How accurate is The Other Boleyn Girl?

Question

I recently read the Phillipa Gregory's historical novel. I wondered how accurate it was, historically speaking. Is there any evidence to suggest that she did sleep with her brother because she was so desperate to get pregnant? Did Henry really have an affair and two children with Mary Boleyn? There are so many things in the book I would like to know more about, and for some reason Wikipedia wont work on this computer terminal in the library!

Answer 1

No, if you go on wikipedia, you can read about how not much is mentioned about Mary Boleyn, so Phillipa Gregory made this stuff up. I'm in the middle of reading the book at the moment. It's quite good. Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Other_Boleyn_Girl and there's a sub-heading about 'Accuracy' so you can find out for yourself.

Answer 2

It must be remembered that historical fiction based on pseudo or unfounded sources should be taken with a grain of salt (if not a ton of it). Henry the 8th was a great king with many talents and he founded the empire which his heiress, Elizabeth the 1st., built to the extent that made it the greatest in the world. He was a philanderer but so were his predecessors and successors. He became notorious for divorcing and beheading his wives but he had his reasons, among them his fear for his crown and the loose morals of Anne Boleyn whom he beheaded. His alleged liaison with her sister lacks substantial and documented evidence, hence the reader must ask for such things if he wishes to believe or discredit the author's premise.

Answer 3

At the risk of being humerus I have taken 3 copies of this book and thrown them with my left hand at a small chalk drawn target. Only one of them landed in the target. I then took three copies of the Oxford English dictionary ( a book we can all say is extremely accurate) and all three landed in the target area

I can therefore assure you the " the other Boleyn girl" is not particularly accurate