The Other Boelyn Girl

This summer, as a respite from Michele Foucault and Edmund Burke, I picked up what I thought was a pulp novel, the kind my mother used to bring home and then let lie around the house for my sister and me to read. One I remember was entitled To Near the Throne, a pot-boiler about some poor girl named Jane, who wore voluminous yellow silk dresses and had to marry the man her father chose instead of the man she loved. I thought the book I'd picked up, The Other Boleyn Girl would be similar. In many ways it was, but I had no idea that Phillipa Gregory was a "New York Times Best-Selling Author."

Although nearly seven-hundred pages long, the book was a surprisingly quick read, but I really couldn't fathom why Ms. Gregory had become a NYTBSA. I'm always suspect of authors who allow the main character describe themselves. At times Gregory's writing is a little purple. Yet, she is very good at creating intrigue, and the story is gripping even though the events are well-known.

Without giving too much away, however, I do have one significant complaint about the book. The book suggests that George Boleyn discovers his homosexuality at court, and that because of his "deep, dark shame" he was susceptible to all types of blackmail as well as "other sexual perversions." Gregory's court of Henry VIII is incredibly puritanical, and she creates a world in which homosexuality carries all the stigma of the "other sexual perversions" he was later charged with.

There are a number of very creative and speculative aspects to the novel, yet for some reason Gregory chose to incorporate a speculation of Boleyn's sexuality into the story, presumably to help give plausibility to the incest charges that ultimately destroyed him. For the record, George and Ann, along with several other young men, were charged with any number of allegations. All of them are believed to have been proven false. Yet, none of them were homosexuality. Why, then, incorporate this into such a tragic figure as George Boleyn? Either way he becomes a fag who gets what he deserves, or another homosexual victim.

Above is a trailer for the film. It's one of those trailers that basically lays out the entire movie. From what I can tell, The Tudors is better -- yet neither seems to be concerned with historical accuracy. Still, I'll probably wander into a theater to see this one. Here's hoping the film takes the same number of liberties with Gregory's book that Gregory took with history.