content: First let me say that the purchasing end of this exchange was excellent. The book reached me promptly and was in fine condition physically. If only the writing were at least half as fine. The conversations sounded 20th century, not remotely 16th century. Nor did they sound like genuine exchanges among the Boleyn siblings but instead like devices to let the reader know explicitly what was going on in the palaces and historically. The author's choice of starting with a wholly naive narrator (Mary in her early teens) and increasing her knowledge and perceptiveness was not unwise in itself, but was clulmsy in execution. She seems altogether too dense for too long, and even after she's much more worldly still frequently demonstrates her "cotton head". There's no denying that the Tudor era was racy and dangerous. If this is the only book at hand on that subject, grab it and skim.