Imagine a tyrant king who takes on any woman he fancies as his mistress, may or may not make her his queen
and then abruptly disposes of her as soon as the slightest hint of doubt is formed in his mind that the unfortunate woman is part of a connivance to overthrow him as king. He does not dispose of his enemies in a haphazard way ... he has them murdered ... has his executioner chop of their heads, as he merrily begins courtship with another woman. And he is exalted as the greatest king that England has ever had!
This book -- The Boleyn Inheritance -- is the sequel to Philippa Gregory's The Other Boleyn Girl. I recommend to anyone interested to read the first book before diving into the second.
The Boleyn Inheritance starts out with
King Henry VIII -- who is already well past his prime -- preparing for yet another wedding to a young duchess from Cleves. Jane Rochford, a woman branded throughout the entire kingdom as a murderous traitor who sent her own husband (George Boleyn) and sister-in-law (
Queen Anne Boleyn) to their deaths on the scaffold, is summoned back to court to serve the new queen. Fortuitously, the new queen is another Anne -- Queen Anne of Cleves. Summoned along with Lady Jane is pretty, little Katherine Howard. She is to serve as maid-in-waiting for the queen and she is pitifully used as a pawn in this game of life and death.
Anne's first meeting with the king is disastrous. She mistakes him for an old, smelly drunkard and he loathes her for being the first person to make him face the fact that he is no longer the golden prince that he once was. The wedding pushes through. But even before she is crowned queen, Anne finds her life in jeopardy. There is news that the vengeful king wants their marriage annulled.
The story twists and turns into a series of plots, forged accusations, false witnesses, betrayals, enviousness, malice, greed, deceit and terror. It ends on the scaffold for some, while a few barely escape with their lives.