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)

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!!!!!

21 of 21 people found this review helpful

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!

11 of 11 people found this review helpful

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.

11 of 11 people found this review helpful

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! :-)

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

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.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

Very interesting and well read

This was a very enjoyable book to listen too. I was captivated by the different personalities and thoughts of the three main characters which were expressed so well by each reader. I would definitely recommend this audio book to a friend.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Gregory's Best To Date

While I have enjoyed _The Other Boleyn Girl_ and several of Philippa Gregory's other novels, this is by far the best. As other reviewers have mentioned, the three readers each do a marvelous job of reading the narratives of Jane Boleyn, Anne of Cleves, and Katherine Howard, women that I (as a Tudor scholar) have longed to know more about. Her take on the motivation of Lady Rochford, who gave access to Katherine's lovers, is plausible, especially given the psychological insights and familial pressures that the novel provides.

I can't wait for Gregory's next novel (_The Other Queen_, about Mary, Queen of Scots), due out in Spring 2008.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Very entertaining!

Loved all the characters which were beautifully narrated and quite entertaining.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

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.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

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.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful