Weir is pioneering a more historiographical form of popular history, without losing her ability to tell a good story.' ( B.B.C. 'Weir has scoured the sources to produce this intriguing biography. Your Mary is a fine addition to the Tudor canon.' (Carole Richmond, event organiser for Blickling Hall) I couldn't sleep last night because my mind kept trying to work out the motivations for the various members of the Boleyn tribe. 'Just a quick note about the tour de force that is your Mary Boleyn. 'A feast for Tudorphiles.' (Toronto Globe and Mail) 'This nuanced, smart, and assertive biography reclaims the life of a Tudor matriarch.' ( Publishers Weekly, U.S.A.) In answering questions vital to understanding the life of Mary Boleyn, Weir matches her usual professional skills in research and interpretation to her customary felicitous style.' (Booklist, U.S.A.) 'This highly regarded and vastly popular British historian, known especially for her rewarding tilling of the rich soil of Tudor history, turns detective in her latest engaging biography. Named one of 'The best books of the year' by the Chicago Tribune, Mary Boleyn was also Random House UK's fourth best-selling history paperback in 2012.

(Oct.Mary Boleyn: 'The Great and Infamous Whore'/Mary Boleyn: The Mistress of Kings (2011) This nuanced, smart, and assertive biography reclaims the life of a Tudor matriarch whose illustrious descendants include Elizabeth II, Churchill, and Princess Diana. After Anne's fall, it is highly unlikely that Mary tried to intercede for her or was even at court at the time. Despite rumors that both Mary's children were Henry's, Weir cites evidence that her son was Carey's. Mary's first husband, William Carey, was not an insignificant courtier on whom Mary could be palmed off as 'soiled goods' he was the king's cousin and a rising star. Mary was never the great, infamous whore described by papal representative Rodolfo Pio her liaisons with both Fran%C3%A7ois and Henry 'were conducted so discreetly that not a single comment was made about them at the time,' and she probably had little choice in becoming their mistress.

Weir's rigorous reassessment makes the case (long debated by historians) that Mary was likely the elder sister, based on her grandson's written assertion of this. Mistress of Henry VIII and his rival Fran%C3%A7ois I, Mary Boleyn has often been romanticized and misrepresented in histories and in popular novels like Philippa Gregory's The Other Boleyn Girl, argues historian Weir (The Lady in the Tower) in this fresh take on Anne Boleyn's sister.

Mary boleyn by alison weir