Daphne Sharpe's Reviews > The Anne Boleyn Cypher

An intriguing and very entertaining read, with a good mixture of historical resources being used throughout. These sources are used to challenge our preconceptions about Anne Boleyn and King Henry the Eight, and help to put a different, more human version of the accepted views of this Tudor period.
It is so well researched, with a wide assortment of writers about this period being referenced, I myself adore this period of history, and, despite being well versed in these characters, I found myself being engrossed and entranced by the story all over again!
There are wonderful descriptions of Tudor life , buildings that are sadly no more, Palaces that would have been quite different then, with servants to attend in every walk of life, the foods, the entertainments, dances, clothes, and then Anne Boleyn and her famous necklace “ B” with three hanging pearls, that must have been stupendous if the remaining portraits of her are to be believed.
The story has an unusual storyline, it is told in the present tense, but with the added element of time travel, that surprises and makes the reader become more involved in the deceit. Every historian would probably love to go and experience actual events and see for themselves the truth about such famous people and the temptation to alter such historical facts would be very tempting. This story makes clear that these persons were actual beings, flawed like us, capable of jealousy, deception, inappropriate relationships, yet, they still fascinate us, some five hundred years later, and that is their secret, we love the power of the King, we decry his treatment of his wives, but we love the beauty and the sense of achievement of this Tudor age. Throw in secret passages, forbidden religion, cryptic letters and documents, and we happily become believers and followers. I am intrigued enough to want to read the second book in this series.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers, Sapere books for my advance digital copy given in exchange for my honest review. A five star read.