Anne Boleyn was the second of Henry's six wives, doomed to be beloved, betrayed, and beheaded. When Henry fell madly in love with her upon her return from the French court, where she was educated, he was already married to Catherine of Aragon. But his passion for Anne was great enough to rock the foundations of England and of all Christendom. When the pope refused to dissolve his marriage to Catherine, Henry broke with Rome, founded the Church of England with himself at its head, and married Anne. But all too soon his passion faded; when Anne bore him not the promised son but a daughter, Elizabeth, Henry forsook her for another love, schemed against her, and ultimately had her sentenced to death. In Robin Maxwell's captivating new novel, Anne has kept, unbeknownst to the king, a secret diary that she presses into the hands of a confidante before she is put to death. She says it is a gift for the daughter she will never know. Years later, soon after Elizabeth ascends to the throne, Anne's confidante brings the precious diary to the young queen. In it, Elizabeth learns the truth about her much-maligned mother: her fierce determination, her hard-won knowledge about being a woman in a world ruled by despotic men, and her deep-seated love for the infant daughter taken from her shortly after her birth. These revelations shake Elizabeth to the core. As her mother's conquests and defeats unfold before her eyes, Elizabeth finds in them an echo of her own drama as a passionate young woman at the center of power. She too is besieged by the counsels and betrayals of the men around her - including those of her own lover, the ambitious Robin Dudley. Determined to heed the lessons her mother learned at so high a price, Elizabeth, the "Virgin Queen," the most revered of all English monarchs and perhaps the most powerful woman of all time, makes a resolution that will change the course of history.

Received as a donation to our Historical Fiction VBB - thanks Bounti!!

Heading to tranq1 who took it from the Historical Fiction VBB - ENJOY!

Received from CdnBlueRose in the Historical Fiction VBB on bookrelay. Thank you.

RELEASE NOTES:

Sending to Aceofhearts for the History Swap on Bookrelay.

RELEASE NOTES:

Srending to aceofheart for the History swap on bookrelay.

received as part of the Hitorical fiction swap. It came with a Cdn $2 bill :). Was this intended? You could keep it and hope it gets to be valuable. Otherwise thank you and maybe I should wait for it to be valuable LOL

Elizabeth I is queen and in love with Robin Dudley when she receives a diary written by her mother, Anne Boleyn. Anne Boleyn changed the course of English history.

After returning home from being in the French court Anne is seen by King Henry VIII. Her sister is already the king's mistress and Anne has no wishes to be another of his mistresses. She aims higher. She 'holds' out with granting the king any sexual favours and thus starts a six year engagement.

The pope refuses to dissolve the king's marriage to Catherine of Aragon. The king declares himself head of the Church in England and dissolves his marriage himself. Upon marriage to Henry, Anne bears him a daughter and not the promised son. Their relationship sours and finally Anne is beheaded.

The book explores: the politics surrounding Anne's marriage to King Henry, each of the machinations the king must go through in order to wed Anne, the schemes of Anne and her father, Anne's relationship with her brother George and her father. This book also shows how woman were chattels only to be used as pawns in the game of power.

Elizabeth after reading this story realizes the love her mother had for her and learns from her mother's mistakes in trusting any man.

I just started reading this!

A short time in to Queen Elizabeth's reign, a stranger shows up at her door with a diary. The stranger claims to have been one of Queen Anne Boleyn's ladies in waiting during her last days as she waited in the Tower of London for her death. Elizabeth only knows what others have told her about her mother. This diary gives her a look in to her mother's most private thoughts from before her courtship with Henry, her engagement, marriage, and subsequent demise.

The book gives a great history lesson of both Anne and Elizabeth's early days. Having watched the TV show The Tudors, I already had a rough idea of the history and recognized most of the names that Anne wrote about. I think it would have been harder to pick up on who was who without this background.

The most enjoyable part of the book was how Elizabeth was affected by reading the diary. She didn't know much of her mother and seemed to learn a lot by her mother's past experiences and mistakes. Elizabeth draws on this to help her make an important decision that parallel's Anne's life.

mailed today to MomX3 who won this in a YBS swap

Received this awhile ago. Sorry for the delay in journalling it!