Mary Boleyn

Historiography not a bio

If you don't know what a Historiography is, you're probably not going to like this work. This is not really a story, but an analysis of past bios and surviving documentation. If real history interests you and how historians and time interprets people then this is for you. If you want a seamless romantic story, historical fiction is what you should read.

15 of 16 people found this review helpful

This is a BIOGRAPHY, not a novel.

If you could sum up Mary Boleyn in three words, what would they be?

Phenomenal, riveting, and accurate

Any additional comments?

I adore Alison Weir's biographies. She does painstaking first hand research from primary sources and is unfailingly accurate in her representations of historical figures. This biography exposes a lot of fallacies passed along as fact for generations by less committed biographers. Weir tackles the problems of incomplete, damaged, and decayed records with aplomb and should be commended for refusing to pass along the information far easier to find in secondary and tertiary sources and instead doing her own research to obtain new and more accurate conclusions. Weir is a phenomenal biographer and a talented writer. The narrator, Maggie Mash, does a lovely job of making the figures come alive and I will be looking at more of her books in the future. I sincerely enjoyed this book and look forward to more of Alison Weir's fiction and nonfiction.

13 of 14 people found this review helpful

Maggie Mash makes a mash of voicing males

Where does Mary Boleyn rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Enjoyed the history; reader interfered with enjoyment

Who was your favorite character and why?

Mary Boleyn

How did the narrator detract from the book?

This is the second time I've listened to a book with Maggie Mash as reader. When she switches voices for a quote from some historical male, she only obscures the words. Sounds like an old crone, instead of a different character. Her regular reading voice is very pleasant and easy to listen to. I would be pleased if she developed a different male voice, or better "quote" voice.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Enjoyable look at the Boleyn family

Any additional comments?

Though Alison Weir is always a little extreme in her views, I enjoyed the book thoroughly. It is easy to delineate between fact and the author's opinions. It was good to learn about Mary, as she has become a popular figure without really being better understood. The narrator was fine, though halfway through her voice changes so much that for a couple of minutes I thought they had replaced her.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Weir Seems to Have Lost Her Touch

In a word: DULL. When a long biography starts out by telling you that very little factual information is known about its subject, I guess you should know what to expect: a lot of repetition (to the point of irritation), endless debunking of what others have stated as fact, and vague speculations about what "may have" happened, been thought, or been felt. The result was a real bore. The writing is flat and, again, repetitive, not only in details but in phrasing, and the chronology is fractured. There is so little focus as she jumps between persons peripherally related to May's story that at times I even forgot that I was supposedly reading a biography of Mary Boleyn. I kept thinking that Weir was finally running out of Tudor-era women to write about.

A number of readers have defended Weir's tedious style, claiming that it is simply because the book is not fiction but rather "academic." As an academic specializing in Tudor England, I can attest to the fact that an academic book can indeed be an exciting read--as have been several of Weir's previous biographies.

It's sad when the best thing about a promising book by an author whose books, on audio and in print, you've previously loved is the reader.

7 of 9 people found this review helpful

Wishy washy

I have loved Allison Weir’s other books and was so looking forward to this new one, however the beginning is dull as dirt; do I really need pages and pages and pages of speculation of when Mary was born and still don’t ever get an answer. She starts out saying she wants to write a definitive biography of Mary but there is a lot of; well this is what is known, not known, speculated, but I still can’t give you any answer, so why am I reading if you’re not going to tell me anything?

I have to say I like Alison Weir’s fiction better than her non-fiction this one she just seems to be calling out other historians mistakes but she doesn’t really give the correct information just what others have said is wrong.

This did get better in the second half and kept my interest as I said I am a huge fan of Alison Weir however, this one won’t be up there with my favorites of her books.

I think this book should have been a biography of the Boleyn family there is so much more about Mary’s father, brother, sister and of course Henry VIII. I think I wouldn’t feel like she’s padding the book if it told you in the beginning that this is a biography of a family because we sure don’t really find much out about Mary, what does all Henry’s other affairs and illegitimate children have to do with a bio of Mary?

I am sorry as much as I like Alison Weir this one just didn’t do it for me I know she is a great researcher and that’s what this book is lots and lots of research told in a very textbook like manner, I think I will stick to Weir’s historical fiction rather than her non-fiction.

If you are new to Alison Weir don’t start here, start with Innocent Traitor: A Novel of Lady Jane Grey then The Lady Elizabeth I loved these 2 books, this one not so much.

I must give props to the undeniable amount of research Weir does. And the rating on this has to do with the fact that this book does not answer any questions about Mary and was about so many other people than her and there is a lot of guess work still going on. There is just too much, must have, maybe have, could have, and not enough really did!

Maggie's narration was well done but didn't save me from being bored to tears at times.

3 Stars

5 of 7 people found this review helpful

Dull

I enjoyed Innocent Traitor and The Lady Elizabeth, both by Weir, very much, but this biography is simply boring. I think I lasted about four hours in to the narration before I deleted it from my iPod. I wish I could get my credit back!

4 of 6 people found this review helpful

16Aug2015

This book lays out the historical facts in a concise, easy to understand way. I really like this authors style.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

Academic Study Filled With Intelligent Speculation

I must admit that although I am a fan of Alison Weir and have enjoyed everything that has flowed from her pen, this book in my humble opinion was not her best. It is heavy with speculation that is definitely 'out of the box'. It delves into the period 1522 until around 1536. There is a lot of background information regarding Henry's ever evolving personality plus we read much about the Boleyn family dynamic. Alison Weir discusses the possibility that Anne may well have been the elder daughter which based on my studies was quite an eyebrow raiser!

Normally I cannot put down one of Alison Weir's books as to date I have found that they are real page turners. I may well give this a second listen in the future as it was interesting but not engrossing.

great info

lots of detail on Mary's life and info on all her family, including her children