The Last Boleyn: A Novel

By Karen Harper

She survived her own innocence, and the treachery of Europe’s royal courts; The Last Boleyn is the story of the rise and fall of the Boleyns, one of England’s most powerful families, through the eyes of the eldest daughter, Mary.

Although her sister, Anne, the queen; her brother, George, executed alongside Anne; and her father, Thomas, are most remembered by history, Mary was the Boleyn who set into motion the chain of events that brought about the family’s meteoric rise to power, as well as the one who managed to escape their equally remarkable fall. Sent away to France at an extraordinarily young age, Mary is quickly plunged into the dangerous world of court politics, where everything is beautiful but deceptive, and everyone she meets is watching and quietly manipulating the events and people around them. As she grows into a woman, Mary must navigate both the dangerous waters ruled by two kings and the powerful will of her own family in order to find a place for herself and the love she so deeply desires.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Feb 28, 2006
• ISBN: 9780307345387

Karen Harper

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author KAREN HARPER is a former Ohio State University instructor and high school English teacher. Published since 1982, she writes contemporary suspense and historical novels about real British women. Two of her recent Tudor-era books were bestsellers in the UK and Russia. Harper won the Mary Higgins Clark Award for Dark Angel, and her novel Shattered Secrets was judged one of the best books of the year by Suspense Magazine.

Reviews for The Last Boleyn

[sparrowbytherailstar · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

If I had to describe this book in only a few words, quiet would be one of them. It's a little bit dated, but not so much that it's unreadable, or completely off base b/c of current knowledge not known back then. It covers the entirety of Mary's life- from childhood to her time in France, on to her affair with Henry, and it's evolution into second to her sister, to Anne's reign and downfall, and to life beyond. When I read this book years ago, it was my introduction to Mary Boleyn- this was before Phillipa Gregory and the HBO show came to the scene and made Mary slightly more accessible- prior to that, the only time I'd run across her was in snarky one liners mined from French and Spanish sources, spoken secondhand. Perhaps it is because it was my first feature-length experience with Mary, and it just stuck, but I've always loved Harper's version of her story and still think it's the only one to have truly given her some semblance of justice.Obviously, the issue with Mary is that there just isn't that much available about her, save the time of her meteoric rise and fall with Henry's attentions- even her alleged life in the French court as a “great whore” was not put into the history books until after Henry took her to his bed, so everything before that is fair game. Everything after her affair with Henry is tainted by the animosity towards her sister, and by proxy, Mary herself- about the only thing everyone seems to agree on is that she married the second time for love, and got the heck out of dodge. So once again, it's wide open for artistic license. Fortunately, Harper never makes any over the top decisions, and her portrayal of Mary is sympathetic, in that, she was a sweet kid, eager to please, who did her “betters” bidding, and when it all was over, she grabbed a little bit of happiness for herself, before fading into relative obscurity. Good for her. None of it was wildly exciting, which is what i meant by quiet- even the period of Anne's eventual downfall has a sort of quiet sorrow to it more than anything else. But at the same time, it never dragged or made me want to skip through.Harper writes well. The book is on the long side- for me, I was happy with that, but it might be daunting for only a lukewarm Tudor fan, or someone who wants an easy beach read. I know now we're all kind of drowning in the number of Tudor dynasty based books out there, but Mary still remains fairly untouched, and of the few options out there for her, this is the best one in my opinion. It maintains a permanent place on my bookshelf, and I look forward to reading it again someday.I had no idea Harper had written so many novels- I have one of her other Tudor novels, but I'm eager to invest in some of her other work as well.

[moriquen · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I have enjoyed this book quite a lot. I sped through it, it read easily and was more then interesting enough. I learned a great deal about Tudor England, a period that is starting to interest me more and more after reading this book (in addition to Sansoms 'Sovereign'). Sometimes the romantic part of the novel was a little too prominent, but it didn't bother me much.

[zquilts_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I have been reading a lot of books by Karen Harper recently and I have to admit to thoroughly enjoying each and every one. What a gifted author she is! "The Last Boleyn" was originally titled "Passion's Reign" and I am not at all sure that I would have chosen to read it with that title. I have that ingrained aversion to lusty title's that shelving Harlequin novels in a book store left me with !"The Last Boleyn" is the tale of Mary Tudor - five years a mistress to Henry VIII before Anne; faithful wife and mother after Henry. Although I had perhaps heard this before I had not registered the fact that the family name had, in fact, been 'Bullen' prior to Anne's Franophile-ization of her family name to the more readily familiar 'Boleyn'. Mary Bullen inherited her mother's more delicate blonde coloring - heritage of her lofty Howard lineage. I have always been of the impression that 'father' Boleyn was a power hungry, ladder climbing syncophant in the court of Henry VIII....a man who would pander his female children to his best advantage. Nothing I have read over the years has really change that opinion - even taking the vagaries of that time period into account.Mary was sent to the French court at an early age - as lady-in-waiting to Henry's sister Mary during her short lived marriage to the aging French King. Upon the King's death Mary remains at the French Court attendant upon Mary and beguiled by the new French King Francois I. Anne Boleyn joins Mary at the French court for a time until Mary returns to England as a teenager - and becomes an integral part of the Court of Henry VIII. The book chronicles Mary's marriage to the cold, calculating William Carey - a husband who accepts the King's advances towards Mary as a way to accrue fame and fortune for himself. During her marriage to William Carey Mary has son and, although she always claimed that he was William Carey's son - there has always been speculation that her son was, in fact, the progeny of Henry VIII .Mary is, ultimately, drawn to the jaded courtier William Stafford - a man whom she will ultimately marry in secret after the death of William Carey. The odd thing about Mary Boleyn's story is that she was always derided by her family for not asking Henry for more - for not expecting more from him as his mistress. Anne was the rapacious sister . Oddly enough though it is Mary, and not Anne, who ultimately lives to a goodly age and retires from Courtlife with both her head and her happiness intact - thank largely, I am led to believe thanks to the love of Will Staford. In contrast, this novel with that of Phillipa Gregory's book "The Other Boleyn Girl" - which is also narrated from Mary's point of view. I enjoyed both of these book tremendously, but I think that in some ways I prefer Karen Harper's work. I think that Ms. Harper follows the history very closely and she also managed to keep me turning the pages of this book late into the night. Best bet - read both books because I think that the story of Mary Boleyn is truly a very good one !

[anitapotter_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great book really good interesting about the relationship between wiliam stafford and mary

[angelic55blonde · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really liked this historical fiction book because it focused on Mary Boleyn instead of her more famous sister, Anne. A great, interesting, and quick read.

[bhowell_35 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book was previously published as Passion's Reign in 1983 and it tells the story of the rise and fall of the Boleyn family through the eyes of it's last survivor, Mary Boleyn. It has been republished in pb 2006 perhaps due to the popular book by Phillepa Gregory about Mary. Here you will find a little more historical accuracy and a very interesting read.

[budababy · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

As compared to "The Other Boleyn" this book seems more historically factual and less moralistic. The complex relationship between Anne and Mary is also barely touched upon, whereas this was a central theme in T.O.B.