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)

The BEST yet!

What great choices for narration! Three different voices from three different points of view: Hurrah for Ruthie Henshall - the voice of the young exuberant Katherine. The story swept you up, kept you in, and didn't let go until the last tear was shed!

Wonderful!

I think this has been one of my top 3 favorite listens. Gregory is THE best historical fiction author for the Tudor era ... she gives fabulous perspectives, compelling detail and nuance. Her masterful writing aside, this book was fabulously narrated. I think it was perfectly done having three narrators for the 3 women characters. Each of them did an outstanding job. I hated for this one to end.

I was particularly impressed by the narration/storyline of Anne of Cleves. She is so often glazed over in the accounts of Henry's wives, with little consideration about her life after her "de-thronement". Ms. Gregory presents such an interesting perspective on this Queen's ongoing life in England, post-Henry (as well as the turbulant family background from Cleves). I have come to believe she was much more cunning and savvy to the entire situation surrounding her betrothal/queenship/dethronement than is usually portrayed. I very much liked Gregory's insight into her character ... which was only enhanced by the sensitive reading by the wonderful narrator. It was my favorite thread of the book.

If you are interested in Tudor England, this is a great listen. If you are already familiar with Philippa Gregory, this one of her best!

Amazing story and narration. Highly Recommend

The three women that read this draw you into their lives so much that you can almost feel what they are feeling. Philippa gives us another winner. I can see this working better as an audiobook then a book.

I loved this!!!

What made the experience of listening to The Boleyn Inheritance the most enjoyable?

What a great story. Couldn't wait to get through it....

What did you like best about this story?

storyline

Which scene was your favorite?

when Kitty was being held in the tower

If you could take any character from The Boleyn Inheritance out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Thomas Culpepper - because he is so cute.

Well dramatized but abridged

The Boleyn Inheritance is narrated by three women living with the consequences of Anne Boleyn's rise and fall. Henry VIII's fourth and fifth wives and Anne's sister in law each narrate the increasing paranoia and instability of the court as Henry ages and ultimately dies. The readers are each distinct and well suited for their various roles. The book fleshes out the historical facts with compelling characters who may or may not be anything like their real inspirations, but are believable nonetheless.

Any quarrels I have with the ending coming a bit too fast may be due to the fact that this presentation IS abridged: a fact I had not realized before buying it. Don't be surprised, like I was. The audio book is still worthwhile, but be aware that this is much shorter than its predecessor, The Other Boleyn Girl.

It's a well told tale, and having it read to me makes the experience feel like having poisonous gossip dripped into my ear, just as the courtiers of the Tudor Court must have felt. An enjoyable take on a fascinating historical period, and a worthy sequel to The Other Boleyn Girl.

By far the best

Its important to read/listen to these in a certain order- be sure to read the Other Boleyn Girl first to truelly savor the ending. The voice actors we're great, even bringing me to tears near the end as I listened to Little Kitties desperation. Defiantly worth a listen or two or three.

Simply Awed....

This is my first introduction to Phillipa Gregory and I am simply... amazed! I had watched parts of 'The Other Boelyn Girl' on cable and was pleasantly surprised by what I saw but I didn't know Phillipa Gregory had this many titles.

This is an AMAZING LISTEN! Anyone with knowledge of European history knows how the story will end but that definitely does not take away from the story. The narrators were simply superb in the execution of the story... Catherine Howard, Ann of Cletes and Jane Boelyn's portrayal in the story was simply beautiful to listen to.

Phillipa Gregory has just been awarded a new fan and I simply can't wait to get to the next one...

Just.... WOW!!!!!

Fabulous!!

I recommend reading The Other Boleyn Sister first. This book is a continuation, but skips Jane Seymor. Regardless, it is WONDERFULLY read by 3 women, and very entertaining. I couldn't put it down. Too bad she didn't write one on each of Henry's wives.

I highly recommend this book. It was just too short. I didn't realize it was abridged until it ended! :-)

A

A great book to get lost in. I usually listen when I'm cleaning the house or driving and I actually found myself looking for more cleaning/gardening that needed to be done! I would recommend reading the Other Boleyn before reading this book or you might be a bit lost.

Great Listen!

This is a terrific audio and one of Gregory's best. I have read many. It is a narrative by Jane Boleyn, the sister-in-law of Anne Boleyn. I don't know which is better, the writing or the reading. I loved that 3 different women read the parts of Jane, Anne of Cleves, and Catherine Howard. Catherine Howard was a riot (if you can call anything that involved Henry VIII a riot), Anne of Cleves endearing, and Jane curiously naieve. I highly recommend this audio.