Anne Boleyn & Elizabeth I

The Mother and Daughter Who Forever Changed British History

By: Tracy Borman

Narrated by: Tracy Borman

Anne Boleyn may be best known for losing her head, but as Tudor expert Tracy Borman reveals in a book that recasts British history, her greatest legacy lies in the path-breaking reign of her daughter, Elizabeth.

Much of the fascination with Britain’s legendary Tudors centers around the dramas surrounding Henry VIII and his six wives and Elizabeth I’s rumored liaisons. Yet the most fascinating relationship in that historic era may well be that between the mother and daughter who, individually and collectively, changed the course of British history.

The future Queen Elizabeth was not yet three when her mother, Anne Boleyn, was beheaded on May 19, 1536, on Henry’s order, incensed that she had not given him a son and tired of her contentious nature. Elizabeth had been raised away from court, rarely even seeing Anne; and after her death, Henry tried in every way to erase Anne’s presence and memory. At that moment in history, few could have predicted that mother and daughter would each leave enduring, and interlocked, legacies. Yet as Tracy Borman reveals in this first-ever joint portrait, both women broke the mold for British queens and for women in general at the time. Anne was instrumental in reforming and reshaping forever Britain’s religious traditions, and her years of wielding power over a male-dominated court provided an inspiring role model for Elizabeth’s glittering, groundbreaking 45-year reign. Indeed, Borman shows how much Elizabeth—most visibly by refusing to ever marry, but in many other more subtle ways that defined her court—was influenced by her mother’s legacy.

In its originality, Anne Boleyn & Elizabeth I sheds new light on two of history’s most famous women—the private desires, hopes, and fears that lay behind their dazzling public personas, and the surprising influence each had on the other during and after their lifetimes. In the process, Tracy Borman reframes our understanding of the entire Tudor era.

©2023 Tracy Borman (P)2023 Hodder & Stoughton Ltd

Great book!

Such a great book on the lives of Elizabeth I and her mother Queen Anne Boleyn. It’s tragic that they did not spend much time together in life but it’s wonderful that Elizabeth never forgot her mother.

History made real

This work seems well research and although I was familiar with both mother & daughter, since Elizabeth had been so young when she lost her mother, I had never guessed at the connections between them. I loved learning about the Boleyns throughout history, but especially Elizabeth’s devotion to her mother.

The author’s ability to connect everything! Loved the person doing the narration.

Having to leave a dislike, 15 words you lose a good review for 15 words!

Two remarkable women

I’ve been studying the Tudors alongside the Plantagenets since childhood, and I guess I figure I’ve heard it all at this point. Then a biography like this comes along and I’m again surprised that there is still so much to learn.

Most biographies either are about Elizabeth, with Anne Boleyn as this character on the peripheral. Or we learn about Anne as Henry’s second wife and how that love affair and marriage effected history. I never knew about the particular care Anne lavished on this daughter who sadly helped speed her mother’s doom, or how Elizabeth carefully honored Anne and attempted the reform of her tarnished reputation as The Great Whore. I had no idea how Anne’s symbol, the crushed falcon on a stump, was worked into so many of Elizabeth’s life, especially as Queen when she was more able to. It’s also striking to realize that Anne’s bloodline lives on in today’s Windsors, thanks to Anne’s sister’s line continuing on through to Elizabeth II and the heir-apparent Prince William. It’s quite a story when it’s all laid out in the careful detail Borman tells especially in how alike they were, in temperament, love of intellect and music and clothing.

It’s of course tragic it ended as it did. Anne beheaded on false charges since her husband was ready to move on. Elizabeth - likely psychologically damaged by her mother’s execution stories, being labeled a bastard by her own father and all of Catholic Europe, seeing her father’s failed marriages, the alleged abuse of her own stepfather, the tragedy of her hand-sister. It’s no wonder she supposedly swore never to marry. So all in all it’s the remarkable story of a mother and daughter who in their own ways changed England forever. All because Henry VIII desperately needed a son to succeed him.

Refreshing Perspective, Elegantly Written

It was time we learned the full truth about Elizabeth and her Mother. Thoroughly researched and presented Borman captured my imagination for a beautiful stroll through Tudor/ Elizabethan England with style and finesse. I love how she brought to life previously neglected characters and storylines from that era. 10 stars!!