661 pages. The second half was gripping but I thought the first half could've been cut down because it was redundant: there were court parties, there was flirting, there were "family meetings" where the Boleyn/Howard men treated the women as objects and made very clear that they had no regard for a woman's feelings—or life, for that matter, if it wasn't to their advantage. I was surprised at the beginning to see that the narrator was Mary; I had assumed it would be Anne. But Mary Boleyn as narrator worked for me, I would say I was sympathetic towards her. The end was fascinating, even though we all know how it ended for Anne, don't we? And one more thing: people were saying that this book had steamy sex scenes in it. Did this version take them out? because the whole first half had nothing; then there was one sister giving "tips" to the other; then a few mild scenes of conjugal relations between Mary and William. I was really disappointed (just kidding). But actually, I thought the book needed more sex, at least a sex scene with King Henry. Isn't this essentially a tale of seduction? The prospect of a crown seduces Anne; she seduces the king, etc...and so much was dependent upon mating and producing an heir.