TV Show Review: Tudors Season 3

The Tudors
Showtime

Season 3

2009

Rated: Mature Audiences

The third season of The Tudors moves through wives 3 and 4 (Jane Seymour and Anne of Cleves) of Henry VIII. The other primary focus of the season is the uprising against the reformation and the eventual downfall of Thomas Cromwell.

I thought that Annabelle Wallis was a very fitting Jane. She was the one that Henry would always call his “true wife”. She had the perfect mix of caution and a little risk. For those of you who haven’t yet seen Season 3, you might not know that Jane is portrayed by a different actress than she was in Season 2 (Anita Briem in S2), which I found unfortunate. It was a little shocking as I watched seasons 2 and 3 back to back – I hate when they change up who is a character. It is fine when they have to age the character but otherwise not ok in my book.

I was surprised by how much I liked Joss Stone as Anne of Cleves – I was a little hesitant when I heard she had been cast because she is a singer without much acting experience. She portrayed Anne very well as the newcomer to England. I was also a little disappointed that only one episode was used to chronicle his marriage to Anne of Cleves. I understand that it was a very short marriage, but they could have done more with it.

We also get a little taste of Katherine Howard in the last episode of the season. She seems exactly like I would have pictured. It was also refreshing to see more and more of Princess Mary – I very much like Sarah Bolger who portrays her. She has a fire and determination that was so like her mother.

This season was also two episodes less than the preceding 2 (and the subsequent season). With only 8 episodes more was compressed into fewer episodes. This season left me less excited about the season than the previous 2 seasons. For me, these were the least two exciting wives. Overall so far, this has been my least favorite of the 3 seasons I have seen. It was still pretty good, just not as phenomenal as Seasons 1 and 2.

Here is a trailer of this season (FYI: some nudity in the trailer)

Copyright © 2011 by The Maiden’s Court

Book Review: The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory

The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory

Book 3 in the Tudor Court series

Paperback, 518 pages

Touchstone Books

August 7, 2007
★★★★ ½☆

Genre: Historical Fiction

Source: Personal Collection

"The Boleyn Inheritance is a novel drawn tight as a lute string about a court ruled by the gallows and three women whose positions brought them wealth, admiration, and power as well as deceit, betrayal, and terror. Once again, Philippa Gregory has brought a vanished world to life -- the whisper of a silk skirt on a stone stair, the yellow glow of candlelight illuminating a hastily written note, the murmurs of the crowd gathering on Tower Green below the newly built scaffold. In The Boleyn Inheritance Gregory is at her intelligent and page-turning best."

The Boleyn Inheritance is narrated through the voices of three narrators: Anne of Cleves (the 4th wife of Henry VIII), Katherine Howard (Henry’s 5th wife), and Jane Rochford (the late Anne Boleyn’s sister-in-law). Each of these women has a lot on the line because of the cloud that hovered above with the name of Boleyn. Each has earned their current place, in a sense, because of the death of Anne.

I enjoyed the parts of the book that were narrated by Anne of Cleves the best. She was only really part of the Tudor Court for a very short time and was new to the country of England as well. Her chapters brought an outside eye to the story while Jane and Katherine’s brought the inside eye. One thing that I really saw in this book was how easily used Katherine Howard was. She was manipulated by all sides and didn’t even have a chance to realize quite what was happening. I wasn’t a huge fan of Katherine’s sections for that reason – she was completely oblivious to everything that was happening – come on girl! Jane’s sections were interesting to see her wrestling with the guilt over what she did to her husband and sister-in-law. It was also enlightening to see the way she rationalized everything she did.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book just as much as The Other Boleyn Girl and The Constant Princess. A unique way at looking at this short period of time and the events that quickly unfolded.

To borrow a little more from the back cover to wrap this up nicely “Anne of Cleves – Her Boleyn Inheritance: accusations and false witness. Katherine Howard – Her Boleyn Inheritance: the threat of the axe. Jane Rochford – Her Boleyn Inheritance: a fortune and a title, in exchange for her soul.”

You can read the first chapter of the book here for a sample of Gregory’s style. You can also listen to a sample of the audio on the website too.

 

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• Give Me Stories
• Out of the Blue

Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia

Also by Philippa Gregory:

Author Philippa Gregory also has written many other books – those among the Tudor Court series include:

The Constant Princess (Book 1)
[My Review]

The Other Boleyn Girl (Book 2)
[My Review]

The Taming of the Queen (Book 4)

The Queen's Fool (Book 5)
[My Review]

The Virgin's Lover (Book 6)

The Other Queen (Book 7)

 

Other Philippa Gregory books I have reviewed:

• The King's Curse (The Cousin's War series)

 

Find Philippa Gregory: Website | Facebook | Twitter |Youtube

 

Copyright © 2009 by The Maiden’s Court