Mary Boleyn: The Mistress of Kings

Although the nerd in me loves all the details, there just seemed to be such a lack of facts that nothing could be said for certain about Mary. Some good stuff but a lot of conjecture and boring nothing. ( )

This is not the place to start one's Tudor exploration, but if you are already a fan of the family, you'll enjoy this scholarly and exhaustive examination of Mary Boleyn. There's not much solid fact about Boleyn extant, but Weir has done her homework and presents as much evidence as there is for each step of Boleyn's life. Fascinating if a little dry. ( )

This is the "Biographical" story of Mary Boleyn, sister to Anne who was Queen of England and married to Henry VIII. I agree with K00kaburra about the book. I was looking for something with a little more real information about Mary but unfortunately there does not seem to be much new to learn. There is a lot in the book about Anne-and while she was the "star" of the Boleyn family her story has been told many times before.
I found myself having problems following the story and some of that might have been due to it being an ARC without the pictures, tables and charts that the finished copy has.
I appreciate the opportunity to read the book but really can't recommend it to others unless you are are a true Tudor fan. ( )

The book rambled a bit more in places than I like and a lot of it was conclusions from comparisons, but overall it was an interesting book and a valiant effort to clear the woman's reputation. ( )

I have enjoyed reading all of Alison Weir's non-fiction books (I haven't read any of her fiction novels) and "Mary Boleyn: The Mistress of Kings" was no exception. The book is meticulously researched and well-sourced, allowing Weir to go about debunking some of the popular myths and legends about Mary Boleyn, which have been reinforced by decades of popular fiction (and now) television shows.

For those who don't know, Mary Boleyn was the mistress of Henry VIII years before her sister, the unfortunate yet cunning Anne, became the second of his six wives. There are few contemporary accounts of her life, so Weir sets about reconstructing her history based upon the little evidence that is available.

If you're looking for historical fiction... this book isn't it... it's steeped in facts and Weir is quick to back up her assertions with explanations of her evidence -- or admit that certain theories are mere supposition. However, the book is extremely readable and really interesting. While I liked some of her other books even more (The Princes in the Tower and The Six Wives of Henry VIII in particular,) I thought this was also amongst her best. ( )