# Read the first page of The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory Read the opening of The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory free, no signup. Two ambitious sisters compete for the bed of Henry VIII. - Page: https://uncovered.ink/read/the-other-boleyn-girl-philippa-gregory - Genre: Historical fiction - Year: 2001 - ISBN: 9780743227445 - Read it blind (cover and title hidden): https://uncovered.ink/?b=9781416560609&s=read-page - Buy: https://bookshop.org/a/125786/9780743227445 - Borrow: https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=9780743227445 ## The opening I could hear a roll of muffled drums. But I could see nothing but the lacing on the bodice of the lady standing in front of me, blocking my view of the scaffold. I had been at this court for more than a year and attended hundreds of festivities; but never before one like this. By stepping to one side a little and craning my neck, I could see the condemned man, accompanied by his priest, walk slowly from the Tower toward the green where the wooden platform was waiting, the block of wood placed center stage, the executioner dressed all ready for work in his shirtsleeves with a black hood over his head. It looked more like a masque than a real event, and I watched it as if it were a court entertainment. The king, seated on his throne, looked distracted, as if he was running through his speech of forgiveness in his head. Behind him stood my husband of one year, William Carey, my brother, George, and my father, Sir Thomas Boleyn, all looking grave. I wriggled my toes inside my silk slippers and wished the king would hurry up and grant clemency so that we could all go to breakfast. I was only thirteen years old, I was always hungry. The Duke of Buckinghamshire, far away on the scaffold, put off his thick coat. He was close enough kin for me to call him uncle. He had come to my wedding and given me a gilt bracelet. My father told me that he had offended the king a dozen ways: he had royal blood in his veins and he kept too large a retinue of armed men for the comfort of a king not yet wholly secure on his throne; worst of all he was supposed to have said that the king had no son and heir now, could get no son and heir, and that he would likely die without a son to succeed him to the throne. Such a thought must not be said out loud. The king, the court, the whole country knew that a boy must be born to the queen, and born soon. To suggest otherwise was to take the first step on the path that led to the wooden steps of the scaffold which the duke, my uncle, now climbed, firmly and without fear. A good courtier never refers to any unpalatable truths. The life of a court should always be merry. Uncle Stafford came to the front of the stage to say his final words. I was too far from him to hear, and in any case I was watching the king, waiting for his cue to step forward and offer the royal pardon. This man standing on the scaffold, in the sunlight of the early morning, had been the king’s partner at tennis, his rival on the jousting field, his friend at a hundred bouts of drinking and gambling, they had been comrades since the king was a boy. The king was teaching him a lesson, a powerful public lesson, and then he would forgive him and we could all go to breakfast. The little faraway figure turned to his confessor. He bowed his head for a blessing and kissed the rosary. He knelt before the block and clasped it in both hands. I wondered what it must be like, to put one’s cheek to the smooth waxed wood, to smell the warm wind coming off the river, to hear, overhead, the cry of seagulls. Even knowing as he did that this was a masque and not the real thing, it must be odd for Uncle to put his head down and know that the executioner was standing behind. ## Books with a similar feel - [Daughters of Rome by Kate Quinn](https://uncovered.ink/read/daughters-of-rome-kate-quinn.md) - [Three Sisters by Heather Morris](https://uncovered.ink/read/three-sisters-heather-morris.md) - [The Mitford Affair by Marie Benedict](https://uncovered.ink/read/the-mitford-affair-marie-benedict.md) - [Dylan's Redemption by Jennifer Ryan](https://uncovered.ink/read/dylans-redemption-jennifer-ryan.md) - [When We Had Wings by Ariel Lawhon](https://uncovered.ink/read/when-we-had-wings-ariel-lawhon.md) - [Fall of Poppies by Heather Webb](https://uncovered.ink/read/fall-of-poppies-heather-webb.md) --- Source: Uncovered (https://uncovered.ink). A short sample shown for reading and discovery. Rights holders can request removal at https://uncovered.ink/takedown.