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    The Last Boleyn: A Novel
    The Last Boleyn: A Novel
    The Last Boleyn: A Novel
    Audiobook21 hours

    The Last Boleyn: A Novel

    Written by Karen Harper

    Narrated by Melanie Crawley

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    They were the Boleyns, once one of England’s most powerful family. Anne Boleyn captured the hand of Henry VIII, and now we see the rise and fall of their family fortunes through the eyes of the eldest Boleyn daughter, Mary.

    Mary Boleyn is overshadowed in history by her sister Anne, but it was she who first caught the eye of Henry VIII, setting the stage for her family’s dramatic rise to power—and ultimate fall from grace. Although Henry set her aside as his mistress, Mary still navigated the dangerous waters of the Tudor court, while forging ahead to find a life—and a love—apart from the intrigue that surrounded her.

    In New York Times bestseller Karen Harper’s skillfully written and dramatically set novel, you will hear the story of this once mostly-forgotten Boleyn sister in a brilliant blend of history, romance, and drama.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateJun 23, 2020
    ISBN9780063016750
    The Last Boleyn: A Novel
    Author

    Karen Harper

    New York Times and USA Today bestselling author KAREN HARPER is a former Ohio State University instructor and high school English teacher. Published since 1982, she writes contemporary suspense and historical novels about real British women. Two of her recent Tudor-era books were bestsellers in the UK and Russia. Harper won the Mary Higgins Clark Award for Dark Angel, and her novel Shattered Secrets was judged one of the best books of the year by Suspense Magazine.

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    Reviews for The Last Boleyn

    3.5/5

    126 ratings8 reviews

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    • 1/5
      How anyone can say this is the most historically accurate account of the Boleyn family, and Mary in particular, has done little or no research..
      First, the pronunciation if the name Boleyn as Bull-in, may have been the original in the 1400’s, Bowl-Lin, was adopted by Sir Thomas in the early 1500’s to give the name a more French like, and upper class feeling to it as they began to rise to power when Henry VIII was still a 2nd son as Sir Thomas(Anne’s father) became vital as an attaché and diplomat for Henry VII..
      Second, Mary’s 1st child, Catherine, was the only child to have even been possibly, and probably Henry’s, as he lost interest in her shortly after her marriage to William Carey, and the birth of the daughter Catherine.
      Third, Mary had never met William Stafford until years after Carey’s death, and sister Anne was Queen
      She and Stafford were then banished from court and exiled by Thomas Boleyn from the family..
      This is a knock off, and total story change from real historical information and any Philippa Gregory, Alison Weir, or other historical fiction novels.
      About the only true accounting is that both daughters WERE sent to the French court. Mary to King Louis, the Francis, when Mary Tudor married the old King and Anne served the court of Marguerite, Francis’s sister..
      I don’t understand where the one review was stating large amounts of sexual degradation, S & M, etc.. Either they are hyper sensitive to any sexual information between unmarried women and the Kings, well wake up.. Women in that day and time had no recourse when commanded by a King to bed them
      The one FACT is Henry VIII always asked the girl/woman beforehand if he had their consent. And btw, Henry VIII only mistresses were Bessie Blount and Mary Boleyn .. He was a romantic about falling in LOVE whereas Francis TOOK whenever and whomever he liked, had hundreds of liaisons with both willing and unwilling women and young girls. He was a sexual deviant, passed his used encounters onto his friends, whether they were willing or not and paid for his lust by suffering for years, and finally dying of syphillis.
    • 4/5
      TRIGGER WARNING to anyone who may have experience with abuse, there are pretty disturbing instances of attempted SA and DV in this book.

      The narrator was absolutely fantastic and made me more invested. As for the book, I echo another review in that it feels more historically accurate but a but heavy on the romance. I will add that while this is probably more realistic as to how men treated women in that time, the graphic descriptions of abuse made it hard to keep listening at times.
    • 4/5
      I have enjoyed this book quite a lot. I sped through it, it read easily and was more then interesting enough. I learned a great deal about Tudor England, a period that is starting to interest me more and more after reading this book (in addition to Sansoms 'Sovereign'). Sometimes the romantic part of the novel was a little too prominent, but it didn't bother me much.
    • 4/5
      I have been reading a lot of books by Karen Harper recently and I have to admit to thoroughly enjoying each and every one. What a gifted author she is! "The Last Boleyn" was originally titled "Passion's Reign" and I am not at all sure that I would have chosen to read it with that title. I have that ingrained aversion to lusty title's that shelving Harlequin novels in a book store left me with !"The Last Boleyn" is the tale of Mary Tudor - five years a mistress to Henry VIII before Anne; faithful wife and mother after Henry. Although I had perhaps heard this before I had not registered the fact that the family name had, in fact, been 'Bullen' prior to Anne's Franophile-ization of her family name to the more readily familiar 'Boleyn'. Mary Bullen inherited her mother's more delicate blonde coloring - heritage of her lofty Howard lineage. I have always been of the impression that 'father' Boleyn was a power hungry, ladder climbing syncophant in the court of Henry VIII....a man who would pander his female children to his best advantage. Nothing I have read over the years has really change that opinion - even taking the vagaries of that time period into account.Mary was sent to the French court at an early age - as lady-in-waiting to Henry's sister Mary during her short lived marriage to the aging French King. Upon the King's death Mary remains at the French Court attendant upon Mary and beguiled by the new French King Francois I. Anne Boleyn joins Mary at the French court for a time until Mary returns to England as a teenager - and becomes an integral part of the Court of Henry VIII. The book chronicles Mary's marriage to the cold, calculating William Carey - a husband who accepts the King's advances towards Mary as a way to accrue fame and fortune for himself. During her marriage to William Carey Mary has son and, although she always claimed that he was William Carey's son - there has always been speculation that her son was, in fact, the progeny of Henry VIII .Mary is, ultimately, drawn to the jaded courtier William Stafford - a man whom she will ultimately marry in secret after the death of William Carey. The odd thing about Mary Boleyn's story is that she was always derided by her family for not asking Henry for more - for not expecting more from him as his mistress. Anne was the rapacious sister . Oddly enough though it is Mary, and not Anne, who ultimately lives to a goodly age and retires from Courtlife with both her head and her happiness intact - thank largely, I am led to believe thanks to the love of Will Staford. In contrast, this novel with that of Phillipa Gregory's book "The Other Boleyn Girl" - which is also narrated from Mary's point of view. I enjoyed both of these book tremendously, but I think that in some ways I prefer Karen Harper's work. I think that Ms. Harper follows the history very closely and she also managed to keep me turning the pages of this book late into the night. Best bet - read both books because I think that the story of Mary Boleyn is truly a very good one !
    • 4/5
      Great book really good interesting about the relationship between wiliam stafford and mary
    • 4/5
      I really liked this historical fiction book because it focused on Mary Boleyn instead of her more famous sister, Anne. A great, interesting, and quick read.
    • 4/5
      This book was previously published as Passion's Reign in 1983 and it tells the story of the rise and fall of the Boleyn family through the eyes of it's last survivor, Mary Boleyn. It has been republished in pb 2006 perhaps due to the popular book by Phillepa Gregory about Mary. Here you will find a little more historical accuracy and a very interesting read.
    • 3/5
      As compared to "The Other Boleyn" this book seems more historically factual and less moralistic. The complex relationship between Anne and Mary is also barely touched upon, whereas this was a central theme in T.O.B.