Mary Boleyn: The Mistress of Kings is a compelling biography of the little-known sister of Anne Boleyn, who became infamous for being pursued, married to and ultimately executed by the mercurial King Henry VIII.

Mary Boleyn’s character has been maliciously maligned by repeated referrals from historians and authors as to her lack of moral character. Weir actually provides evidence that Mary Boleyn was the mistress of not only King Henry VIII but also King Francois I of France. Weir deftly wields that evidence to make the case that Mary Boleyn was not a woman of loose character, as well as exploding many other myths about her, such as the popular assertions that Mary’s affair with Henry VIII caused a scandal and that Mary was infamously promiscuous while a member of the French court of the aforementioned Francois I.

This fast-paced read details the rise and unprecedented fall of the former lover of Henry VIII. Mary Boleyn spent her golden years exiled from the English court because she had the audacity to marry for love. That exile is the reason why there is no mention of her reaction to her sister’s fall from King Henry’s favor and her resultant beheading.

Anglophiles and history buffs alike will find this in this book a finely nuanced portrait. Her biography of Mary Boleyn is not only entertaining but also informative and historically supported by the immense amount of Weir’s research.