Mistress Anne

by Carolly Erickson

Book Overview

As Maureen Quilligan wrote in the "New York Times Book Review" of "The First Elizabeth," Anne Boleyn "was a real victim of the sexual scandals her brilliant daughter escaped, and a subject Ms. Erickson's sensitivity to sexual and political nuance should well serve." Indeed, Carolly Erickson could have chosen no more fascinating and appropriate a subject. Alluring and profoundly enigmatic, Anne Boleyn has eluded the grasp of historians for centuries.Through...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0671417479
• ISBN13: 9780671417475
• Release Date: January 1984
• Publisher: Summit Books
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.03 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Mistress Anne

Very well documented piece on Boleyn. Fairly neutral in presentation, as to Anne's character; etc. Entertaining, and it contains info on Henry, Mary and Elizabeth (as well as the entire host of Henrican supporting actors) that is unique to this book. In other words if you read all of Erickson's works on the Tudors, each book offers different info, as well as being historically written in an engaging way.

Reads like a spy thriller,even better it's all true.

this book although alot longer than the brief paragraphs i've read about Anne Boleyn,doesn't give alot of new info.One interesting interpretation presented though seems to indicate that Henry the 8th may not have wanted Anne executed but more pushed aside as he had previously done with Queen Catherine. Erickson gives a strong case that the execution of Anne may have been pushed forward by Henry's advisors who were afraid of Anne's influence over the king.It seems by this book that the Archbishop of Canterbury,Thomas Cranmer and the king's right hand man,Thomas Cromwell,wanted Anne Boleyn and her friends and family at court out of the picture(permanently). This way there would be no way the Boleyn's could reenter the picture with a bigger hand.One of the lessons of the Wars of the Roses was that too often leaving political enemies to "lick their wounds"was a certain way to lose one's head (on the block)!The Boleyn family had spent about twenty years living in the French court at Paris when relations between France and England were a scant better,Anne's father was a French diplomat for Henry the 8th.It seems the English public believed Anne had picked up some permiscuous habits during her years there and craftily used them to entice and capture Henry's heart.Whether it was true or not didn't matter,and given this Anne was off on the wrong foot right from the start.Not to mention she had supplanted the popular Queen Catharine. One slip by the Boleyn's and it wouldn't be hard to imagine the consequences,both the"man (or woman)in the street and the king's advisors against the Boleyn's from the outset.The book emphasized the family of Anne Boleyn and their rise and fall in Henry's capricious court.A dangerous place to be. Another interesting part of the book deals with how the women of the king's court would make themselves desirable to capture the men's favor.It actually seems they treated their skin with mercury and white lead to give themselves that"wasted by amours" look.Looking good for a few brief years was more important than a long life for them. Beneath all the pomp and jollity of Henry's court there were alot of corpses."Great Harry" comes off as an almost certain mean spirited alcoholic covered with a thin veneer of hospitality and hardy har-har.The Boleyn's according to what I read from Erickson's book knew the stakes they were playing and overestimated their ability to "thrive and survive". Primary sources in regard to the Boleyn's are rare,and i'll bet Henry's "buddies" had alot to do with it so we'll never know the complete story but this book is about as good as will ever be found.The assertion about Anne's lose morals by Henry were probably not true but a classic case of pointing the finger,that is three pointing back at the lecherous Henry.

Tantalizing reading

This is a fine popular history book; not a weighty scholarly tome. The older hardcover that I own had a good bibliography. It's not haliographic - Anne is portrayed as an ambitious woman who did whatever she had to do to be and stay queen; but Henry VIII come out of it as the Mouldwarp (the devouring monster) so he gets worse than she does.