Reviews for The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn

The average rating for The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn based on 2 reviews is 5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2020-03-25 00:00:00 Nicole Burda It seems to me that a century has passed since the last book i reviewed here on GR, after weeks of nightmare where I could no longer pick up anything to read, it seems a paradox, being in lockdown here in Milano, and not being able to pass the time reading, I am happy now to review this excellent book. I was surprised to appreciate the second volume of the "Queens of Henry VIII" so moving and wonderful was the figure of Catherine of Aragon, I never thought I'd get to the end of this second volume and feel pity and compassion for this particular woman, Anne Boleyn. I am amazed here, how Alison Weir has always managed to remain firmly attached to the historical truth, all the events, the historical characters , the places but above all the epistolary exchanges here often reported, are not the result of a structure romanticized and invented, but historical and truthful canvas of what happened in 1530. Anne Boleyn is a woman devoured by the thirst for power, she will accept the courtship of Henry, not for an answer of love and affection to him... but for the idea of being her Queen, sharing the power over everything. Her daily progress was thus paved with conjectures, intrigues and calculations of interest but unfortunately always accompanied by envy, anxiety and real states of neurosis. The sweetest part is surely the youth of Anne Boleyn, when she was sent to the court of Margaret of Habsurg and then to the Queen Claudia of France, spouse of Frances I. Her first steps as an innocent and simple girl inside a court of ladies at the service of their majesty...... to see her being able to study and learn the humanistic and new disciplines absolutely banished to the English court, to see her standing against the "Amor cortese" costume at court. In short, her childhood and early youth, looked like a little Saint, and would never leave any intuition of what she would become. It really leaves you sad and amazed to scroll through the pages in all those chapters where the only feeling ever present in the heart of Boleyn is the visceral hatred turned into pure evil towards Catherine of Aragon......the vulgar and hateful terms reported in some letters saved in the Vatican nowadays, they leave no room except for this feeling of vengeance and wickedness that she felt for the Queen, who did not want to bow to her husband's will in considering the marriage invalid. A woman, Anne, drawn, excessive in ways, evil and calculating.... this comes out when she will finally succeed in crowning the union so much wanted also by his lover and spouse Henry VIII. But at what price!!! A Queen hated by all, first of all by the people, who considered her a true "harlot"... by most of the court, because she was held responsible for the sin of adultery during the marriage between Henry and Catherine. Hated because it fully supported the persecution of religious orders and the possible confiscation of Church property, urging at all costs Henry to choices dictated solely by resentment and fierce hatred to those who stood before her with different opinions. But the thing that scares me is that she always wanted to persecute Mary, the first daughter of Henry, to make Catherine suffers and devastates. What kind of heart can such a woman have? Why did I write at the beginning of the review that this book is ultimately moving and heartbreaking? Because it would seem that at the time of her death, Anne Boleyn, asked for mercy and forgiveness for the evil committed, she also did so for Maria.... but she could not take the next small step in understanding that the greater pain and laceration was commited by her towards Catherine, never understood, that becoming a second spouse... would have led to an institute of marriage so labile and meaningless that it would have been wiped out her and her power at the first of Henry's boredom, and it happened just so... In fact, what is testified by history, the dismantling the Sacrament of Marriage by Henry, has opened up to consider the sacramental union always serving, enslaved and crushed by the mood and interests of the moment; labile and modifiable for every new infatuation...... and the six women had in Marriage testify only this. Mi sembra essere passato un secolo dall' ultimo libro recensito qui su GR, dopo settimane da incubo dove non sono piu' riuscita a prendere in mano nulla da leggere, si , sembra un paradosso, essere in lockdown e non riuscire a far passare il tempo con la lettura, mi butto completamente a recensire questo ottimo libro. Mi sono ritrovata sorpresa nell' apprezzare il secondo volume delle "Regine di Enrico VIII" così commovente e meravigliosa era stata la figura di Caterina d' Aragona, mai avrei pensato di arrivare alla fine di questo secondo volume e provare pietà e compassione per questa donna così particolare, Anna Bolena. Sono stupita anche qui, come Alison Weir sia sempre riuscita a rimanere fermamente attaccata alla verità storica, tutti gli avvenimenti, i personaggi storici , i luoghi ma soprattutto gli scambi epistolari qui spesso riportati, non sono frutto di una struttura romanzata e inventata, ma canovaccio storico e veritiero di ciò che avvenne nel 1530. Anna Bolena è una donna divorata dalla sete di potere, accetterà il corteggiamento di Enrico, non per una risposta di affetto da parte sua... ma per l' idea di essere la sua Regina, condividendo il potere su tutto. Il suo procedere del quotidiano era quindi lastricato di congetture, intrighi e calcoli d' interesse ma purtroppo sempre accompagnati da invidia, ansia e stati veri e propri di nevrosi. La parte piu' tenera è sicuramente la giovinezza di Anna Bolena, quando venne mandata in Olanda e in -francia alla corte di Margherita d' Asburgo e poi dalla Regina Claudia di Francia, consorte di -francesco I. I suoi primi passi da ragazzina innocente e semplice con una corte di dame al servizio delle loro maestà...... vederla poter studiare e apprendere l' Umanistica e nuove discipline assolutamente bandite alla corte Inglese, vederla ferma contro il costume dell' "Amor cortese" a corte.Insomma , la sua infanzia e prima giovinezza, sembrava quello di una piccola Santa, e mai avrebbe lasciato ogni intuizione di ciò che sarebbe poi diventata.. Lascia veramente affranti e basiti scorrere le pagine in tutti quei capitoli dove l' unico sentimento sempre presente nel cuore della Bolena è l' odio viscerale trasformatosi in malvagità pura nei confronti di Caterina d' Aragona......i termini volgari e odiosi riportati in alcune lettere custodite in -Vaticano, non lasciano spazio se non a questo sentimento di vendetta e cattiveria che provava per la Regina, che non voleva piegarsi alla volontà del marito nel ritenere non valido il matrimonio. Una donna sguaiata, eccessiva nei modi, malvagia e calcolatrice..... questo ne viene fuori quando riuscirà alla fine a coronare l'unione tanto voluta anche dal suo amante e consorte Enrico VIII. ma a che prezzo!!! una Regina odiata da tutti, in primis dal popolo, che la riteneva una vera meretrice.... da maggior parte della corte, perchè ritenuta responsabile del peccato di adulterio durante il matrimonio tra Enrico e Caterina. Odiata perchè sostenne sino in fondo la persecuzione nei confronti degli ordini religiosi e la possibile confisca dei beni della Chiesa, spingendo a tutti i costi Enrico a scelte dettate unicamente dal risentimento e dall' odio feroce a chi si ponesse di fronte a lei con opinioni differenti. Ma la cosa che lascia sgomenti è l'aver voluto sempre perseguitare Maria per far soffrire e devastare Caterina. Che cuore può mai avere una donna del genere? Perchè all' inizio della recensione ho scritto che questo libro è alla fin fine commovente e straziante? Perchè parrebbe che nell' ora della sua morte, Anna Bolena, chiese pietà e perdono per il male commesso, lo fece anche nei confronti di Maria... ma non riuscì a fare il mini passettino successivo nel capire che il dolore e lacerazione piu' grande lo commise nei confronti di Caterina, non capì mai, che diventare una seconda consorte.... avrebbe portato ad un istituto del matrimonio così labile e privo di significato che sarebbe stato spazzato via lei e il suo potere alla prima noia di Enrico, ed avvenne proprio cosi Infatti ciò che ci testimonia la storia, l'aver smontato il sacramento del Matrimonio da parte di Enrico, ha aperto nel considerare l' unione sacramentale sempre serva, schiava e schiacciata dall' umore e interessi del momento; labile e modificabile per ogni nuovo infatuamento...... e le sei donne avute in Matrimonio testimoniano solo questo.

Review # 2 was written on 2010-08-31 00:00:00 Daniel Myers The Part of the Review In Which the Reviewer Rambles About Herself and Not the Book She's Reviewing: Lately, I like to insist that "I liked the Tudors before they were cool!" (yes, I am a history hipster.) This isn't true, of course; people have been fascinated by the Tudors since the Victorian Age. But it is true that I was obsessed with this messed-up family long before Philippa Gregory jumped on the bandwagon. Karen Cushman was my gateway author into historic fiction in 4th grade, and it must have been soon after that that I first read about the Tudors - my first historic fiction book about them was either about Mary Boleyn or Mary Tudor, but they both shared two things: Anne Boleyn was heavily featured, and lord was she an evil conniving bitch. Naturally, I was intrigued. I found a historic fiction book from Anne's perspective, devoured it, and then read three more. Then I read about Elizabeth. Then Mary Boleyn again. Then Anne. Then Elizabeth. Repeat ad nauseum until I discover legit nonfiction history books, and learn how much the fictional accounts of these women's lives got wrong. Example: No one really knows for sure what order the Boleyn kids were born in (but the basic rule of historic fiction seems to be that if Anne is the narrator she's younger than Mary, and if Mary is the narrator she's the youngest child); Anne didn't actually have a sixth finger on one hand; and while Anne was certainly a strong-willed and driven woman, she was probably not evil and was definitely not sleeping with her brother. (Nice try, though, Philippa) Even with all the information I already know about the Tudors and Anne Boleyn in particular, I'm still learning. Anne has passed from a historical figure to a character of legend, and historians are still figuring out what's real and what's made up. And no one seems to be working harder at this than Alison Weir, who is doing her damndest to stay objective and not take anything for granted when it comes to Anne's life. And for this, I salute her. The Part of the Review In Which the Reviewer Actually Reviews the Damn Book Already: With The Lady in the Tower, Alison Weir is doing something she maintains no other historian has ever done: focusing, not on Henry and Anne's courtship or their marriage, but just on the few months leading to her arrest, her imprisonment and trial, and the aftermath of her execution. Weir examines, in minute and critical detail, all the evidence against Anne and whether any of it might have been true; as well as who was responsible for her being accused of treason. (I'll give you a hint: it wasn't Henry and his name rhymes with Schomas Schromwell) There's a lot of information missing (for instance, all the details of Anne's trial aren't around because some of the documents got destroyed), so Weir has to rely on biased accounts of various abassadors (like Chapuys, who was a total bitch) and courtiers, who in turn got most of their information from rumors and opinions rather than facts. Since most historians sort of skim over Anne's imprisonment, I enjoyed reading about it in detail and, as I said, learned a lot of things I didn't know before. Such as: -Anne most definitely didn't have a sixth finger; at most she had an extra fingernail. -Her last stillborn baby wasn't born deformed (wrong again, Philippa), because the child was examined in detail to make sure it had been a boy, and no one mentions a deformity. -Anne couldn't have been having an affair with anyone, simply because she was the fucking queen and couldn't sneak around without help, and since no women were arrested with her we can assume that no one was helping her. -Henry sent for the French swordsman to execute Anne before her trial even began. -When her head was cut off, there's a good chance that Anne remained conscious for about ten to thirty seconds. -Before Anne, a queen of England had never been executed. -Elizabeth was probably not informed that her mother had been killed for a long time, and Weir believes that Henry's shielding her from this knowledge proves that he must have loved his daughter, despite her mother's crimes. Alison Weir is my favorite historian, and Anne Boleyn is my favorite historical figure. Together, they make one hell of a book. "In weighing the evidence for and against her, the historian cannot but conclude that Anne Boleyn was the victim of a dreadful miscarriage of justice: and not only Anne and the men accused with her, but also the King himself, the Boleyn faction, and - saddest of all - Elizabeth, who was the bear the scars of it all her life. In the absence of any real proof of Anne's guilt, and with her conviction only on suspicious evidence, there must be a very strong presumption that she went to her death an innocent woman."