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The Other Boleyn Girl  By  cover art

The Other Boleyn Girl

By: Philippa Gregory
Narrated by: Ruthie Henshall
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Publisher's summary

When Mary Boleyn comes to court as an innocent girl of 14, she catches the eye of Henry VIII. Dazzled by the king, Mary falls in love with both her golden prince and her growing role as unofficial queen. However, she soon realizes just how much she is a pawn in her family's ambitious plots as the king's interest begins to wane and she is forced to step aside for her best friend and rival: her sister, Anne. Then Mary knows that she must defy her family and her king, and take her fate into her own hands.

A rich and compelling tale of love, sex, ambition, and intrigue, The Other Boleyn Girl introduces a woman of extraordinary determination and desire who lived at the heart of the most exciting and glamorous court in Europe and survived by following her own heart.

©2001 Philippa Gregory Ltd (P)2007 Simon and Schuster Inc.

Critic reviews

"[A] fresh, wonderfully vivid retelling of the story of Anne Boleyn." ( Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about The Other Boleyn Girl

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    246
  • 4 Stars
    203
  • 3 Stars
    98
  • 2 Stars
    25
  • 1 Stars
    19
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    143
  • 4 Stars
    59
  • 3 Stars
    19
  • 2 Stars
    6
  • 1 Stars
    6
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    122
  • 4 Stars
    69
  • 3 Stars
    25
  • 2 Stars
    6
  • 1 Stars
    11

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

ABRIDGED!!!

How did I not notice that this was an ABRIDGED version?!? I despise abridgements! This book was really good though and the result is that now I want the unabridged version. If I can't find it on audiobook I will buy it to read. A combination of this book and the Showtime drama "The Tudors" has gotten me terribly interested in the life of Henry VIII. I have never liked trashy romance novels partly because they just make me feel stupid but here is one I can feel good about since it is somewhat educational! Too bad it is the ABRIDGED version!

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58 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Great book!

This book is fantastic, and once again I wish it were not abridged. This is a great listen after "The Constant Princess", which is almost a continuation of the first story, but told by Mary Boleyn instead of Queen Catherine. I liked the narrator of this audiobook much more than the last one. I preferred Ann Boleyn to Mary in the beginning of the book. But you see the cruelness and blind ambition of Ann as the book goes on, and it is Mary who really grows up into a decent person even if she is a Howard-Boleyn by blood and breeding. I would recommend this book highly.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Book!!

This abridged version was very good, I usually don't like abridged but had no choice. I was pleasantly surprised.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

The Other Boleyn Girl

The audio book is great and a little better to understand than reading it, but you miss alot in the abridged version. Can't wait to see the movie hope it lives up to this great book.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Excellent - but abridged

This book was thoroughly entertaining. The reader was excellent. I RARELY buy abridged audio books but this book was the monthly selection of my bookclub and I didn't want to attend without even knowing the plot. I am glad I listened to the book, but I can't help but wonder what I missed! I agree with an earlier post that Mary ended up being the most likeable of the Boleyn girls. If you like historical fiction, you will enjoy this book.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

a1

Now I am a big history buff, after I read this book. I don't buy the incest stuff either, though that is what (as I understand it) the hysterical witch hunt around Anne was suggesting. PG does extrapolate rather a lot from a little I think (she does the same again re Anne of Cleves' home life in The Boleyn Inheritance, which I thought was a rather better book and certainly gives an horrific insight into the paranoia at court in the latter days of Henry VIII's reign when he was a bloated monster, not at all the pretty boy of The Tudors).
I liked this at the time, and thought McElhone was great, though I did find the incest stuff a bit wince making (but had that reaction to reading it too.) Haven't seen the big screen version yet, but would be interested to compare.
overall i loved the book and i ended up getting other sequels related to this book.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Compelling!

Having seen the movie before listening to this book it really was a delight that it was so much more than the movie. I really enjoyed it.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    out of 5 stars

movie was better

One star is stretching it

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Historical Listening Pleasure!

All I remembered about any Boleyn was that Anne had her head chopped off by the king. Who knew how much more there could be to it?

This is a great tale of a different era - when women were breeders and playing in the royal world was both desired and dangerous.

Every once in awhile, I listen to a book and think "Gee, this is probably better heard than read" (a BIG confession for someone who prefers reading to just listening when I have the chance). Because of the accents and time period - this is one of those tales. I was swooped into another world as I drove along in mine.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

The Other Boleyn Girl

This version of audio for The Other Boleyn Girl is abridged with approx. 6 ½ hours of story. There is another version, unabridged, with approx.26 hours of story. Needless to say, the difference in time commitment to this story made the abridged version more appealing. The story started out pretty slow and was much different than the movie…I must say that the narrator did a great job considering the many different characters. I don’t know about you, but the narrator makes a huge difference for me and this one was excellent. By the end of the book, I wanted more, which for me is a sign of a great book. I would recommend this book, it’s definitely a fun listen.

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1 person found this helpful