This stunning novel in New York Times bestselling author Alison Weirâs Six Tudor Queens series presents an âimmaculately researched and convincingâ (The Times, UK) portrait of Anne Boleyn, King Henry VIIIâs second and most infamous wife.
âPersuasive . . . Weirâs fictional Anne is ferociously smart and guilty of nothing but craving the power thatâs rightfully hers to claim.ââNPR (Best Books of the Year)
Born into a noble English family, Anne is barely a teenager when she is sent by her opportunistic father to serve at the royal court of the Netherlands. There, and later in France, Anne thrives, preferring to absorb the works of progressive writers rather than participate in courtly flirtations.
Anne isnât completely inured to the longings of the heart, but her powerful family has ambitious plans for her future that override any wishes of her own. When the King of England himself, Henry VIII, asks Anne to be his mistress, she spurns his advancesâreminding him that he is a married man who has already conducted an affair with her sister, Mary. Anneâs rejection only intensifies Henryâs pursuit. But given that Queen Katherine is aging and has failed to provide the King with a male heir, the opportunity to elevate and protect the Boleyn family, and to exact vengeance on her envious detractors, is too tempting for Anne to resistâeven as it proves to be her undoing.
This stunning novel in New York Times bestselling author Alison Weirâs Six Tudor Queens series presents an âimmaculately researched and convincingâ (The Times, UK) portrait of Anne Boleyn, King Henry VIIIâs second and most infamous wife.
âPersuasive . . . Weirâs fictional Anne is ferociously smart and guilty of nothing but craving the power thatâs rightfully hers to claim.ââNPR (Best Books of the Year)
Born into a noble English family, Anne is barely a teenager when she is sent by her opportunistic father to serve at the royal court of the Netherlands. There, and later in France, Anne thrives, preferring to absorb the works of progressive writers rather than participate in courtly flirtations.
Anne isnât completely inured to the longings of the heart, but her powerful family has ambitious plans for her future that override any wishes of her own. When the King of England himself, Henry VIII, asks Anne to be his mistress, she spurns his advancesâreminding him that he is a married man who has already conducted an affair with her sister, Mary. Anneâs rejection only intensifies Henryâs pursuit. But given that Queen Katherine is aging and has failed to provide the King with a male heir, the opportunity to elevate and protect the Boleyn family, and to exact vengeance on her envious detractors, is too tempting for Anne to resistâeven as it proves to be her undoing.