Author: Philippa Gregory
I actually read this book almost a year ago, after the movie was made but before it arrived on our Malaysian shores (and from the reviews in the papers, heavily sanitised by our dear Lembaga Penapisan Filem).
At the time, Jonathan Rhys Meyers was also ruling the screens as a hip & hot Henry VIII in 'The Tudors', which, judging from the clips on the internet, will never ever make it to Malaysian shores due to the severely shortened airtime post-censorship. However, I had a grand time imagining him playing Henry opposite Scarlett Johansson's Mary Boleyn. Picturing Natalie Portman as the scheming & seductive Anne proved more difficult, and from the trailers, she did not succeed at it either.
As historical fictions go, this was pretty interesting, although it relies heavily on heaving bosoms and the like. It did leave me wondering whether the British aristocracy really were so sexually depraved and morally deprived, what with incest, adultery and homosexuality being the three main ingredients in the making of the road to the English throne. A-Levels History it definitely is not.
Read it if you want to know what 16th century sex habits are, in addition to the fashion and music of that period. If you're expecting romance, you'd be better off with Judith McNaught.
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