Customer Reviews
Wonderful Listening - By: J. Chippindale, 21 Mar 2007 
There are dozens of books on the bookshop shelves about Henry & his willing & not so willing wives. So why pick this one up & buy it. Two simple words, the authoress. Antonia Fraser has written many excellent historical works, most of which have become best sellers. Why? Because she is the best there is at it.
Her eye for detail brings alll of her books to life & takes the reader into a magical world. This is not one of those boring historical tomes that sit on the shelf gathering dust from one year to the next.
This book takes the viewpoint of the women in the life of the then monarch of England, Henry VIII, not a very nice man, one would think from the information most of us have about him. But did the women in his life think of him in the same way. Was he funny? Did he make them laugh. Anne Boleyn, I am sure did not find him very funny when she was on the scaffold, but something must have attracted her to him. Was he charming? To have wooed so many women I am sure he was.
Anne Boleyn was the second wife of Henry & bearing in mind what happened to her, the four wives who followed her must have been either very brave, or very foolish. Although in those days I know that women of rank did much as they were told, either by their parents or by there advisers. I use the term lightly.
This book gives you the answer to many questions you may have wondered about & much more besides. It is more than a work of historical fact. it is an excellent & interesting read.
