Summer 2019 is behind us and you know what, I didn’t do a darn thing. I didn’t visit one beach, pool or amusement park this year. My “Hot Girl Summer” consisted of going to work, going to church going to brunch a few times. All of my adventures and drama came from reading. That’s a good and bad thing at the same time. Ice could have been covering the ground and it would not have made much of a difference to me. I’m going to share and review what I read this summer.

I don’t know why it took me so long to come to this conclusion but Henry the VIII was a murderous maniac.  He was a medieval Charles Manson.  He didn’t kill people himself as far as we know but he used his influence to have others do it for him.  I’ve always been fascinated by Henry the VIII and I was a fan of the show The Tudors.  Henry’s life reads or at least historians present his life as a soap opera.  I’m ashamed that it took me so long to stop believing in the hype.

The Boleyn Wife is about Jane Boleyn, the sister in law of Queen Anne Boleyn.  Jane married Anne brother George Boleyn.  Jane and George had an arranged marriage.  Jane loved George but her feelings were unrequited.  George saw the marriage as a business affair and not a matter of the heart or even respect.  He was not attracted to or fond of his wife at all.  He barely paid her any attention at all.

George had a very close relationship with his sister Anne.  Jane was tormented with jealousy of the relationship her husband had with his sister because she wished to be close to George.  Jane was committed to loving the wrong man.  She never had an affair or attempted to leave the marriage.  But when she had the opportunity to give testimony against her husband she did.  And he, his sister and two others were executed.

Lady Jane lived with guilt and for many years.  She lived a life of quiet desperation.  She loved and trusted the wrong people over and over and she never came to her senses and took back her power.  She conceived a child in a predatory relationship that she was unable to love.  He was given away.  Jane ended up being executed herself along with her Queen Catherine Howard.  Jane was executed despite going insane while in prison due to the pressure of incarceration and being haunted by memories.

If you enjoy historical fiction and have an interest in Henry the VIII you will enjoy this book.  It’s very sad and it’s a point of view I had never heard before even though Lady Jane was portrayed in The Tudors.  There is a lesson to learn from Lady Jane.  Don’t waste your time loving someone that doesn’t love you.  If you find yourself in unrequited love end it, dust yourself off and try again once you’ve figured out what you deserve.