Historical fiction book · Curated
The Other Boleyn Girl
Philippa Gregory · historical fiction
Mary Boleyn’s perspective on the rise of Anne Boleyn and the dangerous theater of Henry VIII’s court.
Why read it: Gateway Tudor historical fiction—soapy, propulsive, hugely popular.
About this historical novel
The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory is historical fiction set around 1521–1536 in the Early modern period with key settings including England, Henry VIII's court. Mary Boleyn’s perspective on the rise of Anne Boleyn and the dangerous theater of Henry VIII’s court.
On HisFic we tag it under 4. Biographical fiction, 2. Historical romance, and 7. Family saga so you can pair it with similar story types. Recurring themes include court, sisters, power, ambition, and romance. Gateway Tudor historical fiction—soapy, propulsive, hugely popular.
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Plot summary
Mary Boleyn’s perspective on the rise of Anne Boleyn and the dangerous theater of Henry VIII’s court. Gateway Tudor historical fiction—soapy, propulsive, hugely popular.
Subgenres
Eras
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More like this on HisFic
Curated titles that share era, story type, or themes.
- Bring Up the Bodies · Hilary Mantel
Thomas Cromwell, now Master Secretary, engineers the fall of Anne Boleyn as Henry VIII turns toward Jane Seymour. The middle novel of Mantel’s Cromwell trilogy is court politics at close range—cool, lethal, and intimate.
- Wolf Hall · Hilary Mantel
Thomas Cromwell rises through Tudor England’s deadly court, told in close, modern-feeling prose.
- Outlander · Diana Gabaldon
A WWII nurse walks through standing stones into Jacobite Scotland—and a complicated love story.
- The Marriage Portrait · Maggie O'Farrell
Lucrezia de’ Medici is married at fifteen to the Duke of Ferrara, then isolated in a court where a duchess can be painted, praised, and quietly discarded. O’Farrell turns a famous rumor—that Lucrezia was murdered—into close, tense biographical historical fiction of Renaissance Italy.
- The White Queen · Philippa Gregory
In 1464, widowed Lancastrian Elizabeth Woodville marries Yorkist King Edward IV in secret and steps into the Wars of the Roses as queen, mother, and survivor. Gregory’s opening Cousins’ War novel is late-medieval biographical historical fiction of a commoner queen, the Woodville rise, and the mystery of the princes in the Tower.
- The Mirror & the Light · Hilary Mantel
The final act of Thomas Cromwell’s rise and ruin (Walter Scott Prize 2021).
Regions & places
Britain & Ireland
England · Henry VIII's court
Themes
- court
- sisters
- power
- ambition
- romance
Tags
tudor · series · page-turner