Previously, things I've read covering the historically crucial events surrounding Henry VIII's divorce and subsequent break from the Catholic Church have focused on Wolsey, More, Cromwell and Henry himself, ignoring Katherine, whom Henry is dumping in favour of Anne Boleyn. This is different: Thomas More is conspicuous by his absence - he's not even name-dropped - and Katherine is very much front and centre of the middle part of the play.

Katherine and Wolsey are presented as Tragic figures: Katherine as undeserving victim, powerless but eloquent in her own, ultimately futile defence. Wolsey as worldly schemer for Rome and his own self-aggrandisement who ultimately repents, apparently sincerely and with great humility, when caught conspiring against the divorce and lining his own pockets from the national Treasury.

What of Henry? He reminds me of Julius Caesar; the instigator of the action but really not the dramatic lead. Intrigue, plots, chaos and death swirl around him but he remains mostly a cypher. He doesn't die half way through, like Caesar, of course. Instead he lives on to see Anne Boleyn betray his hopes by giving birth to a daughter. That daughter is prophetically praised in the final scene; the baby that will become the legendary Virgin Queen of Shakespeare's day and save Britain from Spain, Rome, all and sundry...

How much of the Tudor idolatry was merely political expediency is open to question, given the extremely sympathetic treatment of Katherine, the fact that Shakespeare was brought up in a Catholic household and the lack of any unequivocal statement about Will's own religious leanings.

The play impresses more by way of the characterisation and eloquence of Wolsey and Katherine than it does as a coherent drama as a whole.

The last hour of Anne Boleyn's life...

Court intrigue, revenge and all the secrets of the last hour are revealed as one queen falls and another rises to take her place on destiny's stage.

A young Anne Boleyn arrives at the court of King Henry VIII. She is to be presented at the Shrovetide pageant, le Château Vert. The young and ambitious Anne has no idea that a chance encounter before the pageant will lead to her capturing the heart of the king. What begins as a distraction becomes his obsession and leads to her destruction.

Love, hate, loyalty and betrayal come together in a single dramatic moment... the execution of a queen. The history of England will be changed for ever.

Review 4*

This is an intriguing look into the last hours of Anne Boleyn's life. A friend of mine recommended this book to me. I am not really a huge reader of historical fiction, but who hasn't heard about these royals and the tragic circumstances leading up to Anne Boleyn's beheading? So, being curious, I decided to give this book a try.

First off, I would like to say that the cover is very striking. It definitely catches the eye and has many elements in it that are relevant to the story within the cover.

This book is told in first person by various characters, from Anne Boleyn herself to King Henry VIII and the executioner amongst others. The author has taken real facts but added her own fictional twist to the tale. Unfortunately, I found this story, although a page turner, to be a little too dry for my taste. I felt that there could have been more meat added to the fictional sections to make it more scandalous. I don't know if Henry really loved Anne or not, or whether the accusations he levied against her were true or not either. Henry must have found himself under extreme pressure to father a male heir for him to annul his marriage and order Anne's death, then set his sights on Lady Jane Seymour. Or he was an utter womanizer and it was his infidelity he was hiding by accusing his wife of it instead when she failed to give him the son he desired. We can only guess at his thoughts, though his actions on the day of the execution was rather telling in my opinion.

What I did discover about Anne Boleyn from this book was that she was strong willed and had many enemies that wished her ill. I am not sure if she would have gone to her death without a fight. Whether she was drugged/sedated up until her beheading to keep her quiet one will never know. However, what I do know is that she was a formidable woman who faced death with grace.

Hunter S. Jones has written an intriguing fictional tale of real events. Her descriptive writing brought the past to life and her fast paced writing style kept me turning the pages. However, by having each chapter told through the various characters, I found the flow a little choppy and slightly disconnected from each other. But, having said that, I would consider reading more of this author's books in the future.

Although there are no scenes of a sensuous nature, there is mention of execution and beheading. Therefore, I do not recommend this book to younger readers (under 12) or those with a nervous disposition. However, if you love historical fiction and you're interested in the Tudor's, this is the book for you. - Lynn Worton

Font too small and bit too one sided.

As always, Weir writes a biography that reads more like a novel. It explained a lot of events quickly without coming off as overloading you with information.

I thought it was a fascinating time period and that Henry VIII was particularly interesting, but after reading this, I realize just how incredibly complicated and interesting he was.

I'm already a big fan of Weir's work, as anyone who's seen my shelves can attest, but you can bet I will be reading more of her biographies and histories.

I enjoyed every word on every page. On the last page I didn't know I was holding my breath, until I read the last sentence and sighed in the delight of a well written story.