The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Robin Maxwell (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 550 pages
• Publisher: Arcade Publishing; Doubleday Direct Large Print edition (1997)
• ISBN-10: 0739408615
• ISBN-13: 978-0739408612
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (99 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,441,569 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars QUEEN ANNE BOLEYN IN HER OWN WORDS, March 17, 2000

By 

JOANNE M. MANUEL "Beatle fan" (BAYONNE, NJ United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn (Hardcover)

As an avid reader of Tudor biographies with a particular fascination for Queen Anne Boleyn, I approached this historical fiction novel with some skepticism. I was pleasantly surprised and impressed! Not only was it factually accurate, but the best read on Anne Boleyn I've had. This novel is premised on the idea that Anne Boleyn kept a diary from the inception of her romance with King Henry VIII up until the day before her execution. This diary was discreetly given to Anne's daughter Queen Elizabeth I shortly after her coronation. Most of the book is comprised of the chronological diary excerpts, which I ravenously devoured. Robin Maxwell captured the language pattern of these Medieval times so magnificently. As I read Anne Boleyn's heartfelt thoughts it was a most intimate and poignant experience. I fought back tears reading Anne's tender words for the daughter she would never live to see grow up. This fictional but authentically presented diary gives the reader a personal and unique forum to experience this royal trajedy.

48 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Taken with a grain of salt, January 22, 2001

By 

Margaret P Harvey (Charlottesville, Va United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn (Paperback)

This book attempts at going beyond the facts and trying to explore the feelings, emotions and ambitions of people that lived more than four HUNDRED years ago. While historically inaccurate, I found this book to offer something beyond Alison Weir or Antonia Frasier's stellar, but heavily factual, interpretations. If you want to explore with an open mind the story of what could have happened, then read this book. My only beef with this book had to be the awkward love trysts of both Elizabeth and Anne. These passages about the love making of both queens is out of place and unnecessary at best. Also the constant references to Anne Boleyn's sixth finger, a myth that is slightly possible and mostly unlikely, is annoying. Do not read this book if you are expecting a high brow look at the facts, or even a high brow look at this era. But for a little bit of guilty pleasure in believing this is how it was, this (slightly fantastical) version of the story makes everything just tie up so nicely, that you almost want to believe that there was a diary, and that Anne Boleyn did have contact with Elizabeth I beyond the grave. The reviews for this book so far have all been very true, the bad and the good, because the truth is that this book creates mixed feelings. Try it out, but don't buy it until you know that you are ready for something a little different.

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A Suffering Bodice-ripper, July 25, 2000

By 

john johnson (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn (Paperback)

Historical fiction this is not. Historical fiction comes from folks like Mary Renault, in my opinion. But if your definition of historical fiction includes romance novel authors such as diana gabaldon, then perhaps, this, too is historical fiction. These days the label "historical fiction" seems to be tossed about to enhance the dignity of low-brow sex-thrillers. This is a syrupy fantasy novel that falls flat even in the romantic sequences that are the focus of the book. Wooden characters and equally stiff interactions. Yes, this is a harsh criticism and it's my true appraisal of the book. Without negative or luke-warm reviews such as this and others here, we'd have a collection of 5-star reviews where apparently every book on Amazon was "the best I've ever read!" Not too informative, eh? I read these reviews before I purchase books or check-out from library. Hence, it's nice to see honest critiques of books as opposed to hyberbole. My recommendation is to skip this book.