Mary Boleyn: 'The Great and Infamous Whore' [Hardcover]

There are many myths about Mary Boleyn, often from sources such as popular novels or films. In this excellent book, Alison Weir attempts to put the record straight about Mary's life. As other reviewers have already noted, there are parts of Mary's history where little is known, but the author has completed the task with admirable thoroughness and this is a very readable and enjoyable account.

The problems with recounting Mary's life begin early on - records do not show whether Mary was the eldest sibling or not. However, Alison Weir gives us all the evidence and suggests that probably Mary was older than Anne and George. Sent to France, Mary Boleyn succumbed to the temptations of the Court, led by the notorious Dauphin - later Francois I. "Rarely did any maid or wife leave that court chaste," wrote a contemporary. So, did Mary really have such a bad reputation, or did she actually spurn advances? Again, we are taken through all the possible scenarios. However, Anne was always seen as more intelligent and charming than Mary. While Anne remained at the French court, Mary seemed to drop from sight, out of favour.

The book continues with Mary's marriage to Willian Carey and the possibility of Mary's becoming Henry VIII's mistress. Mary had two children during her marriage to Carey - Katherine and Henry. Were either, or both, Henry's children? Again, Alison Weir looks at all the evidence with great thoroughness. A lot of what was said about Mary could have been malicious gossip about Anne Boleyn's family and there is no way of really knowing how long the affair between Mary and Henry lasted. One thing was sure, though, and that was that Anne did not intend to risk becoming just another discarded royal mistress. However, this book is not about Anne Boleyn. Despite her obvious importance, the author is careful to keep the attention on Mary. When William Carey died in 1528 of the 'sweating sickness', Mary was left poor and in debt, with two young children to support.
She did not feel appreciated, or cared for, by her family, writing sadly that, "I saw that all the world did set so little by me."

When Mary married William Stafford, she married for love. Disgraced, she was banished from court, and it is likely that she never met Anne again. The Boleyns suffered their cataclysmic fall in 1536, by which time Mary was poor but, hopefully, happy. Of the Boleyn siblings, she was the one who found love - "there was not in her the stuff of tragedy." There are, frankly, worse fates. Although there are obvious gaps in writing about someone in history, even someone so closely linked to the seat of power and intrigue of the Tudor court, Alison Weir provides a very readable and interesting account of Mary Boleyn's life. I have enjoyed all this authors books and this, in my opinion, is one of her best.

Having read 'The Other Boleyn Girl' by Philippa Gregory many years ago I was very eager to read the real life account by this eminent writer. I've read all of Alison Weir's books and I am a huge fan of hers, as well as having endlessly read books on Tudor history. I found this book to be a thoroughly enjoyable and well researched biographical account of the real Mary Boleyn. The book is well balanced both in terms of scholarly research and background detail about Tudor social and sexual politics, and there was a lot more information given about the habits of the French court where both Boleyn sisters had their formative education. The backdrop of Ann Boleyn and her downfall has already been well documented by many including this author, so not a lot is divulged but gives just enough information to fill in those who are not knowledgeable about it, and adds a certain tension to the fate of Mary. I found this book very enjoyable and engrossing and made me realise how much more there is to know about life and death in Tudor times, and in doing so Alison Weir has reclaimed Mary Boleyn and her role within English history as more than just 'The Other Boleyn Girl'.

Alison Weir was the person responsible for getting me hooked on the Tudors, and since then their pre-history, after reading her "Six Wives" many years ago. I have read most of her factual works and generally enjoy them as highly readable, very thorough and they allow me to learn much from them.

This was no exception and this book is easy to read and it comes across as assured and well researched. You feel generally confident in her assertions and opinions.

There is only a certain amount that can be written about Mary Boleyn. She is not a major figure in Tudor history and consequently there is a shortage of primary sources that refer to her. Perhaps this is why Ms Weir takes up so many of the allotted words detailing the comments, opinions and writings of other authors and historians and then questionning them or refuting them. Being a rather pedantic sort of person myself, I should not criticise her for this; I like to have the truth, in so far as it is known, and good evidence to support it, but even I became somewhat irritated by her evident obsession with this practice. However, without it, the book might have been a maximum of two thirds the size. There is also the point that Ms Weir might just be wrong in some of these points of debate - but somehow I doubt it.

I was left with one other impression. I might be very wrong about this, but I wondered if this book had been somewhat rushed. My reason for this conclusion is that I found that the editing left something to be desired. I was most struck by the several occasions that reference was made to a person, or an event, in terms or words making it clear it was the first such mention only to subsequently find the same person or event being introduced into the narrative again in similar terms. This seemed to me odd, rather as if chunks of text had been cut and pasted elsewhere without regard to the knock on affect it had on the flow of the story.

But I should stress that these are comparatively mionor complaints. The book is to be recommended.