The Last Boleyn

A Novel

By: Karen Harper

Narrated by: Melanie Crawley

Length: 21 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's Summary

They were the Boleyns, once one of England's most powerful family. Anne Boleyn captured the hand of Henry VIII, and now we see the rise and fall of their family fortunes through the eyes of the eldest Boleyn daughter, Mary. 

Mary Boleyn is overshadowed in history by her sister, Anne, but it was she who first caught the eye of Henry VIII, setting the stage for her family's dramatic rise to power - and ultimate fall from grace. Although Henry set her aside as his mistress, Mary still navigated the dangerous waters of the Tudor court while forging ahead to find a life - and a love - apart from the intrigue that surrounded her. 

In New York Times best seller Karen Harper's skillfully written and dramatically set novel, you will hear the story of this once mostly forgotten Boleyn sister in a brilliant blend of history, romance, and drama.

©1983, 2020 Karen Harper (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers

Skip This One

I should have known when the author decided to make George Boleyn older than his sisters that this was going to be a wreck. First, there are reasons there are not a lot of books about Mary Boleyn but having a lack of material was not a deterrent as this "author" decided to attribute Anne Boleyn's life history to Mary- who NEVER served in Margaret of Austria's household and was sent back to England as soon as Mary Tudor was widowed. I guess this person figured we're all ignorant and don't know history so would not notice that she did this but yet some of us DO know the history and are insulted that she would warp history so just to make a few bucks. "Authors" like this truly dumb down society as what they put out in the world is high on fiction but very low in history. I am returning this utter piece of garbage and I will never choose another title from this person. Oh and the narration is terrible as well. Bad book, bad narrator. I wish I could give it zero stars, because that is what it merits. SAVE YOUR CREDIT!!!!

Fewer Muscular Thighs, More Muscular Thinking

WIth the endless fascination about Henry Tudor's court, this seemed like a ripe opportunity to take a close look at a woman who lived at the heart of the court, and who left, relatively unscathed. Surely she was more astute and informed than this book would have the reader believe. With its single point perspective, and lack of introspection beyond how any of her choices might affect the men in her life, this book has missed a chance to paint Mary as anything other than a good-hearted simpleton who doesn't even seem to understand who Cardinal Wolsey is. There is simply no way was was a shuttered and uninformed as the author portrays her.

A favorite to read over and over.

One of my favorite books to read. Now I am so happy I can listen to it anytime anywhere. ❤️

great book!!

I have read this book and listened to it on Audible. The audiobook performance brought new light to it. I would definitely recommend it!

A very enjoyable read about Mary Boleyn

I enjoyed the readers voice immensely! No matter what the book is about, that can hold me to the story, or shut it down.
Not sure how factual the history is but I loved the detail of her life's story.

Very well read and story was so beautiful ❤️

telling the other side of Mary Bell inside gives you a whole different perspective on the trials and trouble she had to go through.

Horrible Narrator

It is historical fiction - interesting rather then fascinating. It was narrated by the worse narrator I ever had displeasure to listen to - very monotone voice, slight lisp and horrible pronunciation of all the French worlds. It is almost impossible to get sense of the story when narrator is imitating the French accent. I wish I sampled it before buying. I do not recommend this book.

Beautiful story

I couldn’t stop listening, I finished this book in just under a week, it’s a great telling of Mary’s story

Great listen

Interesting with a bit of a romantic spin on Mary Boleyn. Historical fiction, recommend by a friend.

was ok

not a lot of detail on Anne. I like reading about Anne from different perspectives and this Anne was just 2 dimensional. also they skipped over major events such as Anne's miscarriages and such.. It was ok, but not riveting🤷🏿‍♀️

Nothing good to say

This is a badly written romance novel, whose editor failed miserably. Don’t buy this thinking you will learn anything new. It’s not historical fiction in any accepted way. The language veers wildly between historical and modern usage. It’s factually incorrect, it would appear no research of any meaning was undertaken. If you take it as simply romance fiction, it fails miserably on that front too. The narration is dreadful, Anne Boleyn’s character apparently suffered from chronic sinusitis and a ‘widdle girly’ voice, the other characters don’t fare any better. Don’t buy this it is just awful. It get nil points on every aspect

Enjoyable

I’m a history buff and knew little about Mary Boleyn- well the whole Boleyn family really apart from Anne. I enjoyed the story, the early story about the French court was interesting. Once again I find myself thinking how different history could have been. I have read the Hilary Mantel trilogy and this is no comparison but nevertheless I enjoyed it. I found the later chapters when Stafford and Mary finally get together a bit ‘Mills & Boone’. The narrator was quite good although her soothing voice tended to send me to sleep when listening in bed.

a good story ruined by narrator

struggled to listen as narrators rhythm of speaking was in 3 word bursts which ruined the story.