The Boleyn Inheritance

By: Philippa Gregory

Narrated by: Bianca Amato, Dagmara Dominczyk, Ruthie Henshall

Length: 6 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

Three women share one fate....

The Boleyn Inheritance is a novel drawn tight as a lute string about a court ruled by the gallows and three women whose positions brought them wealth, admiration, and power - as well as deceit, betrayal, and terror. Once again, Philippa Gregory has brought a vanished world to life: the whisper of a silk skirt on a stone stair, the yellow glow of candlelight illuminating a hastily written note, the murmurs of the crowd gathering on Tower Green below the newly built scaffold. In The Boleyn Inheritance, Gregory is at her intelligent and suspenseful best.

©2006 Philippa Gregory Limited. All rights reserved (P)2006 Simon and Schuster Inc. All rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"Compelling." (Booklist)
"Gregory's accounts of events are accurate enough to be persuasive, her characterizations modern enough to be convincing. Rich in intrigue and irony, this is a tale where readers will already know who was divorced, beheaded, or survived, but will savor Gregory's sharp staging of how and why." (Publishers Weekly)

Easy listening, another successful novel

This is the 3rd novel by Phillippa Gregory I have "read". I actually listened to "The Boleyn Inheritance" and physically read "The Virgin Love" and "The Other boleyn Girl". All three were fantastic. I seem to be partial to historical novels, especially revolving around the UK. Philippa's books are pure relaxation for me.

another great one in the series of

Excellent performances! Endearing, humorous and treacherous women! They all surprised me. I'd listen to it again.

the best of Philippa Gregory

This book explores the relationship between Henry, his 4th and 5th wives and Jane Boleyn. I have read all Philippa Gregory's history novels and this one is my favorite. The narration in the audio book was also excellent.

Most enjoyable read.

I love to read anything involving this time period. It was an easy read and most enjoyable.

No Edited Content Please!

Beware! This is edited and the narrators are missing or switched to different characters in the story. I am sourly disappointed. There should be no edited material available here! I am paying. I want the whole story. The other version that's out there for this book isn't what I've listened to before either.

so good

this is a really good audiobook that will definitely keep you listening for several hours.

Oustanding. Thorough Entertainment

This audio book has the rarest of all combinations. . .an outstanding story and, not one, not two, but three extraordinarily talented readers.

Philipa Gregory's art lies in drawing the reader into the danger, the lust, the scandal and the pathos of the women at the court of King Henry the Eighth.

The pleasure of hearing the three readers voice the three central characters is second only to the fantastic tapestry of the story that Gregory weaves around the reader.

I cannot say enough that Gregory is a master story teller. Her portrait of Jane Boleyn as a woman scorned, and the depth to which a woman scorned will sink to have her vengeance is very well done.

Her portrait of Catherine as "stupid" as everyone calls her, yet much too knowledgeable for a child her age is brilliant, because she captures Catherine as selfish, self centered, yet naive, almost to the very end. Although she was a character I wanted to dislike, Gregory's brilliant writing and the very talented reading, made the character sympathetic and engaging.

My only regret is I would liked to have seen the Duke voiced as well. I only saw a glimpse of humanity from him at the end, and that was also very, very well done. The Boleyn books are my first Gregory books, and I am hooked.

Ann of Cleves, perhaps the most difficult character to make interesting is Gregory's biggest accomplishment in a book of accomplishments. Anne's quiet grace and courage in the face of the King's madness is a wonder to behold and a delight to hear. The reader who voiced Anne's part was excellent at drawing out the character's fear and her quiet elegance and her unique way of rising above the horror of King Henry's court.

Gregory transports you amidst the swirl of glamorous gowns, and beautiful castles.

My only caveat is I strongly recommend reading The Other Boleyn Girl first. It will give you a deeper appreciation for this story line, although this book is fine as a stand alone story.

Fantastic

By far, this was one of my favorite audio books. The story was read by three different readers, and all three of them, had very distincive voices. This made it very easy to follow the story, and made it feel more like an audio play, than a book. The only drawback to this book was that it was far too short. I didn't want it to end.

Captivating

From the start very captivating. I enjoyed the voices that went along with each story. I went through it faster than I had anticipated.

interesting

I'm a lover of this period of history and found the personal, real life dialogue and conversations very interesting. Gave insight into this colorful era of English royalty.