Doomed Queen Anne
In this installment of the “Young Royals” series, Carolyn Meyers weaves a riveting morality tale around the life of Anne Boleyn. From her youngest days, Anne has envied her older sister Mary—a blond temptress and a mistress of kings. Raised in the courts of Europe, Anne soon learns to better her own sister in feminine wiles. When her father secures her a position in the English court, she quickly puts her skills to work. She encourages King Henry VIII’s attentions even as she denies him the ultimate surrender. Ultimately, she wins the king’s love, marries him, and becomes queen—at the cost of great social and religious upheaval. Yet, after three pregnancies, she bears the king only one daughter, not the son he craves. Soon Anne is framed for “treason” and beheaded to make way for the king’s next fancy. Parents should take note: the subject matter, though handled deftly by the author, still concerns a brazen young woman sexually ensnaring a king, and thus may not be appropriate for the younger set of the book’s target age group. Anne is vibrantly portrayed as a fierce and determined character, but she is no role model. Her life story is a cautionary tale of the price of pride and blind ambition. Ages 12+
