Vengeance Is Mine: A Novel of Anne Boleyn, Katherine Howard, and Lady Rochford--the woman who helped destroy them both. [Paperback]

Brandy Purdy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 18, 2007

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.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Brandy Purdy is the author of two historical novels: The Confession of Piers Gaveston and Vengeance Is Mine. She lives in Beaumont, Texas.

Product Details

• Paperback: 258 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse, Inc. (December 18, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595481248
• ISBN-13: 978-0595481248
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #993,945 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Brandy Purdy (Emily Purdy in the UK) is the author of the historical novels THE CONFESSION OF PIERS GAVESTON, THE BOLEYN WIFE (THE TUDOR WIFE), THE TUDOR THRONE (MARY & ELIZABETH), and THE QUEEN'S PLEASURE (A COURT AFFAIR). An ardent book lover since early childhood, she first became interested in history at the age of nine or ten years old when she read a book of ghost stories which contained a chapter about Anne Boleyn haunting the Tower of London. Visit her website at www.brandypurdy.com, you can also follow her, and her cat Tabby, via her blog at http://brandypurdy.blogspot.com or on Facebook as Brandy Purdy - Emily Purdy.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Inaccurate, and Badly Written, August 16, 2008

By 

Sunny @ the Library "sunnyatthelibrary.com" (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Vengeance Is Mine: A Novel of Anne Boleyn, Katherine Howard, and Lady Rochford--the woman who helped destroy them both. (Paperback)

I know most of the reviews here are positive, and I was almost afraid to post one of the few negative viewpoints, but if a review like this had been here when I bought the book, I might have saved my money. So for those who are like me, hope this helps.

I'm almost embarrassed I read this.

I mean, I'm no stranger to trashy Tudor fiction -- I have read everything Philipa Gregory has had to say on the subject, for instance. I'm certainly no stranger to actual Tudor history, having been fascinated by the dynamic Henry VIII for as long as I can remember.

This was, without a doubt, the worst, most lurid, and poorly-researched piece of fiction I have every read about the Tudors.

I was so excited by the idea of this book -- who ever tells this story from Jane Boleyn's perspective? -- that even though I requested that my local library order it, I then went out and bought it for myself so i wouldn't have to wait. I was really hoping the author could add some facets to a historical figure that is usually propped up like a cardboard villain.

Instead, I got cardboard villain from inside the head of cardboard villain. Her motivations were unclear even as she's explaining them.

But that's not all. There was a serious lack of accuracy in the book, from the usage of nicknames that were not extant at the time, incorrect time lines, alterations of famous speeches, placing historical figures in the wrong place at the wrong time, and a few brazen passages that couldn't have been mistakes. They must have been intentionally incorrect.

I would describe how absolutely pornographic this book was, but I'm afraid this isn't the venue for it. I've read coyer erotica. By the time I got to the ludicrous sex scene between Catherine Howard and Anna of Cleves (no really!), who kept shouting "Ya Liebchen!" (And don't get me started on the whole line about giving the "Flanders Mare" the ride of her life) it just got funny. I was reading passages aloud to my howling friends, tears streaming down our faces.

And yet, it might have gotten away with it all, or at least some of it, if the writing quality was any better than that of your average internet fan fiction. Really, I swear people did not constantly refer to each other as "Bluff King Hal," "The Rose Without a Thorn," "The Goggle-Eyed Whore," and so forth. It's as if the author was so proud of having unearthed these well-known nicknames, she had to use them as frequently as possible. And the dialect of Anna of Cleves (particularly in the aforementioned sex scene) was... oh there are no words. There were tense shifts, point of view shifts, and if anything else could be shifted, it probably was.

I'm just so terribly disappointed to see such and interesting subject treated so badly. Although it is non-fiction, and therefore less speculative and exploratory, I guess I'll have to be satisfied with Julia Fox's biography. (I know she appears in Gregory's Boleyn Inheritance, but she is not the sole focus of the novel.)

For the connoisseur of Tudor history, even the fluffier fiction sort, stay away. There are much better things out there that, even when they aren't 100% accurate, are at least better told.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Come on..., November 18, 2008

By 

wdahs "wdahs" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vengeance Is Mine: A Novel of Anne Boleyn, Katherine Howard, and Lady Rochford--the woman who helped destroy them both. (Paperback)

I don't usually review things, but I think you ought to know if you are considering buying this book that its grasp of history is almost nonexistent and absolutely drenched in outlandish erotica. I won't spoil it for you if you really want to read it, but just the gratuitous and ridiculously inaccurate sex scenes in this book alone make it virtually unreadable. I'll admit I have an addiction to Tudor-era historical fiction and nonfiction. I've read plenty of books on the subject and I'm usually game for artistic liberties taken by the authors in terms of plot and character but this book takes it way too far. In short: I finished it, but I really, really didn't want to.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Simply Unbeleivable!, November 7, 2008

By 

Anne~1536 (California, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Vengeance Is Mine: A Novel of Anne Boleyn, Katherine Howard, and Lady Rochford--the woman who helped destroy them both. (Paperback)

I don't even know where to begin..
First off, to me, this is the most ridiculous portrait (yes, I know it's somewhat 'fictional' writing), but please!
The majority of this story has Jane 'dashing' everywhere to spy on just about everyone.
Where she finds the time for all of this escapes me.
She even manages to 'dash' ahead of King Henry and Queen Anne to beat them to their bedroom so she can 'dash' inside of a cupboard to watch them have sex. BTW, the 'door' to the cupboard she's hiding in is made of lattice.
Then we get to the part about the 'sex' between two queens.
Total nonsense!
The book takes many many liberties that I've not seen in quite awhile with the charactors.
Jane's 'madness' scenes are so 'rearranged' here that it is laughable.
I bought this book to see if what other readers were seeing.
I must say that anyone that takes this authors rendition with any
seriousness has NOT read many books on the Tudors.
If that's the case, some will enjoy it.
But to those who have read a fair amount of Tudor history, fiction or not, will see that this is totally off the charts with any clarity.
This is one book that I will happily send off to another to read, but only after warning them to read with a grain of salt!
I realize Jane was a fairly despicable person, but come on!
No wonder George did'nt spend much time with her,according to this author,she was far too busy dashing around spying, be it through keyholes or cupboards!
My advice...dash off to a better book about Jane than this one...