The Other Boleyn Girl

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of sexual content, pregnancy loss, gender discrimination, and death.

The title of Gregory’s novel alludes to the way that the historical record overshadows Mary Boleyn in favor of the more dramatic life of her sister, Henry VIII’s second wife. Their birth order is still debated, with Anne’s birth either placed in 1501 or 1507 and Mary’s either in 1499 or 1508. The Boleyn family rose from tenant farmers to barons under the Tudor reign and gained possession of both Hever Castle in Kent and Blickling Hall in Norfolk. Thomas Boleyn married Elizabeth Howard, the daughter of Thomas Howard, the second Duke of Norfolk, and sister to the third duke, Uncle Howard of the novel. George, the Boleyns’ only surviving son, was born around 1503.

As a British envoy in contact with foreign courts, Thomas Boleyn arranged for Anne to join the court of Margaret, Archduchess of Austria, one of the most cultured and civilized courts of Europe. Mary, according to some sources, joined the court of Mary Tudor, Henry VIII’s younger sister, when she married King Louis XII of France. Anne later joined the French court as well.