Tuesday 18 March 2008

Vengeance is Mine by Brandy Purdy

There was room for only one woman in George Boleyn's heart-his sister, the mercurial and fascinating Anne Boleyn, who was destined to change history and wear a crown. To his adoring wife, Lady Jane Rochford, he was cold and indifferent. When Anne failed to give Henry VIII the son she had promised him, and he was tiring of her tart tongue and tantrums, false charges of adultery were hastily concocted.

Lady Rochford provided the crowning touch when she accused her husband and his beloved sister of incest. Both died upon the scaffold. Lady Rochford paid dearly for her treachery. She was left alone, shunned and friendless, until wild, sweet, wanton Katherine Howard danced into her life and became Henry's fifth queen. When Katherine, disgusted by the obese and impotent King's fumbling attempts to make love to her, took a lusty young lover Lady Rochford helped them meet.

And when the truth came out, she was the first to betray them. As she sits in the Tower of London, being tormented by the ghosts of George and Anne Boleyn, and awaiting her own appointment with the headsman's axe, Lady Rochford takes up her pen. Vengeance Is Mine is her story.

This book bears similarities to Philippa Gregory's The Boleyn Inheritance in that it tells the story of Anne Boleyn and katheirne Howard but, this time the whole book is told from the whole viewpoint of Jane Rochford rather than the 3 different viewpoints.

Going from previous books I have read I always found Jane Rochford to be rather cold and calculating at her involvement in bringing the deaths of Anne & Katherine but, hear I sympathised with her to some degree, how George Boleyn was portrayed he was really quite horrible, at least to Jane there is a particular part where he makes love to her and then in the morning when he says it was you was really horrible and I quite felt for Jane, quite why he married her in the first place I don't know!

And then there is poor Katherine Howard, I'm rather fond of Katherine and really felt for her although she could at times be quite silly I do find her amusing so Jane's part in Katherine's downfall I did not sympathise with! Hearing Katherine practice putting her head on the block was awful, I just can't imagine what must have been going through the poor girls head.

And Anne of Cleves also plays a small part in this book as does Jane Seymour, there is little about Jane Seymour but, as it is told by Jane I guess that is why. There was a little more about Anne of Cleves and the part of Jane cutting her stinky armpit hair was quite gross! I'm so glad I wasn't eating while reading that!

I really really enjoyed this book, if you have read and loved The Boleyn Inheritance you will enjoy this and it was nice to see things through Jane Rochford's eyes.

1 comment:

Daphne said...

Sounds like another good one!