As Anne rises, however, circumstances (and lots of time waiting for his divorce) transform her from the confident, stylish, sophisticated woman-of-the-world that captivated Henry - into an insecure and fearful shrew – unable to keep her powerful emotions in check. When she returns to serve as lady in waiting to Queen Katherine of Aragon, it’s clear King Henry is the best way to acquire it. (Weir, believe it or not, gives Ann a secret hankering, for Henry Norris.)Īfter years serving royalty in foreign courts (in sequence: Margaret of Austria, Queen Mary (Tudor) of France, Queen Claude of France, and Marguerite de Valois), Weir’s Anne develops a love of power. Nor is this an Anne that ever truly falls in love with the King.

Neither is she the mastermind behind the break between Henry and the Catholic Church. She is not the calculating siren who sets her cap for the monarch from day one. This is not an Anne Boleyn as depicted in most other novels I’ve read. Weir ( Katherine of Aragon, 2016, etc.), prolific Tudor historian, biographer, and novelist, offers the second volume in her fictional series about Henry VIII’s six wives, focusing on the outspoken, doomed Anne Boleyn. An unforgettable portrait of the ambitious woman whose fate we know all too well, but whose true motivations may surprise you. ANNE BOLEYN, A KING'S OBSESSION by Alison Weir RELEASE DATE: A notorious Tudor queen is sympathetically imagined. But overall, I appreciated what the detail added to the reality of the story. Anne Boleyn: A Kings Obsession by best-selling historian Alison Weir, author of Katherine of Aragon: The True Queen, is the second captivating novel in the Six Tudor Queens series. So much, however, that there were a few times I felt it got a bit dry for fiction. It’s apparent as you read that Weir’s historical knowledge makes this, in some ways, a richer experience that traditional historical fiction.

I read the first about Katherine of Aragon. Known primarily as a prolific Tudor historian, Author Alison Weir is now using her broad research background as a foundation for a series of novels about each of Henry VIII’s wives.

Anne boleyn a kings obsession