Alison Weir’s bio of Anne Boleyn, The Lady in the Tower is recommended as a companion book for Americans who need historical background to enjoy Hilary Mantel’s Booker-winning novel, Wolf Hall.

Now we come full circle; Hilary Mantel reviews The Lady in the Tower for the NYT Book Review.

The Lady in the Tower rose to #93 (from #283) on Amazon sales rankings after the review and a fascinating story on NPR’s All Things Considered (listen here). Holds are as high as 10:1 in several libraries.

Why are people fascinated with Anne Boleyn? Mantel says,

It is because her character has archetypal force…She is the young fertile beauty who displaces the menopausal wife. She is the mistress whose calculating methods beguile the married man; but in time he sees through her tricks and turns against her.

The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn Alison Weir Retail Price: $28.00 Hardcover: 464 pages Publisher: Ballantine Books – (2010-01-05) ISBN / EAN: 0345453212 / 9780345453211

Audio; Recorded Books; Anticipated Release: Feb 13, 2010

• Unabridged CD; $123.75
• Unabridged Cassette; $113.75

eBook available from OverDrive

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Wolf Hall Hilary Mantel Retail Price: $27.00 Hardcover: 560 pages Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. – (2009-10-13) ISBN / EAN: 0805080686 / 9780805080681

UNABR Audio from MacMillan Audio, 9781427210166; $49.99
Audio and eBook available from OverDrive

This entry was posted on Monday, January 25th, 2010 at 11:43 am and is filed under 2010/11 - Winter/Spring, Biography. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.