Since watching The Crown on Netflix, I have been wanting to dive into the world of the British monarchy. The best way that I know to do that is with Philippa Gregory, so I picked back up on the Tudor series with The Boleyn Inheritance. The inheritance that the title references is what was passed to Jane Boleyn - Anne Boleyn's sister in law. Jane is one of the women that gave evidence against Anne and her brother George (Jane's own husband) that led to their deaths. Jane inherited a title and a small pension, but since the death of her husband she has been living in a village and she desperately misses the court. But luckily, her conniving uncle, the Duke of Norfolk, has found a place for her with the new queen.

Henry VIII's latest wife, Jane Seymour, has died in childbirth and he is on the hunt for his latest conquest. He takes his bids and then sends an artist out to draw sketches of the top contenders so that he can make his final choice. When I type it out, this sounds like a reality show! But really, becoming the next queen of England on the Tudor court usually takes all of the feminine wiles that you see displayed on The Bachelor - and then some.

Henry surprisingly chooses Anne of Cleves - a twenty-something from Germany who is desperate to get away from her controlling and abusive brother and mother. Anne is different than the typical queen who Henry is drawn to, and their relationship is a challenge from their very first encounter.

New to Anne of Cleves' court is little Kitty Howard, a fourteen year old related to the Duke of Norfolk and Jane Boleyn. She quickly becomes a pawn in the Duke's chess game and the family once again seeks the throne. And of course, at this point Henry is nearing 50 and is no longer the handsome man that he was when he became King and married Catherine of Aragon. He stinks, literally. He has a festering wound on his leg and his teeth are rotting out of his head. He's gorged himself on whatever food he wants, so he's gained an enormous amount of weight. These women are subjected to his every whim of desire and it's how they react to it that determines their fates.

One of the things that I like about Gregory's work is that she repeats facts multiple times; normally that would drive me crazy in a book, but it's so helpful in these because the story line can quickly get confusing and it's hard to remember who's who. I have to admit that I LOVE these books. They're a bit risque, but I just fall into this opulent world of beauty and power. While these women actually led miserable and fearful lives, I do wonder what it would have been like to be dripping in pearls and diamonds and wearing the latest fashions. But I can be superficial at times. In fact, after watching The Crown and reading this, I went on a pinterest spree and pinned a ton of royal interior decorating pictures, trying to figure out how to make my house look like a palace (which is impossible).

All in all - this was very enjoyable and I intend to pick up the next in the series at the library ASAP.