Cover Image: Anne Boleyn & Elizabeth I

Anne Boleyn & Elizabeth I

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC. This book was so interesting! So many new details. Things I never knew and I read everything on the Tudors so I enjoyed a change of pace.

Was this review helpful?

If you're interested in Anne Boleyn or Elizabeth I, this is the book for you. Tracy Borman reveals research that even the most obsessed Tudor fan will not have known before. It's also the book I would recommend to non-Tudor lovers as a first foray into non-fiction. It's an easy and pleasurable read. It's fairly short so it's not daunting. Borman is at the top of her field and one of the foremost experts on Tudor England and there's no one better to tell this complex story. Despite Anne being executed when Elizabeth was a young child, there is a bond between them that lives on to this day. Most people think that Elizabeth had to completely deny that there was any connection between her and Anne beyond their biological connection- but Borman details the many ways that Elizabeth kept Anne's memory alive. A truly excellent book that I'll come back to again and again.

Was this review helpful?

I regret that I was not a fast enough reader to get this book read. I am putting it on my to purchase list. I know that part of QEI’s personal relationships were set to doom before she was even born and that’s just sad. So I’m interested to read this book

Was this review helpful?

In this non-fiction book, the author paints a picture of two powerful women—humanizing them in a way I haven’t encountered before. I know the facts—I want the feelings (as much as we can know them). And that’s where this book succeeds.

Anne was clever, cultured and pious. But she was also vengeful, vain and cunning. In short—she was human, neither a saint nor a villain.

Her daughter Elizabeth was strong, stubborn, and unfailingly loyal to the memory of the mother she never knew.

Both were revolutionary women for their time.

The author shows the similarities between mother and daughter, like a gift for languages and a strategically flirtatious nature.

To a lesser extent, we see how King Henry VIII’s relationship with both mother and daughter shaped their lives and their futures.

I loved this book and flew through it. It offers a new perspective on two influential, powerful women.

Thanks to @netgalley and @groveatlantic for the eARC!

Check out this book for a dose of girl power, Tudor style.

Was this review helpful?

**I received an advanced reader's copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

Borman continues her amazing research and work on the Tudors by connecting Elizabeth I's actions and writings with her mother Anne Boleyn's life. As queen, Elizabeth combines her father's legacy while subtly including her mother's influences. Borman does well with this connection, showing how Elizabeth balances keeping her mother's spirit alive while walking that fine line between legitimacy, her father's legacy, and the need to prove herself as a female ruler. I greatly enjoyed seeing these connections and welcome the scholarship being published in the last couple of decades that tries to provide a truer picture of Anne Boleyn.

Was this review helpful?

Tracy Borman has written the quintessential book on Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth I, mother and daughter.. I never tire of reading about these two women. It is 500 years or so that Anne Boleyn was murdered by Henry VIII all because he was on to the next wife. Elizabeth lived her life and ruled over England with the fear of rebellion and traitors plotting against her rule. Elizabeth was a magnificent ruler; she was after all her mother's daughter and she knew how to keep men at bay. I loved this book. Ms. Borman's research, besides having been quite the job, I"m sure, is incredibly detailed. The photos at the end of the book are wonderful, many of which I have never seen. BRAVO!

Was this review helpful?

I doubt that anyone could read of the execution of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII, without feeling sympathy for her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, demoted in one fell swoop, as she herself noticed even at that young age, from Princess Elizabeth, heir to the English throne, to Lady Elizabeth, the king’s bastard daughter by a disgraced mother.

Often, books about Elizabeth gloss over the effect of this double loss on her, noting that she rarely spoke about her mother even after she ascended to the throne, briefly mentioning a ring she owned with portraits of herself and another woman who may have been Anne, or speculating that her mother’s fate might have contributed to her own antipathy toward marriage. In Anne Boleyn & Elizabeth I, however, Tracy Borman digs more deeply into the relationship between the two (brief as it was in life) and Elizabeth’s later life to show that a strong influence did exist, and that there is enough evidence to show that Elizabeth did indeed honor and revere her mother’s memory

While many hated and despised Anne Boleyn, few seem to have disputed her pride in her daughter, despite the disappointment (to her father, at least) of her gender, or her active involvement in Elizabeth’s early upbringing within the constraints of her position. (Queens did not nurse their own children, and royal offspring were given their own households early on.) Even as she faced death, one of her main concerns was for her daughter.

As Elizabeth grew up she no doubt heard little good about Anne from most people, but Borman believes that there is evidence that an alternative, positive view was also provided to her, most notably by her relatives on her mother’s side, including her governess, Kat Ashley. When she became queen, she notably kept these relatives close to her and actively promoted many of them, as Borman documents, as well as pointing to the presence of her mother’s emblems (notably the falcon) in her palaces and portraits. Also, while she never, unlike her sister Mary, reinstated Anne’s marriage to her father by an act of Parliament, it appears to have been well known that praise of Anne’s virtues was a way to gain her favor. The psychological influences are also examined in some detail, from the effect on her refusal to marry (no doubt exacerbated by the execution of her father’s fifth wife, and Anne Boleyn’s first cousin, Katherine Howard, when Elizabeth was only 8, as well as the unhappy marriage of her sister Mary) to her use of her charm on men as queen.

On the whole, even with my considerable (though not extensive) knowledge of the period, I found Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth I to be an informative and eye-opening look at the relationship between these two fascinating women.

I received a copy of Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth I from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

I have read numerous books about The Tudors, but this book looks specifically at the mother/daughter connection between Anne Boleyn and her daughter Elizabeth I. Although they were only together for the first few years of Elizabeth’s life, Elizabeth honored her mother and the extended Boleyn family through her life. I found this fascinating!

Was this review helpful?

I loved this book so much!! I've always wondered about Anne and Elizabeth and what it would have been like had Anne lived and and got to raise and watch Elizabeth grow.
Sadly we'll never know,but Tracy did an amazing job writing about the mother and daughter. One,a Queen who only ruled for 3 years before her fall,and another, who looked unlikely to ever rule England,who struggled to keep her head above water when so many tried to bring her down.
Another I will define reading again.

Was this review helpful?

Received a free copy for an honest review on Netgalley. I loved this book. I have been fascinated by Anne Boleyn and the Tudor period since when I was younger and read Jean Plaidy's books. The author shows many ways that Elizabeth revered her mother throughout her life. What happened to Anne had a huge impact on the monarchy and Elizabeth herself. It literally changed the course of history. Would definitely recommend this book if you want to know more than just the basic facts about Anne and Elizabeth.

Was this review helpful?

Tracey Borman’s book Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth I, is, as you would expect from such an accomplished Tudor historian, an extremely well researched and highly engaging read. The book looks with fresh eyes at the fascinating relationship, common threads and the crucial imprint of the life and death of Anne Boleyn on her daughter Elizabeth I.

The book is a scholarly work using a variety of primary and secondary sources, and yet, is still very accessible. It adds valuable new insights to the highly popular Tudor story, which makes it well worth reading.

Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic, for a review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Was this review helpful?

Anne Boleyn May have only been queen for three years her daughter would make up for that by reigning for many. King Henry was very disappointed when Queen Ann didn’t deliver a boy, it was a second daughter and he had moved to heaven and earth and even separated from the Catholic Church for his son to carry on his legacy only for it to fail. Elizabeth the first who is king Henry’s second daughter and although she would eventually be joined by prince Arthur he would only live 14 years leaving her and her sister Mary to carry the crown. Even though Elizabeth wouldn’t have her mother for very long she would love her for the rest of her life. If anyone can tell us about royalty in medieval England it is Tracy Borman she is well-versed and has many books about the subject from Queen Ann‘s marriage to King Henry to the birth of Elizabeth to her days in the tower and on to Elizabeth’s reign and her natural death this book is chargeful of other 10 bits about the pair and mother and daughter duo that is more infamous than most and I found this book so interesting I love Tracy Boardman‘s books and she definitely did not disappoint with this one essay never does. A truly great read for any historical fan or just a lover of the tutors and Regency era England. I want to think Grove Atlantic books and net Galley for my arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Was this review helpful?

Wow! This book is AMAZING! Whenever I picked up "Anne Boleyn & Elizabeth I", I was whisked back in time, and learned something about this incredible mother-daughter duo, and the times in which they lived.

Anne Boleyn & Elizabeth I are two of my absolute favorite historical figures to learn about! As soon as I heard about this book from the incredible historian Tracy Borman, I just knew I needed to read it ASAP!

Tracy Borman is an amazing historian who brings history to life before the reader's eyes. This book is beyond well-researched, and, even though I previously knew about a lot of the historical events mentioned in this book, she told them from a unique perspective, and I truly learned so much and looked at many aspects differently than I had before.

This book delves into the lives of Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth I. Their similarities, differences, and connection to one another is so special to read about. Anne Boleyn truly had such a profound influence on her daughter's life, both before and after her (Anne's) own death, and this book really delves into this. Both women were so strong, brave, and intelligent, as well as ahead of the times in which they lived in many ways, and I can't wait to continue to do more research on these women on my own as well.

If you enjoy biographies, and / or love The Tudor / Elizabethan Eras, I highly recommend this book! I so look forward to reading what Ms. Borman writes next!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic-Atlantic Monthly Press for the ARC of this biography, and to Grove Atlantic-Atlantic Monthly Press for the beautiful finished copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Was this review helpful?

I love the Tudors and have read many books on the era. Ask my husband--he has moved boxes and boxes of books on the subject across the country several times because I am a packrat when it comes to my library and cannot bear to cull my books--not even the ones I have already read. Despite my Tudor-mania, Anne Boleyn & Elizabeth I still surprised and delighted me with Tracy Borman's novel approach to the subject matter. Bucking the conventional wisdom that Elizabeth I rarely spoke about the mother she never really knew, Borman draws a very clear through line from Anne Boleyn to Elizabeth I, illuminating the myriad ways in which she influenced the woman and monarch Elizabeth became. From her views on marriage and courtship, to fashion and music, religion and statecraft, Anne Boleyn's presence permeated the Elizabethan court on practical matters as well as stylistic ones. Borman highlights the importance of Queen Anne's decision to surround the young princess with trusted friends and relatives from the establishment of the young princess's household, ensuring that Elizabeth would grow up not just a Tudor, but a Boleyn as well. Elizabeth herself would continue to employ primarily Boleyn retainers throughout the remainder of her life and reign, ensuring that a living, enduring reminder of her mother's presence would serve with her each and every day and influence nearly every aspect of her reign. Borman's book is a lively, entertaining, and engaging testament to that living link between the two women that both Tudor-maniacs and novices will thoroughly enjoy.

Thank you to NetGalley for a complimentary ARC in exchange for my unbiased review.

Was this review helpful?

It might sound strange, but my favourite part of this book was actually how Borman didn't try to make Anne Boleyn a saint. For so long she had been seen as a pure villain. Then the pendulum swung too far in the other direction (in my opinion) and she was portrayed as a guiltless saint. But Borman puts the truth somewhere in the middle. And I feel like time is finally ripe for this view of Anne. For her to actually be a person, and not a caricature of one. I really enjoy Borman's writing and I continue to go back to her works time and time again and this one was no exception.I don't really know if this was suppose to be a compare and contrast type book or just a book centering around what they would have most likely admired about each other.I tended to lean towards the latter though. What I found most compelling about this book was the relationship beetween the two of them and all the little hints of Elizabeth's appreciation for a mother that she didn't have the pleasure to really know and cherish. The events decribed both delighted me and upset me, I think the author did a great job at portraying the court intrigue and all the political issues. I enjoyed this book and learned a number of things that I hadn't known previously. This is a must read for Tudor history fans.

Was this review helpful?

No book has ever made me dream about its central characters. Until this one! What's more I was in the dream too. In a fitting session with one of the queens! Ha. It's hilarious.

As you might have surmised with my experience above, I found much of the book pretty fascinating and engrossing. Tracy Borman writes really well, and her knowledge and research shines through.

Learned a lot of new things about these two iconic queens.

4 and a half stars from me.

Was this review helpful?

I have been on a nonfiction kick recently and the complexity of this case really stood out to me. The author captured my attention immediately and held that attention which can be difficult in books like this.

Was this review helpful?

Tracy Borman has done it again. For me, Borman is a must-read; when I see Borman's name on a book I know I am going to enjoy it. As far as I know, she is an independent historian, not attached to a university. Her specialization is the Tudor period, and she is a master at it. I have read a number of her books, and they have been uniformly excellent.

Borman's new book is about the relationship between Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII and her only child, Queen Elizabeth I. Anne was executed before her daughter turned three, but Elizabeth carried the memory of her mother, and her mother's influence, throughout her life.

I had thought I was pretty knowledgeable about the Tudor period, Elizabeth's reign in particular, but this book was a most interesting look at Anne and especially Elizabeth which I had never before considered. Add to this Borman's nimble prose, and her usual high level of scholarship, and a reader will find this book accessible and fascinating. Like all of Borman's other books, highly recommended.

Was this review helpful?

I absolutely love any book about the Tudors! This was a wonderfully written and informative writing. It was so enjoyable and I would love to read more books by this author!

Was this review helpful?

I am a big fan of Tracy Borman, and I loved her new book. It’s amazing that the relationship between these two Queens has not been examined before in a book, and she is the perfect person to do it. Vivid writing and meticulous research bring these extraordinary women to life.

Fierce and ambitious, Anne Boleyn’s personality did not seem very maternal, but once she had her daughter, everything changed. She lavished as much attention on her as she could, and spent a great deal on her clothes and necessities. She also took great care with her education, even leaving instructions for her future education. Anne even wanted to breastfeed her! This was extremely unusual in those days, and quickly stamped on by Henry VIII. This does great credit to Anne, who could have blamed Elizabeth for not being the long-hoped for son.

Anne would have been proud of her daughter Elizabeth 1, a great Queen. Tracy Borman examines the closeness and affection that she felt for her mother, and the great influence that her mother had on her, especially in religion. She also shows how Elizabeth trusted and relied on members of her maternal family. Elizabeth 1 became the Queen that Anne Boleyn never had the chance to be.

This is a must-read for anyone interested in Tudor, or Royal history.

I received this free ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?