Book Review: "The Boleyn Traitor" by Philippa Gregory

Okay so if you didn't know this already, Philippa Gregory is one of my favourite writers in the whole world. When I was a teenager, I was absolutely obsessed with her books and every time I new one comes out, I have already got in on preorder. I've read all of her books to date and this one is no different. Thrilling with intrigue and conversations about kingship and power, Philippa Gregory launches us back into the spotlight, analysing the dynamics of women in a space that uses them as political pawns. Narrated by Anne Boleyn's sister-in-law, this book is no different and definitely no lesser than her past novels. Let's take a look at what it is about and how brilliant this book actually is.

These women aren't faithful to the 'old queen' Catherine of Aragon, believing that her marriage to the king was cursed. Now, in the time of Anne Boleyn, her sister-in-law Jane seeks to survive as she positions herself close to the new queen, proving herself loyal. Whilst the queen is pregnant, she proves useful in trying to scare away a girl named Agnes who has captured the king's gaze. She is married to Anne Boleyn's brother and so, it so close to the queen that often, they sleep in the same bedchamber and thus, it is our Jane who gains knowledge about the private thoughts of Anne Boleyn as she is with child. King Henry VIII is not paying enough attention to her, she is enraged, she is upset and she is unsure about the future. Ultimately, through all of this, whilst celebrating for the royal child is going on - she miscarries in the midst of the night.

Philippa Gregory writes this tension with great detail, we get a first-hand account and analysis of every powerful player in the royal court. Jane walks about and sees through the facade of court, she recalls the strangeness of being sent away as a girl to live at the court, to climb the ladder. Whilst this is going on, Anne Boleyn often talks about 'the chase' and how she stole the heart of the king away from Catherine of Aragon. Philippa Gregory makes a point of making King Henry VIII look like the most unsympathetic character in English History and I think this is definitely the way most of us think about him today.

Stuck in the midst of the reformation crisis, people are always pretending. Jane pretends she doesn't understand Spanish but translates letters found in baskets of Seville Oranges which are encoded, giving them to another person. Anne Boleyn can only hide her anger from her husband for so long, as one night he gets drunk and rowdy, talking with subtle attraction to Agnes. Whilst the queen is travelling home and her husband is unaware of the miscarriage, she is angered by him and he loses his temper whilst still drunk. King Henry VIII is a brute and a terror of a human being, though everyone around him pretends he is a dashing storybook troubadour prince. It is a court of nothing but lies and espionage, everyone is trying to one-up each other.

But when Anne Boleyn asks Jane to send Agnes away, stating that Agnes is no longer to stay at court and to write to her parents to have her picked up, Jane is surprised to learn something more. After the confrontation with Jane, Agnes walks down the hallways, arm-in-arm with Jane's own husband, new sleeves to represent her station, beaming with a smile - and Jane is to be sent away. All of her support for the Boleyn family has been for nothing, as she starts to believe. As the book continues, Jane panics back to her station with a whole new set of tricks. I have only given you a taste of this book - reading it is a whole new thing. It is a whole new experience which hearkens back to Philippa Gregory's writing in the Tudor Court Series. I am genuinely (and pleasantly) surprised at this. It is a wonderful, wonderful book.

I'm trying not to give too much away because each part of the story is very important in understanding why Jane does the things she does. She goes from supporting others in power to being a power player herself and this is foreshadowed by the fact that she is so loyal to Anne. As you can probably tell, of course this book contains the execution of Anne Boleyn and the divorce, death and more of other wives - but what part does Jane have to play in those we wonder...?