Mistress Anne: The Exceptional Life of Anne Boleyn

As Maureen Quilligan wrote in the New York Times Book Review of The First Elizabeth , Anne Boleyn "was a real victim of the sexual scandals her brilliant daughter escaped, and a subject Ms. Erickson's sensitivity to sexual and political nuance should well serve." Indeed, Carolly Erickson could have chosen no more fascinating and appropriate a subject. Alluring and profoundly enigmatic, Anne Boleyn has eluded the grasp of historians for centuries. Through her extraordinarily vivid re-creation of this most tragic chapter in all Tudor History, Carrolly Erickson gives us unprecedented insight into the singuarlity of Anne Boleyn's life, the dark and overwhelming forces that shaped her errant destiny, and the rare, tumultuous times in which she lived. Review "Anne Boleyn emerges as alluring, arrogant, and, ultimately trapped. The author successfully turns the cliche into a real person." --Linda Charlton, The New York Times Book Review "What more intriguing subject, then, for a historian who has chosen to concentrate on the Tudor period, and whose previous studies of Henry VIII, Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth have been hailed for impeccable scholarship, graceful phrasing, and almost addictive readability--for the vividness and immediacy usually only found in the best novels." --Alida Becker, The Philadelphia Inquirer "Erickson is one of the most accomplished and successful biographers writing in English." -- London Times Literary Supplement "This book is highly enjoyable as well as being reilable and acute, indeed, it is popular historical biography at its best." --Christopher Hibbert, London Times About the Author Distinguished historian Carolly Erickson is the author of Rival to the Queen , The Memoirs of Mary Queen of Scots , The First Elizabeth , The Hidden Life of Josephine , The Last Wife of Henry VIII, and many other prize-winning works of fiction and nonfiction. Her novel The Tsarinas Daughter won the Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award for Best Historical Fiction. She lives in Hawaii.

As Maureen Quilligan wrote in the New York Times Book Review of The First Elizabeth, Anne Boleyn "was a real victim of the sexual scandals her brilliant daughter escaped, and a subject Ms. Erickson's sensitivity to sexual and political nuance should well serve." Indeed, Carolly Erickson could have chosen no more fascinating and appropriate a subject. Alluring and profoundly enigmatic, Anne Boleyn has eluded the grasp of historians for centuries.

Through her extraordinarily vivid re-creation of this most tragic chapter in all Tudor History, Carrolly Erickson gives us unprecedented insight into the singuarlity of Anne Boleyn's life, the dark and overwhelming forces that shaped her errant destiny, and the rare, tumultuous times in which she lived.

Christopher Hibbert

This book is highly enjoyable as well as reliable and acute, and deep, it is popular historical biography at its best. London Times

Carolly Erickson selected a fascinating and appropriate subject, and this extraordinary royal biography reads like a novel. Alluring and profoundly enigmatic, Anne Boleyn has eluded the grasp of historians for centuries. With her vivid re-creation of Henry VIII's Tudor England, Carolly Erickson gives us unprecedented insight not only into the dark and overwhelming forces that shaped Anne Boleyn's exceptional life and errant destiny, but the tumultuous times in which she lived as well.