Mary Boleyn: The True Story of Henry VIII's Mistress

by Josephine Wilkinson

The scandalous true story of Mary Boleyn, infamous sister of Anne, and mistress of Henry VIII. Mary Boleyn, 'the infamous other Boleyn girl', began her court career as the mistress of the king of France. Francois I of France would later call her 'The Great Prostitute' and the slur stuck. The bete-noir of her family, Mary was married her off to a minor courtier but it was not long before she caught the eye of Henry VIII and a new affair began. Although a bright star at Henry's court, she was soon eclipsed by her highly spirited and more accomplished sister, Anne, who rapidly took her place in the king's heart. However, the ups and downs of the Boleyn sisters were far from over. Mary would emerge the sole survivor of a family torn apart by lust and ambition, and it is in Mary and her progeny that the Boleyn legacy rests.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Tudor Period, Biography, Historical, British Literature, Biography Memoir

256 pages, Hardcover

First published April 14, 2009

About the author

Dr Josephine Wilkinson received a First Class Honours degree from the University of Newcastle. She was the winner of the Third Year Prize for her work on The Little Apocalypse, which placed Mark chapter 13 into its historical context, and the Jewish Studies Prize for her historical study of the community at Qumran. She remained at Newcastle, earning an MPhil for her thesis on the historical John the Baptist (as close to a biography as is possible to do); her PhD traced historical traditions and legends of John the Baptist across several cultures as well as art, literature and film.

She was a scholar-in-residence at Gladstone's Library in Hawarden (formerly St Deiniol's Library), Britain's only residential library. This was founded in 1898 by the great Victorian statesman, William Gladstone. Great Britain's only Prime Ministerial library, it is based on Gladstone's personal collection. Dr Wilkinson has also held an honorary post at the University of Glasgow.

The recipient of a British Academy award, she is the author of a two volume biography of Richard III, the first volume of which, Richard III, the Young King To Be, has been published by Amberley. She is currently writing volume two. Other books are Mary Boleyn: The True Story of Henry VIII's Favourite Mistress, The Early Loves of Anne Boleyn and The Princes in the Tower. She lives in the attic of a mediaeval house within the city walls of York.

Follow her blog: http://josepha-josephine-wilkinson.bl...

Reviews

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very informative, I learned more about the sweating sickness, which killed within hours once contracted. I found out it was not just Anne who contracted the swearing sickness but other Boleyn family as well as killing her brother in law. I found out more about the grandparents wealth and property, as I knew Geoffrey had been fundamental to the fortune of the family line. I found out how convinced of Christian reform the young Boleyns were, in contrast to other family. I was glad the Howards were not fixated on: the caprice of a middle aged man ( Henry VIII) was part of the need for a new wife. Wilkinson's argument that Henry was stressed out by marriage and wives kind of rings true when considering Henry VIII was meant to advance in the church.
I liked that Mary was a three year lovely affair, she wasn't cast off as with when she was in France with Long Francois- who is a creep.
I liked that Wilkinson said Henry VIII and Mary may not have contracted syphilis, through Francois.
Another thing is the cruelty in the portrait of Henry, usually I think of this in terms of foreign customs where smiling is a sign of stupidity. Also I usually find the strength of expression around Tudor eyes is actually ambition or being driven.

[Becky · Rating 1 out of 5]

As a very basic history of the Henrican court this just about works, so long as you take the author's flights of fancy with a pinch of salt; as a history of it's title subject, Mary Bolelyn this sucks. As it's such a slim work I wasn't expecting an in depth biography, but I was expecting more that one paragraph in five to concern 'the other Bolelyn girl'. Even in the rare moments that Mary get's a mention in her own book, there is so much wild conjecture, and so little evidence as to make it rather pointless. Heavy use of fictionalized narrative further weakens the credentials of this work. It is possible to see how the author would have felt and acted had she been placed in Mary's position, but the motives and feelings of Mary are either absurdly assumed or simply missing. I accept that there is a lack of historical evidence concerning Mary, however that does not make it acceptable to assume that the surviving documents about other people vaguely connected to the court can be directly applied to Mary's life. The one point where the author uses a variety of sources is concerning the parentage of Mary's two children. The author goes to great pains to explain the pros and cons of the argument that they were fathered by Henry; eventually admitting that the majority of the evidence leans towards them being fathered by Mary's husband, and not by her lover. Once this, small piece of scholarship, is complete the author proceeds to ignore it, making the assumption for the rest of the work that the children were Henry's, and using this assumption as the basis for further assumptions. I think the author would be better placed writing historical fiction rather than passing her 'fiction' off as fact.

[Marc Kohlman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written biography with rich detail! Ever since I read Philippa Gregory's novel "The Other Boleyn Girl", Mary Boleyn had intrigued me both as a historical figure and as a ordinary person. Wilkinson really conducted meticulous research into the life of Henry VIII's most "infamous" mistress. She strips away the myths of what Mary's contemporaries and popular culture have said she was. I certainly think her children, Katharine and Henry, possibly were Henry's while evidence is circumstantial. While we do not know as much as we like to about Mary, this book tells her story very accurately and most of Wilkinson's own assumptions I agree with too. Mary certainly was fortunate to have avoided the tragic fates of her siblings and likely was not present at their executions. As much as she probably would have wanted to catch a final look at them, the risk for her and her family would have been too dire. The fact that she married out of love against family and law amazed me. Mary really did take a great risk in marrying William Stafford (which nobody can help but admire). She did live a content and happy life as a result. While her sister Anne is the more instantly recognizable and renowned of the Boleyns- Mary herself lived a dramatic, intimate and turbulent life far more intriguing than anything out of Historical Fiction. Despite her storied licentiousness and role as a pawn to advance the power of her family, Mary Boleyn lived her life to the full. She knew the best and worst about love, faced fortune and tragedy, was devoted to her relatives and in the end survived. Anyone interested in the Tudor period should read this book.

[Sarah - All The Book Blog Names Are Taken · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been fascinated by Mary for a long time, I find her far more intriguing than Anne. You can't help but feel sorry for her, given how Anne and George always seemed to be favored by their father. Unfortunately this biography doesn't give any new information or insight into Mary's life; but that's not entirely unexpected, given the time period. The trouble I have with this text is the leaps the author takes with the information we do have access to. Most notably, there is no concrete evidence that Mary and Henry had any children, despite their affair going on while she was married to get first husband; they very well could have been the products of her marriage to her first husband.

Some reviewers seem to take issue with Mary not always being the focus of her own biography which is understandable. However, given the turbulent times and how entwined Mary's and Anne's lives were because of the situation, that backstory is important.

Overall, it's not a terrible introduction to the life of Mary Boleyn and is a very quick read, I finished it in a couple hours.

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love to read and learn about Mary Boleyn. This book showed great promis. But unfortunatly Mary also is in the shadows of her more famous brother and sister in her own book.
Not much is learned about Mary.

Partly the text was supported with histroically sources, and also some critique was made about the different sources. But in other parts I felt like reading a novel. To much in my opinion. The line between own interpretation and acurate went a bit vage.

[Em · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I appreciate the author's efforts at focusing on the lesser-known Boleyn and understand it is difficult to interpret in light of few original sources, that doesn't excuse the fact that the writing was repetitive. The author filled in the lack of information with more details about Anne and Henry, when the subject matter was intended to be Mary. Finally, the author seemed intent upon confirming every person's pedigree without really explaining why that information was important to her subject. Overall, a decent effort but not my favorite Tudor book. 2.5 stars

[Tanzanite · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a pretty short biography that is rather sparse on factual information concerning Mary and resorts to descriptions of court, pageants, and other individuals connected to Mary as filler. Wilkinson does set out her theories (and some evidence both for and against) for Mary being the older sister and the likliehood that Henry VIII was the father of her children. It's not a bad book per se, it's just rather underwhelming.

[Rose · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not much information on Mary. Like several biographies related to Boleyn family this one follows suit with overshadowing Mary with Ann, I found this biography detailing Ann Boleyn rise and not Mary. However their was some interesting information about Henry’s other mistress.

[Kara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think it’s a stretch for Wilkinson to suggest Mary Boleyn was the great love of Henry VIII’s life – Henry loved Henry – but other than that, Wilkinson does a solid job examining the possible motives and reasoning behind the bare facts that we have to work with about her life.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did thoroughly enjoy this book about Mary Boleyn, one of my all time favorite historical personages, and her family. Josephine Wilkinson did a fine job with SOME equivocating on the actual paternal line of Henry and Catherine Carey. I work extensively with DNA..it would be lovely to know that for sure.

Mary, to me and apparently to the author, was a sympathetic character and I feel redeemed herself as she bowed out of Henry VIII's life.

Recommended to many others, who like Tudor historicals, I really only like some of them, Mary Boleyn and her family primarily, as well as the Planatagenets.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mary & Henry VIII

I found the author's final comment at the end of the book to be interesting - that Henry in all of his marriages never found the love that he had for Mary!
despite having been the mistress of the King of France and then later, Henry XIII, this author appears to have thought that only Mary was his greatest love. In other books on Mary, she is thought to have borne Henry two children, although the were given her then husband's name. And Henry never recognized these children as his as he had Henry Fitzroy. Too bad, because he also had a son with Mary

[Kyra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been intrigued by Mary Boleyn for a long time. After all, she is the other Boleyn girl.

Unfortunately, there has not been a great deal of information recorded about Mary. What has been recorded is little and scarce, but I felt as though Josephine Wilkinson did a brilliant job of compiling the small details about Mary’s life.

3 and a half stars! ⭐️ Since we can't give half stars on Goodreads

[George Foord · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not much is known about Mary's life so this more of a history of the Tudors than Mary

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable biography. She draws her conclusions based on many resources and it makes sense. It certainly is compelling to see how differently biographers see Mary.

[martina]

muy buena biografía y facil d leer 👍

[Luv_trinity · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember when I first heard about this book, I couldn't wait for the release date, so I order the book as soon as it hit the bookstores in England. Once it arrive , I started reading it, and I finish the whole book in about 2 hours. yep, 2 hours. It's a very short and easy read. Only 200 pages double space. The whole book reads like a teen's essay . There is nothing new at all in this book about Mary Boleyn,and most of it is guess work, as in what Mary might have done, or how she might have felt. However, the book wasn't bad, it wasn't great . This book will be great for someone who 's in their teens (preteens) who just started reading about Anne Boleyn,and Mary Boleyn.

[Jasmin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The slimness of this book reflects the scarcity of knowledge about Mary Boleyn, mistress to Henry VIII prior to his marriage to Anne. It feels as though the author has to imagine far more than there is evidence for, and certain sections, especially regarding her children, feel somewhat repetitive. Overall though, this is a very easy read however it is best to have a bit of knowledge of the established Tudor chronology to put this in context.

[Rebecca Nelson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very easy read and interesting in regards to the history of the time. A biography about Mary Boleyn it is not- very little is told about the title
subject, seemingly due to little surviving historical evidence regarding her. The cynic in me feels this may have been an attempt by the author to sell more books in light of the recent "the other Boleyn girl" film success...

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Commissioned by me, sold out in two months and currently reprinting.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as much information as I was hoping for, but still a quick, interesting read.

[Lisa m brown]

GOOD BOOK, LEARNED SOME NEW FACTS,

[Charlotte · Rating 1 out of 5]

Felt like I was reading an encyclopedia- way too many facts spouted out without weaving it into a storyline.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very basic information about Mary, proves there is little recorded about this lady.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful little romp through a real-life soap opera!

[Dina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was a very interesting read, a little different take then what I have previously read.