'The Other Boleyn Sisters' is a novel that opens and closes with two executions; The first execution of the Duke of Buckingham in 1521, and ends with the execution of Anne Boleyn in 1536. This is a story of two sisters Anne and Mary and their brother George, who are played like pawns in a Chess game by their power hungry family. From the very beginning we see that while there is a bond that ties the Boleyn sisters together, there is also a deep rooted rivalry between them.

First Mary is asked by her father and Uncle to set aside her new husband and become the mistress of Henry VIII. Mary did so and what was first a command of her father soon became a command of her heart. Mary quickly grew to love the man England called King. She bears Henry two children, including a son, a son he forsakes when his heart is twisted and his eyes are set on Anne. Anne promises Henry a legitimate son and helps him to plot against his wife, the beautiful, but older Queen Katherine.

Katherine had tried many times to give Henry the son he so desired. After many still births she was only able to give him a daughter, Princess Mary. Katherine who spent much of her time on bended knee, praying for her husband and for England never gave up on her marriage.

Anne is ruthless in her drive to become queen, and then to give Henry a male heir. Gregory made these characters come alive causing these historical characters to dance across the pages. Gregory has a gift of weaving a story, this book is a page turner that you wont be able to put down.

Philippa Gregory has been penning compelling works of dramatic historical fiction since the mid-1980s, breaking out with the bestselling Wideacre trilogy and creating a buzz with The Other Boleyn Girl. As fellow author Peter Ackroyd once said of her, "She writes from instinct, not out of calculation, and it shows."

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