The Other Boleyn Girl Part 72

Catherine slept for all that day and all that night, and when she awoke, William had the horses ready and she was on her horse before she could protest. We rode to the river and took a s.h.i.+p downriver to Leigh. She ate while we were on board. Henry beside her. I had my baby on my hip, watching my two older children, thanking G.o.d that we were out of the city and that, if we were lucky and kept our wits about us, we might escape notice in the new reign.

Jane Seymour had chosen her wedding clothes on the day that they executed my sister. I did not even blame her for that. Anne, or I, would have done the same thing. When Henry changed his mind he always changed it fast, and it was a wise woman who went with him and did not oppose him. Even more so now that he had divorced one faultless wife and beheaded another. Now he knew his power.

Jane would be the new queen and her children, when she had them, would be the next princes or princesses. Or she might wait, as the other queens had waited, every month, desperate to know that she had conceived, knowing each month that it did not happen that Henry's love wore a little thinner, that his patience grew a little shorter. Or Anne's curse of death in childbed, and death to her son, might come true. I did not envy Jane Seymour. I had seen two queens married to King Henry and neither of them had much joy of it.

And as for us Boleyns, my father was right, all we could do now was survive. My uncle had lost a good hand with the death of Anne. He had thrown her onto the gaming table just as he had thrown me or Madge. Whether a girl was fit for seduction or a sop for the king's rage, or even to aim at the highest place in the land, he would always have another Howard girl at the ready. He would play again. But we Boleyns were destroyed. We had lost our most famous girl, Queen Anne, and we had lost George, our heir. And Anne's daughter Elizabeth was a n.o.body, worth even less than the despised Princess Mary. She would never be called princess again. She would never sit on the throne.

"I'm glad of it," I said simply to William as the children slept, rocked by the movement of the boat on the ebbing tide. "I want to live in the country with you. I want to bring up our children to love each other and fear G.o.d. I want to find some peace now, I have had enough of playing the great game at court. I have seen the price that has to be paid and it is too high. I just want you. I just want to live at Rochford and love you."

He put his arm around me and held me close to him against the cold wind that blew steadily off the sea. "It's agreed," he said. "Your part in this is done, please G.o.d." He looked forward to where my two children were in the prow of the boat, looking downriver to the sea, swaying with the rhythmic beat of the oars. "But those two? They'll be sailing upriver again, back to court and power, sometime in their lives."

I shook my head in protest.

"They're half Boleyn and half Tudor," he said. "My G.o.d, what a combination. And their cousin Elizabeth the same. n.o.body can say what they will do."

Author's Note

Mary and William Stafford did live a long and happy life at Rochford. When her parents died (in 1538 and 1539), Mary inherited the whole of the Boleyn family holdings in Ess.e.x, and she and William became wealthy landowners.

She died in 1543 and her son, Henry Carey, rose to become a major advisor and courtier at the court of his cousin, Queen Elizabeth I, the greatest queen England ever had. She made him Viscount Hunsdon. Mary's daughter Catherine married Sir Francis Knollys and founded a great Elizabethan dynasty.

I am indebted to Retha M. Warnicke, whose book The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn has been a most helpful source for this story. I have followed Warnicke's original and provocative thesis that the h.o.m.os.e.xual ring around Anne, including her brother George, and her last miscarriage created a climate in which the king could accuse her of witchcraft and perverse s.e.xual practices. has been a most helpful source for this story. I have followed Warnicke's original and provocative thesis that the h.o.m.os.e.xual ring around Anne, including her brother George, and her last miscarriage created a climate in which the king could accuse her of witchcraft and perverse s.e.xual practices.

I am very grateful to the following authors, whose books helped me to trace the otherwise untold story of Mary Boleyn, or provided background for the period: Bindoff, S. T. Pelican History of England: Tudor England. Pelican History of England: Tudor England. Penguin, 1993. Penguin, 1993.

Bruce, Marie Louise. Anne Boleyn. Anne Boleyn. Collins, 1972. Collins, 1972.

Cressy, David. Birth, Marriage and Death, Ritual Religions and the Life-cycle in Tudor and Stuart England. Birth, Marriage and Death, Ritual Religions and the Life-cycle in Tudor and Stuart England. OUP, 1977. OUP, 1977.

Darby, H. C. A New Historical Geography of England before 1600. A New Historical Geography of England before 1600. CUP, 1976. CUP, 1976.

Elton, G.R. England under the Tudors. England under the Tudors. Methuen, 1955. Methuen, 1955.

Fletcher, Anthony. Tudor Rebellions. Tudor Rebellions. Longman, 1968. Longman, 1968.

Guy, John. Tudor England. Tudor England. OUP, 1988. OUP, 1988.

Haynes, Alan. s.e.x in Elizabethan England. s.e.x in Elizabethan England. Sutton, 1997. Sutton, 1997.

Loades, David. The Tudor Court. The Tudor Court. Batsford, 1986. Batsford, 1986.

---. Henry VIII and his Queens. Henry VIII and his Queens. Sutton, 2000. Sutton, 2000.

Mackie, J. D. Oxford History of England, The Earlier Tudors. Oxford History of England, The Earlier Tudors. OUP, 1952. OUP, 1952.

Plowden, Alison. Tudor Women, Queens and Commoners. Tudor Women, Queens and Commoners. Sutton, 1998. Sutton, 1998.

Randell, Keith. Henry VIII and the Reformation in England. Henry VIII and the Reformation in England. Hodder, 1993. Hodder, 1993.

Scarisbrick, J. J. Yale English Monarchs: Henry VIII. Yale English Monarchs: Henry VIII. YUP, 1997. YUP, 1997.

Smith, Baldwin Lacey. A Tudor Tragedy, the Life and Times of Catherine Howard. A Tudor Tragedy, the Life and Times of Catherine Howard. Cape, 1961. Cape, 1961.

Starkey, David. The Reign of Henry VIII, Personalities and Politics. The Reign of Henry VIII, Personalities and Politics. G. Philip, 1985. G. Philip, 1985.

---. Henry VIII: A European Court in England. Henry VIII: A European Court in England. Collins and Brown, 1991. Collins and Brown, 1991.

Tillyard, E. M. W. The Elizabethan World Picture. The Elizabethan World Picture. Pimlico, 1943. Pimlico, 1943.

Turner, Robert. Elizabethan Magic. Elizabethan Magic. Element, 1989. Element, 1989.

Warnicke, Retha M. The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn. The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn. CUP, 1991. CUP, 1991.

Weir, Alison. The Six Wives of Henry VIII. The Six Wives of Henry VIII. Pimlico, 1997. Pimlico, 1997.

Touchstone Reading Group Guide The Other Boleyn Girl

DISCUSSION POINTS.

1. Why does Philippa Gregory choose Mary to narrate the story? Keeping in mind the relations.h.i.+p between the observer and those observed, is Mary a good, trustworthy, narrator? As Mary ages, how is her loss of innocence reflected in her telling of the story?

2. Look at the exchange between Mary and her mother at the end of the first chapter. How does the author foreshadow what is to come? How do the events of the first chapter frame the entire story?

3. Discuss the Boleyn family's scheming and jockeying for favor in the court. In light of these politics, discuss the significance of Mary's explanation that she had "a talent for loving [the king]" (page 119). Is this simply a girl's fantasy? Why does Mary call herself and George "a pair of pleasant snakes" (page 131)?

4. On page 29, Mary professes her love and admiration for Queen Katherine and feels she can't betray her. In what ways are her honorable ideals compromised as she embarks on her adulterous affair with the king? Recount the whirlwind of events preceding Anne's becoming queen. Reading page 352, do you agree that "from start to finish" Mary "had no choice" but to betray Queen Katherine by taking the queen's letter to her uncle?

5. Consider pages 38 and 82. How does the author create s.e.xual tension? How do the narrator's thoughts and feelings communicate the attraction between her and the king? Why is this important to the story of The Other Boleyn Girl? The Other Boleyn Girl?

6. On page 85, Anne tells Mary, "I am happy for the family. I hardly ever think about you." Do you think she's telling the truth? Later, Anne says to her sister, "We'll always be nothing to our family" (page 310). Do you think she believes this, especially given her overwhelming desire to advance her own status?

7. Why does Mary say, "I felt like a parcel..." (page 60)? What happens later to make Mary think she's no longer a "p.a.w.n" of the family, but "at the very least, a castle, a player in the game" (page 173)?

8. Look at the exchange between Mary and Anne about the king on page 72. Do you agree with Anne when she tells Mary that "you can't desire [the king] like an ordinary man and forget the crown on his head." What does this statement reveal about Anne's nature? And what does it reveal about Mary's?

9. In general, what are your impressions of the sisters? Keep in mind Anne and Mary's discussion on page 104: "So who would come after me?...I could make my own way." Also look at page 123, when Anne says, "Hear this, Mary...I will kill you." Why are these statements significant, particularly given their timing?

10. Share some of the characteristics that you like about historical fiction. For you, what aspect of The Other Boleyn Girl The Other Boleyn Girl stands out the most? How does the book change your impressions of life in King Henry VIII's court? Looking at the letter on page 275, discuss the level of corruption in the court. Does it surprise you? Were you aware of Anne's dogged and exhausting pursuit of the king? Did the way Anne became queen shock you? stands out the most? How does the book change your impressions of life in King Henry VIII's court? Looking at the letter on page 275, discuss the level of corruption in the court. Does it surprise you? Were you aware of Anne's dogged and exhausting pursuit of the king? Did the way Anne became queen shock you?

11. How do you feel about the idea that a woman had to be married before she could bed the king? What do you think about the king changing the laws to suit his needs? When Anne states that "Nothing will ever be the same for any woman in this country again," examine why she could believe she would be exempt from the same treatment. In other words, why didn't she realize that "when she overthrew a queen that thereafter all queens would be unsteady" (page 519)? Do you think the family realized this but persevered anyway?

12. Discuss Mary's evolution of thinking from when she realizes that after Queen Katherine's departure, "from this time onward no wife...would be safe" with her later thought (on page 468) that "the triumph of Anne, the mistress who had become a wife, was an inspiration to every loose girl in the country." What does this say about Mary's state of mind? Is she being a reliable narrator here?

13. On page 303, George exclaims to Mary, "You cannot really want to be a n.o.body." Why is this such a revolutionary idea in Henry's court, and for the Boleyns in particular? What should the response have been to Mary's question to Anne (page 330) about the rewards of Anne's impending marriage to the king: "What is there for me?"

14. In King Henry's court, h.o.m.os.e.xuality was a crime. Why do you think George essentially flaunted his preference? What do you make of the intimate kiss between George and Anne that Mary witnessed? What is the impetus behind George and Anne's relations.h.i.+p? Discuss whether or not you believe that George slept with Anne so that she might have a son, and why.

15. Why do you think George declares that Anne is "the only Boleyn anyone will ever know or remember" (page 410)? Was that true for you before you read The Other Boleyn Girl? The Other Boleyn Girl? What about now? What about now?

16. After Anne is arrested, Mary pleads for her by saying, "We did nothing more than that was ordered. We only ever did as we were commanded. Is she to die for being an obedient daughter?" (page 650). What is your reaction to these arguments? Did Henry have no choice but to sentence her to death?

Q & A WITH PHILIPPA GREGORY,.

AUTHOR OF The Other Boleyn Girl The Other Boleyn Girl 1. What made you pick Mary, the other Boleyn girl, as the character to tell the story of Anne's ascendancy and eventual fall?

I found Mary, rather than "picked" her. I was delighted to come across a character who was in the spotlight, but mostly in the wings of one of the most intriguing periods of British history, and her relations.h.i.+p to Anne was something that I knew would be stimulating and provocative.

2. Why do you think she's the best narrator here?

I think history is always more interested when told by the "losers" or those on the margins. This is because most conventional history is that of the "winners," so you get a different slant. But because she is badly treated by her family and by the king, it is possible to show her development from naive and trusting and very young girl, to a woman who is ready to turn her back on the court. The way she tells the story is also part of the story itself.

3. Is Mary a real person? If so, what is actually known about her?

We have the barest details about her. We know that she was born at Hever Castle in Kent, that she married William Carey, as in the novel, that she was the queen's lady-in-waiting and the king's mistress. That she was supplanted by her sister Anne, that her husband died of the sweat and she remarried a poor man for love and went to live in Ess.e.x, as in the novel. The invention of the novel is her motives and feelings; the broad facts of her life are accurate.

4. How about Mary and Anne's brother, George? Did he really sleep with his sister so that she could give Henry a son?

n.o.body can know the answer to this one. Anne was accused of adultery with George at their trials and his wife gave evidence against them both. Most people think the trial was a show trial, but it is an interesting accusation. Anne had three miscarriages by the time of her trial, and she was not a woman to let something like sin or crime stand in her way-she was clearly guilty of one murder. I think if she had thought that Henry could not bear a son she was quite capable of finding someone to father a child on her. If she thought that, then George would have been the obvious choice.

5. It's uncommon to read about h.o.m.os.e.xuality in Henry VIII's court. Why do you think it's important to include it here?

This is based on the interesting thesis of Retha M. Warnicke, who suggests that the circle around Anne Boleyn was a h.o.m.os.e.xual group, and it is his h.o.m.os.e.xuality that George apologizes for on the scaffold.

6. The blending of fact and fiction in The Other Boleyn Girl The Other Boleyn Girl is seamless. You manage to pull together an incredible amount of history and political and socio-economic information. How do you research such a wide-ranging story? is seamless. You manage to pull together an incredible amount of history and political and socio-economic information. How do you research such a wide-ranging story?

I always start by reading the secondary sources (the accepted histories of the period) and I aim to read all of the major works. Then I do a very schoolgirlish thing: I make an enormous chart, which I stick up on my wall with the schedule of dates on it. With one of my novels I did very fancy transparency overlays which showed the progress of the wars, the weather, the location of each character, and the profile of the plague years. With The Other Boleyn Girl The Other Boleyn Girl it showed all the dates that the characters were at court, where the court physically was-since it is constantly moving from one palace to another-and the moving to and from court of the various characters. I also showed the rise and fall of various subplayers. Especially I note the dates of birth of the children and miscarriages, and count backward so we know when a child was conceived. I visit the princ.i.p.al sites of the story-the royal palaces and parks. I visit any museums, art galleries, and collections of the period, and sometimes I discuss with an expert historian as to what are the princ.i.p.al interesting issues of the period. Then I put my notebooks to one side and only consult them for factual detail, and try to write from memory and a sense of time and place. Otherwise, the detail of the research blocks the flow of the story. In the second draft I check everything all over again! it showed all the dates that the characters were at court, where the court physically was-since it is constantly moving from one palace to another-and the moving to and from court of the various characters. I also showed the rise and fall of various subplayers. Especially I note the dates of birth of the children and miscarriages, and count backward so we know when a child was conceived. I visit the princ.i.p.al sites of the story-the royal palaces and parks. I visit any museums, art galleries, and collections of the period, and sometimes I discuss with an expert historian as to what are the princ.i.p.al interesting issues of the period. Then I put my notebooks to one side and only consult them for factual detail, and try to write from memory and a sense of time and place. Otherwise, the detail of the research blocks the flow of the story. In the second draft I check everything all over again!

7. How do you determine what to use and where to fill in a piece of the story?

The history is the structure of the story; that gives me the plot. Some of the history is debatable-the accusation of witchcraft and incest is a case in point and then, like any historian, I make a choice. Unlike a historian I choose the best and most convincing story for my narrative, but all the choices can be defended as historical probability. I wouldn't call the fiction a "fill-in." It's a different process altogether. It's where the historical story comes alive to me and I make it live for the reader. It's where my research historical persona stops and my creative fiction writing persona starts. The history is the skeleton and the fiction is the breath.

8. Your depiction of Anne's exhaustive pursuit of Henry is wonderfully vivid; the reader actually feels the exhaustion and madness of it all. Do you think Anne was driven crazy with her desire for power, or had she always been so determined and single-minded?

The suggestion in The Other Boleyn Girl The Other Boleyn Girl is that Anne's disappointment when she cannot marry Henry Percy hardens her heart for the rest of her life. I think this is quite plausible. Also, I think that once she had started on her campaign to enthrall him there was no easy way out. She did not dare to sleep with him, which would have destroyed her chances of being his wife, but no one could have thought that it would take so long for him to get free. I think it turned into an agonizing and maddening marathon, I imagine at first she thought that if she could catch him, he would be free of Queen Katherine within a year. is that Anne's disappointment when she cannot marry Henry Percy hardens her heart for the rest of her life. I think this is quite plausible. Also, I think that once she had started on her campaign to enthrall him there was no easy way out. She did not dare to sleep with him, which would have destroyed her chances of being his wife, but no one could have thought that it would take so long for him to get free. I think it turned into an agonizing and maddening marathon, I imagine at first she thought that if she could catch him, he would be free of Queen Katherine within a year.

9. Why do you think Anne was so blind to her own fate, especially after she saw what happened to Queen Katherine?

She saw Queen Katherine initially treated with tremendous respect. It was Anne who set the pace against Katherine. I don't think anyone would have dreamed that a queen could be beheaded. And also, what could Anne do? After her final miscarriage Henry simply turned against her. She could have been blind, she could have been thoroughly conscious, there was nothing she could do to save herself. And everything she could do-in terms of agreeing to a divorce and agreeing to exile-she did do.

10. What are some of the purely fabricated parts of The Other Boleyn Girl The Other Boleyn Girl that you can reveal to us? that you can reveal to us?

Everything which deals with feelings and motivations are creative work rather than research work, of course. The councils of the Boleyn/Howard family undoubtedly took place, but I have invented them and their increasing ambition. Some court events like the winter fair where Jane Seymour is so symbolically pushed around towards the King on her whalebone skates are invented, but there was a particularly hard winter that year. The courts.h.i.+p of William and Mary is invented, but we know that he was a man in her uncle's train and that they married for love because she wrote a most pa.s.sionate letter in defense of her choice of him. The witchcraft is all invented, but I think it would have been tempting to take advice.

11. Why do you enjoy writing historical fiction?

I love history, and I love the sense of recapturing the past. I like the great spread of it, and having so much material to work with. And I am very pleased when I can tell a slightly different story from the conventional one, especially if it makes readers see the more usual story in a different light. I like to give people a sense of a different sort of past. I like to challenge the conventional views.

12. Why do you think people are so drawn to historical fiction?

It's such an interesting question now that historical fiction is so popular again. First I think that contemporary fiction has become fractured into many different styles and people don't find it satisfying. Slim literary novels, unreadable literary experiments, incredibly dull self-a.n.a.lysis novels, horrendous childhood abuse novels. All these different forms fail readers who want to enjoy an absorbing story which will create a fictional world. Why history? I think people want to know where they came from and where they are going, and stories about the past satisfy that. I think this is such a fundamental desire that it is not surprising that people choose to read historical fiction. The other great ingredient is that historical fiction has become a lot better written, better researched, and more interesting in the last few years. Very fine writers like Antonia Byatt, Rose Tremaine, and Margaret Atwood have written novels which have raised the standard of writing. Other writers, me among them, have raised the standards of research. I think the historical novel has got better, and now it is attracting more readers.

13. What do you want people to take away from The Other Boleyn Girl? The Other Boleyn Girl?

First I'd like them to take away a terrific reading experience which has absorbed them and moved them and excited them. I'd like them to have a new vision of the Tudor period and some interesting information about the role of women and the inequality of English society. I hope they understand that while the Tudor court was glamorous there was deep poverty and that was a normal way of life. I hope they get a sense of the Tudor landscape, the courts and the city of London, and the countryside. And I hope they get an insight into the psychology of the characters.

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