Book Review: “Anne Boleyn: 500 Years of Lies” by Hayley Nolan

Hello!

If you know me well enough, you wouldn’t be surprised by my loving support of Queen Anne Boleyn. I’ve always thought she has a bad rap before, during and after her marriage to King Henry VIII. I’ve watched a lot of movies, tv shows, and documentaries that follow the whole “six wives” drama, and I’ve wanted to read a biographical story of her life, but I didn’t want to hear to hear the same things I’ve been hearing since 2008, and I have attempted to read this book two years ago, but I just wasn’t in the mood for it, so after the book itself basically stalking me for months on end, I decided to make a goal to read and complete it before the anniversary of her death in 1536.

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A bold new analysis of one of history’s most misrepresented women.

History has lied.

Anne Boleyn has been sold to us as a dark figure, a scheming seductress who bewitched Henry VIII into divorcing his queen and his church in an unprecedented display of passion. Quite the tragic love story, right?

Wrong.

In this electrifying exposé, Hayley Nolan explores for the first time the full, uncensored evidence of Anne Boleyn’s life and relationship with Henry VIII, revealing the shocking suppression of a powerful woman.

So leave all notions of outdated and romanticized folklore at the door and forget what you think you know about one of the Tudors’ most notorious queens. She may have been silenced for centuries, but this urgent book ensures Anne Boleyn’s voice is being heard now.

#TheTruthWillOut

taken from Goodreads.

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Everything you think you know about the rise and fall of Anne Boleyn is turned upside down, as with every historian and film based on the second line of the Tudor dynasty can be comprised of lies, and lots of them. There were things that I didn’t concern beforehand that while I read this book immediately changed my mind and where I stand on my view of both the king and his former “love” that was Anne Boleyn.

I just want to let everything know, I took quite a few notes between mid-April to early May, just so I could remember things that I thought were really important to other people who enjoy a 16th Century soap opera!

Who was the real Anne Boleyn?

The first thing I thought was both crucial and interesting was how the author Hayley had the guts to say that Henry VIII could have suffered a mental illness all throughout his life. She believes she could have been a sociopath, and yes, she tells her readers why this seems like something he would have been going through in life, and It wouldn’t have been caused by the jousting accident he had in 1520’s, although she does point out that it could have heightened his paranoia of his court and of course, not being able to have an acceptable heir.

I thought it was somewhat funny how much I was comparing his actions like of Victoria Helen Stone’s Jane Doe series. Jane is also a sociopath, but totally fictional, so in a way, to see how her mind works–she doesn’t believe she is in the wrong, blames over people, she doesn’t know how to show true emotions like love, and is ruled by her impulses. I thought Victoria’s books were the shit before; I definitely love them now. but it was also frightening to see the similarities between these two, and again Jane is a fictional character!

Besides the rundown of Henry’s erratic behavior, you understand that we need to see Anne as a human being, although it was 1500’s, she deserves to have her real story told and this book is full of information by tons of courtiers and religious people of the time, such as Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, Thomas Cromwell, Thomas Crammer, Archbishop of Canterbury, William Latymer, William Kingston, Chapuleys, Ambassador of Spain. You are told things that many historians and authors normally pass through because it doesn’t fit the mold that is the Tudor era.

One of the things we always learn about this part of history is that court life is not about this grand and there is always a party of some sort going on, but this isn’t exactly true. People were stuck in large palaces, and it was fairly quiet, so there was always in need of musicians and poets to keep everyone happy (or at least comfortable with their surroundings!) but it wasn’t just the king and his advisors that were working hard, the Queen also had her own job as she helped the king discover another religion which was evangelism and helped break away from Rome. She was helping students continue their schooling and protected them from harm for practicing another faith. She always worked based on what she hoped would happen for the nation and educate her little daughter Elizabeth as Protestant than Catholicism.

When non-history-fanatics think of Anne Boleyn, do they recall her fighting for religious reform and freedom? No, they think six wives, six fingers and beheaded.

There is something I wasn’t a huge fan of, I didn’t care on how cocky Hayley was, getting her point across with each chapter. I understand as someone who loves and supports Anne very much, you want everyone to know the facts, but I thought the author was sort of cocky with her words. However, there were interesting tidbits that were mixed with sarcasm here and you felt like she was sitting right next to me having a very intense debate about who was really responsible for bringing Anne (and the other poor victims) of the murdering plot down for good, and when it came to sections like this, I was fine with that familiar banter but the rest, not so much.

Anyways, if you are looking for a different perspective on this time period and looking at the ‘romance’ or ‘love story’ that was King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. I definitely recommend this book, but if you are set with what media chooses to discuss, then you might want to ease yourself into the real truth of Anne Boleyn.

Have you read Hayley Nolan’s “Anne Boleyn: 500 Years of Lies” yet? If you have checked it out, what were some of your thoughts about what she shared with us?

Happy Birthday Blondie!

Howdy!

So I wasn’t going to even blog today, but I thought this was a special occasion. I needed to do something nice for my sister’s big day!

Today my little sister turns 21! We can both drink together! However I was told that she can’t exactly drink with her medication she’s on right now. So that part kind of sucks.  There are other ways to celebrate birthdays without alcohol. I guess, I could get a tub of chocolate ice cream? Or we could watch the High School Musical Reunion together, but I’m kind of running out of things to do with her!

It’s kind of difficult to talk about how much my sister means to me. Mostly because she sort of puts up this emotionless wall like I do. We’d rather not feel any kind of emotions. Anyways, I do remember when I was a freshman (and I hope I haven’t talked about this on here!) I took P.E. and I couldn’t do some of the activities that the other students could do, so I would borrow one of the other girls to do an activity with me instead. Some of these girls hated whenever I picked them because they would show it “silently” on their faces. Anyways one of these girls got on the subject of our siblings, and I started talking about Blondie. At this time, she was still in elementary school and I was basically bragging about her, how awesome she was when we were kids; what she does when somebody stares too much at me and all that. I wish I could remember how we ended our conversation.

I love you so much Blondie and I’m happy to be your big sister!

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Sorry I couldn’t hold it much longer. I’m lucky I got through four days with only telling one person! I wasn’t originally going to include it in the same post either, but I didn’t want to wait for two weeks for an open spot!

Yeah, you read that picture right!

I got this random text message from her saying “so Brandon and I are engaged!! Don’t tell dad” Monday night. They were supposed to come down the night before, but dad was mad at her about a gift that she got early, no she’s not pregnant! I’ll explain in a couple of days I promise! Anyways, I kept my end of the deal and kept my mouth shut even though it was all over Facebook and she has quite a few of his friends on it. We’re all surprised nobody told him after seeing that status!

They wanted dad’s blessing! My dad didn’t know that was the reason they were coming down, so dad had him fix a few things on my TV. According to dad, the dude looked like he was going to have a nervous breakdown! He did give his blessing though, because I somewhat heard it and I immediately texted my sister because she and mom went over to drop off food for my nana and papaw or something. I told her “He asked, so far so good!” I don’t know which one I was more proud of, because that’s a big thing for both of them!

I did pretty good as far as handling emotions. That is, until my mom went and babbled that she was going to ask me to be her maid of honor. Now I got told not to tell our dad that he had already purposed and she sent that text out to both mom and I, and mom still babbled to me about this maid of honor stuff because “she couldn’t help herself, it was too exciting!” I’m still a bit weirded out mostly because she could have her close friends have this and she chose me. I know it’s an important role, but still I just don’t think I’m cut out for the job just because I’m the sister. I don’t know, it’s only been four days and I could like it instead of being the bridezella. Like my mom said, I get to plan the bridal shower! 😉

She already has a color theme: gray and pink. Our dad can wear a dorag (bandana) on his head as long as it’s in one of those colors! He’s already allowed to bring his motorcycle too! I’m comfortable with wearing a dress, but we’re going to have some serious chats about how pink these bridesmaid dresses will be, because I hate the color pink! They’ve even decided on a date sometime in October 2017! If you have advice to the happy couple and/or have any comforting words for me and my insecurities, I could use them too! Thanks!

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I’m Feeling Girly After Watching The Red Carpet

What is your favorite awards show? I’m not the type of person that usually watches both the arriving on the red carpet and the awards show. I usually go to the next best thing and borrow my mom’s magazines just to see the gorgeous dresses and I can’t forget about the men that wear very sharp suits. I’m watching E! Live at the Red Carpet right now, both Giuliana Rancic and Kelly Osbourne look beautiful! I am so excited to see Jennifer Lawrence’s dress. So far Zooey Deschanel and Hayden Panettiere has come up to do an interview. I still have a fairly large girl crush on Hayden even though I don’t watch Nashville like everybody else. A few others I’m pumped to see are Zoe Saldana, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, Olivia Wilde, Julia Roberts, and maybe (and yes, I’m crossing my toes) to see Elsa Pataky, who is married to Chris Hemsworth. She is one hot woman and I’m not ashamed to say it out loud either!

Today, has been okay I guess. It’s been perfectly good but then again, it wasn’t too bad either, but it was in between. My stomach has been acting weird again and it sucks. I did get to go out today, but it was kind of short. I did get to talk, not a lot but some. I’ve got to say I totally regret taking a small nap before we went to my nana’s because I was very cranky and tired. It was very opposite because it’s my mom who is more cranky and I’m the one is trying to calm myself down and succeeding at it too. Today was not my day for that. I did dress in different shades of purple though. So there was something good there. Oh, and I got to have some of my ice cream too! I can only eat ice cream at my nana’s in hopes of getting more than one bowl of it than I do when I have some here at the house. If I have cookie dough ice cream than my mom takes some and I’m pretty sure my dad takes some too. If I had mint chocolate, definitely my dad takes some. Blondie likes to take my papaw’s ice cream more than mine. I find that a good thing I’m not even kidding! I’m hoping to feel better tonight or tomorrow. I’m hoping to have a relaxing day tomorrow, but I would love a productive day too, because I have a book that I really need to read before this month ends. I know it’s not even close to ending yet, but now my inside is freaking out! I need to read my book tomorrow.

Old Classics Like Ice Cream

I was a very bad person last night. I made this vow at the beginning of the year that I would blog for everyday even if I didn’t have any energy, I would post a quote or something instead. Well, last night I was extremely tired and I was literally falling asleep while my iPod was playing on my stereo. I had even ignored my sister who I guess was bored and wanted to get on Skype at nine o’clock at night. I even had socks on last night because it was so cold in my room. Thankfully my mom was too awake and took me to the bathroom, put on my sock (twice), and put on my elbow pads for me. It was just one of those nights for me. However, I woke up at almost the same time as I did yesterday, so I wonder if I’ll do the same thing I did last night, tonight? I’m just glad I did it on a night where none of my shows are on.

Originally, I was going to talk about yesterday in yesterday’s post, but since everything was a little loopy, I think that’s why I kept pushing everything back basically. So yesterday, I went over to my nana’s and helped her clean. I don’t know why but I hardly ever want to clean when I get home after helping her clean and organize. I have been thinking about getting another book shelf but I am literally running out of room. I have my shower chair, my new table, and something else in here that I’m still not yet ready to talk about on here yet. Sorry. Anyways, I’ve got too much shit in one tiny little room. When my mom rearranged my bed a few months ago, I thought I had gained a lot of room that I didn’t have before. Well, in the last few months after that I’ve lost that space. I think there’s an old children’s desk that needs to go because it’s old and almost on its last limb. I have all of my sister’s trophies underneath it. Everything that is on top of that table needs to be in a bookshelf. I have a real bookshelf, but it’s got all of my stuffed animals in it.

Anyways, we were in the mist of cleaning the first row and the top of the actual bookshelf and it’s was very strange to all these different books completely covered in dust. When I was a kid, I can remember scooting from each end of their living room and just looking at these huge books and wondering what they were. Well, I think I figured out what they were yesterday. Most were the books given to the aunts. Which are my Papaw’s aunts. They used to live in that house prior to my grandparents. We found some science books that are my Papaw’s, A few old Bibles. Once we found a back to the first shelf, I thought we needed a box and thankfully Papaw had an unused box by his chair so I grabbed it and we started putting his old Basketball tapes in there. That was another thing from the 90’s that you can still find in that house. I swear I think they have something from every era in that house. The house is probably the oldest of anything (doubt it) in that house. It was built-in the 1800s I think. Nana’s told me the exact date, but I’ve slept since then. We started pulling out these different tapes, some we could read what there were and the rest not so much. One we found I actually liked, it was Apollo 13 on VHS. So old, so nineties, but yet so cool! You miss those days after finding them.

Something like that happened for my nana. This usually doesn’t happen too often, because she’s still on Adam Lambert, but after we got done with our mini break and basically had made an excuse to get the hell out of that living room. After all these years, that living room gives me a weird feeling. It’s like somebody’s watching you, but since that room is so big, you think that person is either directly behind you or looking at you from the stairs. I’ve always hated those damn stairs. Even when we lived there, they just creeped me out. I usually try to stay out of there by myself because it just paranoid’s the crap out of me and everybody likes to tease me for it. So back to the story, while my nana and I decided to switch sides, because I thought it would be better for her to move everything around since she’s used to her surroundings in that little corner. We started working on the top of the book shelf and she started wiping off the dust from the old books. We found books that she got from a yard sale and they were facts about the surrounding states, plus the state we live in and they were just huge books and somebody was just giving them away. So nana just snatched them up. Once she got most of the other books put at the side. We found something really neat, well at least I thought it was neat.

We found this medium stacked row of old records. I’ve been trying to rack my brain if anybody has ever shown me a record before and I’m pretty sure they have, because growing up, you knew Papaw had them because that’s all he talked about was Stan Kenton. I’m pretty sure he’s shown us a record or two, but my brain can’t think that far back. Well yesterday I got to touch one of these things. After seeing them in pictures and watching that part on Ray where they show you how they’re made. It was pretty cool! I had to get a picture of the two skinny ones, which we found out to be albums. My nana explained to me how sometimes, you can have a whole album on one record or two songs front and back. If we ever learned about records in elementary or middle schools, I sure as hell didn’t pay attention enough. After we cleared the top part off we took another break and I decided then that I wanted the rest of my Aunt Laurie’s ice cream that she left behind. Who knew vanilla bean ice cream would taste so good, but later on when you want ice cream again, there’s no taste to remember it by. That part sucked the most, but the next I go over I get to have my Chocolate Mint ice cream. I haven’t had that ice cream in a long time. I just hope the next time my dad goes over there, he doesn’t get any ideas.

Walmart Stories

Today was a fun day for me. I went to Walmart, and didn’t expect to go at all. I had a fun time. Even though I had a somewhat low battery on my wheelchair and couldn’t find the CD I wanted. Going to Walmart is a fun thing to do. For one, it gets me out of the house and depending on who I go with its either hilarious or just plain weird. I’ve got tons of Walmart stories that I could share with you. Two stories out of them all though actually go with today. Somehow my cousin Kristi ends up being in both of these stories. I wonder if she’ll remember these days. Both days were very interesting and crazy.

First story is about when my mom and sister were getting their nails done. They do this as their girl time. I’m not as girly as they are and thank god for that! My cousin Kristi would come with us so I wasn’t alone. We had this thing of going around different aisles and we would go to the aisle with the clocks and mirrors. We were the two crazy girls taking pictures of ourselves in these mirrors while other customers were shopping. Then would go look at all these kid toys. We tried out the “Push Me” stuffed animals and any other toy that could possibly make the loudest noise to freak us out. Sometimes we had toys keep going after we ran off. After that we went to the entertainment section. After we left we decided to look at baby clothes. Now, she’s got a niece and a nephew. So looking at baby clothes was normal for her to do since she’s an aunt. Well, today I was passing through the baby section and saw this shirt that said “stud muffin” on it. It was so cute! It made me remember that day with Kristi.

As we were leaving to go back home today, we passed two ice cream shops. One going into town and the other going the east of town. I think that’s right. Not for sure though. Anyways, it made me think of this really hot day in July. My friend Janise and my cousin Kristi and I went putt-putting on what felt like the hottest day ever. I think we got to five holes and we were like, “ok, it’s too hot!” So we left and got ice cream. Janise was driving, and we were going to Mason’s which is on the east side. Well when we got into town she pulled into Scoop’s and Kristi and I were dying laughing because it wasn’t the right place. So we got out on the highway and went to Mason’s and ordered. When we got done, we sat in KFC’s parking lot while the bright sun was shining right on us. It was a fun day being with them and laughing about how Janise was hoping not to make a mess in her car and not to make a mess on me with the melting ice cream.