Author: Laura Andersen
First Published: May 2014
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Series: The Boleyn Trilogy #1
368 pages (eBook)
Many people know about the tragic story of Anne Boleyn. King Henry VIII was hopelessly infatuated by her, and gave up his wife, his daughter and his religion to marry her and make her his queen. But the infatuation slowly waned when Anne couldn’t give Henry his much needed heir to the throne, a son. After Anne miscarried a fetus that was confirmed to be male, Henry began setting his eyes on other women, and not too long after, she was beheaded when Henry found someone he felt was more suitable. That was the end of Anne Boleyn.
But what if Anne never miscarried during her second pregnancy? What if she gave birth to a healthy young boy? Then she wouldn’t have been beheaded and her son would have been king one day. That’s what this book is all about.
When I discovered this book and what it was about, I just knew I had to read it. I love the Tudor time period, and this “what if?” question is definitely an interesting one, one that I have wondered at myself. This book turned out to be different from my expectations — that is, I thought it was going to have a lot more Anne Boleyn in it, as I would have loved to read about her feelings and emotions — but it was overall it was still an okay read.
This book takes place when Henry and Anne’s son, William, is 17, nearing 18. Henry died when William was 10, and ever since then, the kingdom has been ran by William’s regent, Lord Rochford (also known as Anne Boleyn’s brother, George Boleyn). When William turns 18, he will be a king in his own right and he is eager to prove to everyone that he will make a great king. With the battles going on with the French, the Catholics still trying to rally around Mary Tudor, and a conspiracy brewing, William has his hands full already.
Standing by William are his three closest friends: Dominic, Minuette and William’s sister, Elizabeth. The four are near inseparable and they know everything about William. However, their relationships are about to become a lot more tangled, when William and Dominic both begin to realize they have fallen in love with Minuette. As for Minuette, she has fallen in love with Dominic, but hasn’t the heart to tell William …
As I stated earlier, I went into this expecting Anne Boleyn to have a larger role in the story. To my dismay, she was a very minor character. Her brother, Lord Rochford, was actually a major character, as regent to the king. Yeah, I don’t know … it was kind of disappointing. I would have loved a fiery Anne to be more involved with her son’s regency, than her brother. But hey, I do realize having my expectations dashed is no one’s fault but my own. Still, it did dampen my enthusiasm for the book a bit, once a realized that, no, Anne wasn’t going to be a major character. I just feel like, if you’re going to write a “what if” book like this, how can you not include Anne more? Otherwise, it’s just her last name attached to a random fictional character ….
Next is the quartet of William, Dominic, Minuette and Elizabeth. They are all young teenagers by modern standards, and they definitely had a youthful camaraderie going on that brought a smile to my face. I am also a fan of love triangle stories (pathetic? Probably), so I loved that aspect of their relationship as well. However, I didn’t really like each individual character. I know, I know, it’s hard to understand how one can love a relationship but not the individuals. I didn’t hate them. They were just … kind of boring. Dominic always seemed depressed. Minuette was your standard goody-goody who everyone loves for some reason you can’t figure out. Elizabeth is nowhere as fiery as her historical self, and spent a lot of time pining over Robert Dudley. And William, the main character of this book, was kind of like a toned down version of his father. Individually, the characters were dull and uninspiring. Put together, they made a ‘cute’ team and their friendship with one another was charming.
As to the actual story, I felt the rest of the plot was too much, all over the place. We have William trying to suppress the French and the Catholics. There’s a conspiracy going on where some people want to overthrow William as they believe he’s not Henry’s trueborn son. Minuette has her own subplot of trying to find out what really happened with her friend Alyce’s death. Elizabeth has to deal with her increasing affectionate feelings towards the married Robert Dudley. And then there’s the love triangle. While I enjoyed the book overall, I do feel the book spread itself a bit thin. There were a few times where I thought, “I don’t really see the point of this” towards a particular subplot or two. And while in the end, I felt the relationship between the four is the main focal point, sometimes, I wasn’t sure.
So, yes, I do have several complaints about this book, but in the end, it was an alright read. Perhaps I went into it too focused on expecting certain things of the characters, but I do feel some of my complaints are legitimate. However, this book is, for all intents and purposes, very creative, and I know no matter how the author (or any author) tackles an alternate history book, there will always be complaints that it isn’t as “true” to history as a fake history could be … if that even makes sense. As of right now, I am not sure if I will continue with this series, but never say never :)
My Rating: 3/5
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