Avree Clark's Reviews > Anne Boleyn: A King's Obsession

I’M A LOVER OF ALL THINGS TUDOR!

My favorite movie of all-time is "Anne of the Thousand Days" (starring the unbelievably stunning Geneviève Bujold and the commanding Richard Burton) and what I loved about this book is the story played out much how it did in my beloved film adaptation and Anne’s character was much as it’s portrayed in that film.

I read “The Other Boleyn Girl” (by Philippa Gregory) when I was around 20 and it became one of my top favorite books, still unrivaled. As for this read…it doesn’t necessarily surpass my first love and didn’t quite live up to how much I devoured “The Other Boleyn Girl” but I still found myself desirous to jump back into the Tudor Court, as it’s one of my all-time favorite “worlds” to visit! I even listened to Renaissance music on my Echo Dot while reading and it just offered a deeper layer of absorption into the story—I especially appreciated it when Greensleeves came on (though I’m aware of the myth of that tale).

This book moved at a molasses pace, at times, compared to “The Other Boleyn Girl” but I truly read just to escape into a certain time or place so it didn’t deter me from returning to it…the pace almost felt intentional, at the author’s hand, due to the nature that was Henry pursuing Anne over a seven-year period and what all transpired during that time.

I think Anne gets a bad rap in history and so this book paints her in a much different light than even “The Other Boleyn Girl”—those two stories had some glaring differences but I always read anyone’s take on a historical figure (especially one so little has been preserved for) with an open mind and appreciate the work that went into spinning a tale with the minimum of facts and the maximum of artistic liberty. I daresay this book made me feel quite sorry for Anne…whereas I vaguely remember thinking more poorly of Anne upon completion of Gregory’s work.

I would definitely pick this tome up again in the future just because I love revisiting and being reminded of certain details that escape you over time. I thoroughly enjoyed this read in its own merit and I don’t think anyone who enjoys all things Tudor would be wasting their time picking this one up.

I did want to share an interesting tie to my ancesters…

On page 487 the excerpt reads:

“Those who had been chosen to attend her were waiting for her. She was dismayed to see that chief among them were four ladies she disliked. There was her Aunt Boleyn, the wife of her Uncle James, who had recently incurred Anne’s enmity by switching his allegiance to the Lady Mary. There too was Lady Shelton, who greeted Anne with undisguised venom.
Lady Kingston came forward and curtseyed. She too was a friend of Lady Mary, and had once served the Princess Dowager. Anne did not expect her to be sympathetic. Lastly, there was Mrs. Coffyn, the wife of her Master of Horse.”

So upon investigating my Ancestry.com family tree I was able to determine that Mrs. Coffyn is referring to (Lady) Margaret Dymoke who was married to my ancestor’s (direct descendent) brother William ‘Master of Horse’ Coffin (Coffyn). William and Margaret never had any children together. She did however have two children with her first husband, before William, and none with her third husband after William’s death. Margaret went on to become the lady-in-waiting of the King's third wife, Jane Seymour. So she's a very distant great-aunt...16th I believe.