Mary Boleyn catches the eye of Henry VIII when she comes to court as a girl of 14. Dazzled by the golden prince, Mary's joy is cut short when she discovers she is a pawn in the dynastic plots of her family. When the king's interest wanes, Mary is ordered to pass on her knowledge of how to please him to her friend and rival, her sister Anne.

Read in August 2014.
This was a delight to read. It's a long time since I've read a historical novel and Philippa Gregory certainly knows how to write them. Gregory pitches it perfectly, avoiding the trap of turning it into a romance. The story is told in the voice of Mary Boleyn, Anne's sister, so that we are privy to all the rivalry and family manoeuvring involved in the lives of noble women at court, all in the hopes of gaining favour, promotion and wealth from the king, putting the interests of the family above those of the individual. Brought up with the sanitised version of history, I never would have guessed that so many liberties were taken with the sanctity of marriage. I was well aware of Henry VIII's prodigious number of wives, of course, and the lengths he went to discard one in favour of another, but I had no idea that it was acceptable for him to borrow the wife of another man to become his own mistress and that this was so openly on show. Fascinating and sad watching how Anne Boleyn spiralled to her doom, the foregone conclusion.

This book has been released as part of the following BookCrossing challenges:
- The Ultimate Challenge - read and release books, with extra points for a monthly theme
- Reduce Mount TBR (To Be Read) - read and release books on the TBR list since before the end of the previous year. My reading goal is 36 books.

This one was on my wishlist! Thank you!