Review of "George Boleyn: Tudor Poet, Courtier and Diplomat” by Clare Cherry and Claire Ridgway.

If you are interested in the Boleyn Family, you should definitely read this book that charts the rise and fall of Anne’s brother, George Boleyn.

In dramas and historical fiction, the George Boleyn we see is usually portrayed as a murderer, a rapist, behaving absolutely awfully to his wife Jane Boleyn Lady Rochford and/or had possibly slept with his own sister. George is also often portrayed as gay, another common idea which is not based on any historical evidence. However, the book helps to find out who the real George was. In terms of the negative portrayals of George, in real life, he certainly wasn’t a Saint – he was a creature of his environment – but he had a very successful career at court and was good at poetry, things that often get overlooked and I thought it was fantastic how the book focussed on these areas more.

By focussing on George’s life, this also in some ways helped to show the real story behind his wife Jane Boleyn, another character whose portrayal in drama and historical fiction is often based on possible myths, as it focusses on the common notions surrounding their marriage. There is a very interesting section that looks at the possibility of George having descendants, an area still open to debate, but not totally impossible.

A great read that sorts the facts from the fiction!