordered by then Queen Mary, and Elizabeth's physical and emotional turmoil fearing every day would be her last was heartbreaking.

Thanks #NetGalley and #GroveAtlantic- #AtlanticMonthlyPress for this enlightening read. I even added some lore to my own family tree, obviously, and was delighted to see the name Knollys pop-up, too, another connection I'd forgotten about.

Tracy Borman is one of the finest historians and authors of British history of our day. This book was so finally crafted and researched that it was hard to put down. The thing that I most like about Tracy's books is that she writes for the public. Even though she is highly educated and an academic, she writes so that those of us that are not as educated as she is can read and understand and have all that history sink in. It was an absolutely fantastic read that I enjoyed so much. It has made me want to do further research into both spectacular historical figures. I myself am an amateur historian, specializing in English medieval history, so these women both appeal to me greatly. If I could give this book higher than a five star, I would. Bravo, Ms. Borman.

Brilliant book! Mother and daughter all in one place, not to mention its written by Tracy Borman. Cant wait until this comes out in hardback to add to my ever growing collection from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All views are my own.

Any Tracy Borman book is a "must read" for me and Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth I did not disappoint. Having read many books about the Tudors, I was surprised to learn so many new facts. No detail seemed too small for Borman to uncover and share with readers and the way she focused on the impact that each woman had on the other was fascinating. Highly recommend!

A fascinating look into the mother daughter relationship between Henry VIII's second wife and second daughter, perhaps the most famous in both of those categories. As someone who's read a good deal of Tudor history and historical fiction about the Tudor dynasty, I thought this was a well done explanation of both of their histories and legacies. I will reccomend this to folks looking to read more about the period.
Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC copy.

Fab fab fab read. As someone who has read probably a few too many books about Tudors, this very notion fascinated me a ton. How did Elizabeth feel about her mother? Was there any Indication in her behavior that she admired and cared about her memory and legacy? I'm happy to say that Borman did a great job convincing me that in fact, Anne Boleyn was never far from her famous daughter's mind or body with ample evidence and exhaustive research. So this is for sure is a must read for any student of history or curious Anne Boleyn fanatic.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. I enjoyed this author a lot. She has tons of knowledge on the Tudor history. Elizabeth and Anne are my favorite Tudor historical figures, so I really enjoyed this read a lot.

I really enjoyed this book. I saw the Tracy Borman series that was similar to this and knew I needed to read it. A must for fans of this time period!

Anne & Elizabeth are 2 of my most favorite historical figures, so when I stumbled across this on NetGalley I just had to read it.

While I didn’t really learn anything new other than some bits & pieces, this was extremely well written and the story of the 2 ladies is woven together very well. It did, however, open my eyes to just how badly traumatized Elizabeth was by her mother’s execution(& Henry’s subsequent marriages). It was something I had never really considered or thought about before. And reading Anne’s actually spoken words before her execution gave me chills. I had never seen what her final words were.

My only really complaint about this book is that it tended to get a bit wordy at times.

An excellent study of the effect Anne Boleyn had on her daughter, Elizabeth I. Approximately the first third of the book is devoted to Anne, with the remainder of the book telling the story of Elizabeth. It is clear that although she did not have much time with her mother, Elizabeth was influenced by her and spent her life honoring her memory.
This is a great read for anyone interested in the Tudor dynasty.
* I would like to thank Netgalley for an e-Arc in exchange for an honest review.

Anne Boleyn & Elizabeth I is a wonderful exploration of Anne’s story and how deeply it impacted Elizabeth, especially during her reign. Tracy Borman knows her subjects well and took great pains to try to accurately represent them. However, as little factual evidence exists, Borman applies her knowledge of the women to make suppositions that may or may not be true as all authors of history must do to fill in the void. I felt these suppositions were quite valid and substantive.

I was quite puzzled when I read this line: Mary had borne a son with disabilities who Anne would not suffer to be at court. Did Mary Boleyn have 2 sons?

This is a book I would definitely recommend for anyone interested in the Tudor dynasty or just the Boleyn family.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I am always interested in knowing more about Anne Boleyn and how her life from being a maid of Catherine of Aragon to Henry VIII’s second wife.

This biography by Tracy Borman focuses on the life of Anne Boleyn, the Boleyn’s family, the journey of being Henry VIII’s wife, gave birth to Elizabeth I and beheaded. And for sure, it then follows the story of Elizabeth I.

It was fascinating to read the details between Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. When I was reading the book, I was amazed by the details that covered which I did not know about it before.

This biography is one of my favourite history books so far. This is not a one hit book, I will definitely reread it again and again.

This was well-written and informative. I would have likely enjoyed it more had I not already read Weir’s The Six Wives of Henry VIII (although I am very overdue for a re-read!).

If you’ve read about Henry VIII’s wives before, there is likely little surprise in the first part of the book — and quite possibly most of the second half.

For me, I learned some nuance of how Elizabeth chose to, as the author posits, honor her mother while carefully avoiding incensing her mother’s widespread enemies. Reading about the subtle ways Elizabeth acknowledged her was quite poignant.

However, I found myself wanting to learn more about Elizabeth’s relationship with her siblings, which honestly came as the biggest revelation. I only really learned about the later relationship between Elizabeth and Mary, but Borman notes that Mary “took pity on Elizabeth and petitioned their father to look kindly on her” after Boleyn’s execution (p. 106). While off topic from the title, Elizabeth’s relationship with Mary features regularly but not in great detail. I wanted just another layer to that analysis — and how Mary’s losses paralleled Elizabeth’s and possibly, too, colored her actions. If it went that far already, I just wanted a little polish to feel like I walked away from that thread more satisfied than I did.

Thank you to #NetGalley, the publishers and author for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

🗡🦅🌹i read this book for an honest review @netgalley. This book exceeded my expectations in every way. If you know me, you know I'm not the biggest Elizabeth I fan - but I am a huge fan of @tracy.borman in every way, so there was no way I missing out on this one. What I expected was a sort of dual biography of mother and daughter - but what this book actually is a serious look at the ways that losing her mother at such a young age affected the Lady Elizabeth who would one day rule England as Gloriana. It also examines the ways that Elizabeth stealthily attempted to rehabilitate her mother's image after she became Queen in an effort to legitimize her own reign and retain power. It also shows the favour bestowed on many of Elizabeth's Boleyn, Howard and Carey relatives. Those kinsmen, unlike her Tudor and Plantagenet relatives, were safe - being out of the line of succession and unlikely to do Elizabeth harm. When comparing the treatment of some of her Boleyn relatives to that of the treatment of, say, Catherine Grey and Arbella Stuart (those women unfortunate enough to have been born within thr dangerous degrees of consanguinity on the Tudor side of the family tree), the difference is marked.
Borman does a lovely job of giving us a more human look at a Queen who spent most of her life behind heavy makeup and royal trappings and virtuous imagery. Borman gives us a small peek into a world we will never know - Elizabeth's mind.
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Borman has clearly done a lot of research and has written a book with a great amount of detail. That said, I didn't learn anything new about either Elizabeth or Anne Boleyn. Most of the information presented has been established for some time.

I felt Borman relied far too heavily on Chapuys as a source for the chapters on Anne, taking much of what he wrote and said as fact. He was notoriously hostile towards her and was known to put much stock in anything negative about her that he came across. He's not a reliable source of information for much, if anything, about Anne.

I also felt that Borman made too many assumptions about Elizabeth's thoughts and feelings about Anne. With the limited evidence that exists, it's also next to impossible to know how Elizabeth felt about her mother. It's tempting to believe that Elizabeth secretly harboured the loyalty and devotion to Anne that Borman states she did, since we know how much Anne cared for her daughter. However, with existing evidence we can't know for sure and we don't necessarily need to.

I read this book in exchange for an honest review @netgalley

This book is a first which combines the lives of both Anne & Elizabeth, first focusing on Anne - her background, courtship by the King, her rise & short period as Queen, before swift downfall.

We learn about Anne's character, her ambitions & persuits once Queen - how she longed for reform, to patronise the arts, to support the building & running of new religious & educational houses etc.

I appreciated that the majority of Anne's story was personal to her - her passions & future vision, not just about her relationship with the King.

Moving onto Elizabeth - we learn after her Mother's death that the maternal void is filled by her Governess & Nurse Maids who serve her loyally until their deaths - Kat Ashley & Blanche Parry in particular.

Elizabeth then moved into dangerous & uncertain times during both of her siblings reigns, where she still carried the blackened stain of her Mother - the whore & adulteress.

As Queen, Elizabeth slowly & subtly began to show signs of her love & devotion to her Mother e.g using her famous falcon badge as decor & part of her coronation display, using the Boleyn Arms, adopting the honeysuckle embroidery to her own garments etc

Once in power she immediately gathers her maternal Boleyn relatives close about her - many serving her loyally until their deaths; she felt comfort surrounding herself with her Mother's kin, particularly those who knew Anne personally & could recount their stories of her.

We gain an understanding of how her Mother's brutal death affected Elizabeth psychologically & how she carried these scars throughout her life, ultimately affecting the person she became & the decisions she made both personal & political - particularly regarding marriage, childbirth & power.

My only criticism is that reading endless lists of Boleyn relatives got a little tiresome, I craved a bit more depth than just name after name being listed.
I also felt that Elizabeth's childhood was covered thoroughly, then once crowned her reign is somewhat rushed through until her death.

A must read for any Anne Boleyn &/or Elizabeth I fan.

The marvelous social history The Tudors in Love is the latest from Sarah Gristwood, British chronicler of (mostly) queenly rulership. (Readers may recall the Independent’s 2017 review of her Game of Queens: The Women Who Made Sixteenth Century Europe.) Here, Gristwood directs her gaze at the romantic — and correspondingly dynastic — goings-on at the 16th-century English royal court, giving us solidly grounded scholarship presented with erudition, eloquence, and insight.

Her survey begins with the marital misadventures of the young Henry VIII. She wraps it up neatly, 90-some years later, with the death of his daughter Elizabeth I, the self-touted “Virgin Queen” who squeezed more mileage out of her virtuous public brand than Doris Day (and possibly with more duplicitous intent).

Gristwood also covers a handful of near relations to the throne — royals in their own right — including Henry’s sisters Mary (briefly queen of France) and Margaret (queen of Scotland), as well as Elizabeth’s cousin Mary, Queen of Scots. She combs through royal records, letters both personal and diplomatic, the testimony of near-contemporaries, and the work of modern scholars.

What results is compelling history and brilliant analysis centering on the stagey, ritualized interactions between men and women at court. Gristwood has an ear for both the high-toned and the mundane (international diplomacy vs. interpersonal romantic posturing). Tellingly, she probes the message behind the Tudors’ theatrical pageantry and tiltyard competitions, most notably in Henry’s reign.

This impulse to entertain the court in productions tricked out with allegorical iconography is the stalking horse in Gristwood’s analysis. Take this vignette depicting a tournament early in Henry’s reign:

“The festivities had a theme to them, and that theme was the heart…the symbol was everywhere.

“[One pair of knights] jousted in white velvet embroidered with a heart divided in two by a chain. Written on the borders was the motto: ‘My heart is between joy and pain.’ [Two others] wore crimson satin with a heart confined in blue lace, and written in gold: ‘My heart is bound’…

“The courser the king rode on was decked in cloth of silver…embroidered with letters of gold. His device was ‘a heart of a man wounded’ and his motto declared ‘Elle mon coeur a navera’ — she hath wounded my heart. It was the old passion of uplifting pain, the lover elevated by his adoration of a lady who held him at bay, which had gripped the imaginations of aristocratic Europe for centuries.”

There’s the nutshell, the framework on which Gristwood skillfully hangs her tale. It hinges on a social and literary convention that permeated Tudor behavior — the pan-European mashup of pose and practice that’s come to be known as courtly love — for most of the dynasty’s run. With roots in matriarchal myth and folklore — and revving up with the 12th-century “cult” of the Virgin Mary — the tradition centered on the ideal devotion of a nobleman (or poet) for his lady.

As Henry’s tourney signals, the courtly trope shackled the male admirer, adrift in a befuddling froth of love and loyalty, to an assumed posture of utter subjection to an often emotionally distant woman. This devotion was ideally chaste, but in practice (face the facts, reader), it was naturally subject to slippage into the fleshly — and not just in real life but inevitably in life’s hall-of-mirrors elaborations in literary romance. (Consider the thousand and one variants on the Arthur/Guinevere/Launcelot triangle, which Gristwood explores in captivating style.)

The author traces this allegorical trail through the reigns of the four Tudor monarchs, concentrating on those of Henry and Elizabeth. She counterpoints the posturing ceremonials and royal-love propaganda with the dalliances, documented or rumored, that they apparently inspired or masked. In Henry’s case particularly, the evidentiary traces run rampant, with the king rumbling through sexual entanglements (and at least three of his six marriages) while mouthing the platitudes of female primacy. He probably believed them, at least in part, as his importuning letters to Anne Boleyn testify, until, the winds shifting, he abruptly dropped the pretense — with fatal results for Anne, and later, for Queen Katherine Howard, too.

And that’s the bitter, real-world falsehood behind the Tudor love game. Elizabeth played the B-side of the game, turning the parallel pretense of the distantly desirable woman to diplomatic advantage as noble suitors from the Continent circled eagerly, eyes on the royal prize. This, of course, is the core of the “Virgin Queen” brand, but Gristwood suggests, citing contemporary rumors, that the pose could have also cloaked a grand imposture, with at least a few of Elizabeth’s summer sojourns in the countryside serving as royal maternity leave. Tabloid stuff this, and enticing to boot. But Gristwood leaves it at that.

The Tudors in Love is history at its best, a novel exploration on an otherwise well-traveled path. Read it for Gristwood’s marvelous insight into the intersection of Tudor amatory imagination and the realities of royal power, or read it for its sprightly storytelling. For the scholar or the informed reader, it’s richly rewarding in either case.

The year is 1536. A young woman climbs the scaffold for her execution while her three-year-old daughter is miles away, not knowing what will happen to her mother. Never speaking about her mother in public for decades, it would seem that the bond between mother and daughter broke that fateful day. Still, Elizabeth I kept the memory of her influential mother, Anne Boleyn, close to her heart. How did Anne prepare her beloved daughter for the complex nature of the Tudor court, and how did Elizabeth keep the memory of her mother alive? This bond is explored in depth in Tracy Borman’s latest book, “Anne Boleyn & Elizabeth I: The Mother and Daughter Who Changed History.”

I want to thank Grove Atlantic and Net Galley for sending me a copy of this book. I am always looking for a new approach to telling these two women’s life stories, so when I heard about this book, I was fascinated to see what Borman would bring to the table.

Borman specifies that this differs from your typical joint biography of Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth I. We get information about the lives of Anne Boleyn and her only daughter Elizabeth I, but the focus is on their relationship. It may be hard to imagine any relationship being established between this mother-daughter duo when Anne Boleyn died when Elizabeth was only three years old.

Borman begins her book by examing this dynamic between a mother and a daughter separated by death with a single ring, the Chequers Ring. This stunning ring is essential to understanding how Elizabeth I felt about her mother, even if she couldn’t speak about it publicly. The first portion of this book focuses on Anne Boleyn, her life, her religious affiliations, and how she prepared for Elizabeth to succeed in life even after she was gone. After Anne’s death, we see Elizabeth as a young princess trying to navigate the treacherous world of the Tudor court while keeping her mother’s memory close to her heart. The little tributes, declarations, who she put in her household, her love of fashion and music, and tokens dedicated to Anne that Elizabeth created when she became queen show how much she loved her mother.

I have read many books about Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth I, but this book breathed new life into this topic for me. I have always wondered what this relationship between mother and daughter was like, how Elizabeth dealt with her mother’s death, how she felt about her father, and how her mother’s influence affected Elizabeth’s reign.

Borman delivered an exquisitely heart-wrenching account of the mother and daughter duo who radically changed England forever. Some parts were so emotional to read that I had to take breaks and reflect on the impact of Anne and Elizabeth. This is one of my top books so far for 2023. If you want a book that packs a punch and breaths new life into the story of Anne and Elizabeth, “Anne Boleyn & Elizabeth I: The Mother and Daughter Who Changed History” by Tracy Borman is a must-read.