(If you’re looking for my post on the Afghan woman Malalai Joya, who was expelled from the Afghan parliament for speaking out about corruption, and violence against women, scroll down. I’ll post more on her when I’ve finished her book.)

Conflict in“The Other Boleyn Girl.”

I’ve been meaning to write something on this for some time.  How does Philippa Gregory keep the conflict going in “The Other Boyne Girl’?

She has at least the following conflicts going.

1-The Boleyn family want Anne to become King Henry’s lover, but she is opposed to this idea (at first).

2-She secretly weds Henry Percy, and her family and Cardinal Wolsey  force her to make out the marriage never happened.

3-The Boleyn family are always afraid that the Seymour family will put  one of their girls ‘in front of king Henry,’ and the Boleyn family may lose their hopes of advancement.

4-King Henry needs a male heir and Queen Catherine keeps having miscarriages, sons
that die in infancy, or once, a live daughter.

5-Anne Boleyn urges Henry to break with the Pope and form the Church of England.

6-Anne refuses to give herself sexually to Henry until he promises to make her queen,
but has to keep him interested, while not giving in to him.

7-Anne and her sister Mary end up as rivals for the King’ affections, with Henry still pursuing Anne even after Mary has just given birth to Henry’s illegitimate child.

8-Mary and Anne fear for the life of their brother, George, because he is homosexual and this may lead to his death. (It does).

9-Mary becomes disenchanted with life at court, and wants to live a simple life in the
country.

10-Their brother George is force to marry Jane Parker, for whom he feels nothing.

11-Queen Catherine knows that the Boleyn girls are betraying her and fears that Anne may have her poisoned.

12-When Anne finally becomes queen, mobs heckle her in the street and she has to return up the Thames in fear of her life.

13-Finally, after Anne fails to produce a son, she ends up in the Tower of London, taking Mary’s daughter with her as a lady-in-waiting, much to the distress of Mary.

And those were just the thirteen I could think of without re-reading the book. I wonder
what more I’ll find a a second read?