This book has suddenly become popular once again, due to the movie that came out recently based on it. I have not yet seen the movie, and am not sure if I want to. The book was wonderful! The best parts were the sarcastic and witty comments on society that Austen writes, and, since many of these are written from her viewpoint of her anonymous narrator, and not her characters, how could the movie version even touch that?

Its about a family of five sisters and their parents, who live in England in around 1811 or so. The book is intentionally vague about the exact years. The girls are old enough to be married, and their mother is desperate to make this happen. The father is less interested in his wife and most of his silly daughters, (except Lizzy, his favorite, who is smart), and more interested in reading books and being left alone. The story twists and turns in unexpected ways, and was much more interesting than I expected it to be! I was constantly finding hidden gems of great sentences, many of which were also really funny. I had heard that Austen wrote sarcastically about society, but I didn’t know she was funny!

The entire mindset of the book can be summed up rather well in the opening sentence. Austen writes: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” Nearly everyone in the book has decided that their goal in life is to be married, and to have all of their daughters, sons, nephews, and nieces married. Most of the characters in the book are more interested in having people marry “well”, that is, for financial gain and social status, than marrying for love. Some of the characters in the book marry for money, and some for love, and the results are compared and contrasted with Austen commenting on every outcome.

The book also is a window into the very regimented social rules that were the normal way of behaving at the time. It’s much more formal than anything we do today, and makes for an interesting view into another time, another culture. Its a great book, and I didn’t expect it to be half as great as I found it to be!

Jane is the oldest sister, who falls for a new neighbor, named Mr. Bingley. Of course, Jane is quiet, and he doesn’t really know she likes him for most of the book. Bingley’s sisters don’t want him to marry Jane, since her family does not have much money or status. One of Bingley’s sisters is interested in his friend, Mr. Darcy, who doesn’t seem to like her much. Darcy doesn’t seem to like anyone much at all, especially Elizabeth, Jane’s sister, and the feeling is mutual. And then, things change around. Very nicely woven plot lines.
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This was one of my favorite books when I first read it. I must have been ten or eleven years old at the time, and had not encountered many other books that were “for kids” and were anything like this book. I was impressed that it was as big as the books for adults, and, that it was not “dumbed down”, like many of the other books I had read at that time. (The world still had some years to go before bookstores and libraries created a “young adult” or “teen” section, and, there didn’t seem to be many authors who were seeking that particular audience back then). As I read Little Women now, as an adult, I find that I still enjoyed it, but not nearly as much as I did when I was much younger.

The story is basically about the lives of the March family. Its around the time of the Civil War in America, and the father of the family is off involved with that for a big chunk of the book. The Civil War, and the political environment that surrounds it are barely mentioned in this book. Its really about four sisters, their mom, and some friends and extended family.

Mrs. March, or “Marmee”, is the perfect example of what a mother should be. Meg, the oldest girl, is working as a governess, is almost old enough to begin to think about marriage, but is much to innocent to have even realized it. Jo is second oldest, an exuberant tomboy, who has a job reading to an elderly aunt. She reads every book she can get her hands on, and also writes quite a bit herself. Beth, the next girl, is sweetness itself, and overwhelmingly innocent and good. She plays the piano and sings, and cares for pets, dolls, and the family in small ways. Amy, the youngest, is beautiful, (the only blond haired blue eyed child in the family) and a bit self-centered about both her beauty and her developing art talent. Also, there is Laurie, the boy next door, who is more or less unofficially adopted by the March family. He is sometimes brother, sometimes friend, and later on, something more to some of the girls.

The girls grow from little girls to “little women” as the book continues, and have various experiences along the way. Many of the chapters are almost like little lessons, that the young girl who would be the intended reader can take away with her after she is done reading the book. It also shows a good picture of what life would have been like if you were a woman living in America at that time. Completely different social rules from what one sees today! Its an interesting read.
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Here is a wonderful work of Historical Fiction! Its a large book, (661 pages), but doesn’t seem to take that long to read, because the story stays interesting from start to finish. It allows the reader to complete lose one’s self in England of the 1500’s.

Its based on the lives of two sisters from the Boleyn family. Mary is 12, and already married to a man named William Carey when the book starts. (The young age is not considered to be too young to be married by anyone who lived at that time.) Her slightly older sister, Anne, is just returning from France, where she was part of the French King’s Court. Both girls, and their older brother George, are going to be part of the English King Henry’s Court.

The entire story is told from the point of view of Mary. She starts out very innocent, but gets drawn deeper and deeper into her families devious plans, despite her wishes to do what she wants, and to follow her heart. The story is full of political intrigue, something that seems to be a part of all Royal Courts. These people seem to have had nothing more to do than to gossip, flirt, and attempt to gain the most favor with the King! Its better than most Soap Operas!

Mary and Anne soon discover that they are nothing more than pawns for their family to use to gain wealth, favor, and power. King Henry takes a liking to Mary, and her family pushes her to flirt with the King, even though she is already married! Mary objects, but has to do it anyway. Things get deeper and deeper. As the story goes on, its unclear if Henry favors Mary the most, or her sister Anne, or his wife, Queen Katherine. I cannot begin to explain here all the twists and turns this story goes through and do it any justice. You will have to read it for yourself.

Anyone who knows a little about history can accurately guess what happens to Anne, George, and Queen Katherine. Even with that knowledge, it’s a great story. Gregory did quite a bit of homework to write this one. She details some of that work at the end of the book, after the story is done, and I found that to be interesting as well.

Readers who enjoyed Birth Of Venus by Dunnant, or Leonardo’s Swans by Essex, both of which I consider to be a form of Historical Fiction, will enjoy The Other Boleyn Girl by Gregory. One major difference is that this book takes place in England, and the other two are set in Italy. All are hard to put down.

Here we have yet another “thriller” type book about Terrorists who use some kind of biological virus thing to kill off Americans. It had a bit of a twist, because for part of the book, it seemed like maybe the terrorists were using some kind of nanotechnology instead of a regular old biological virus. But then, they weren’t. Or maybe they were, and it didn’t work, or maybe specimens were tampered with.

Most of this book was just plain confusing. There is a list of the five main characters in the front of the book, before you even start the story. Each member of this elite “think tank” is very briefly described in personality as well as just what their specialization is that got them selected to be a part of this group. I found myself having to refer to the list more than once, just to figure out who was doing what, and with whom. Was that one the biological virus guy? Oh, wait, no, hes the computer tech. There is one “bacteriologist” and one specializing in “infectious diseases”, which made these two characters interchangeable in my mind as I read the book. I had to go back and refer to the handy list, just to keep them straight sometimes.

There are also a whole slew of characters who are very briefly described, who then don’t appear again until much later in the book. By then, I had forgotten who they were, and had to page back to see what they did before. Some of them I am still not clear on. It also didn’t help that the author has some fragments of chapters that are done from the point of view of different members of a terrorist cell, none of whom are described clearly, and all of whom have names similar enough for me to think that it was one character doing everything, instead of several characters each doing one small part in something. It was annoying to have to page back and search through the previous chapters to find the fragment where the unknown terrorist was doing something, and then page back to where I got lost at, and try and put the pieces together. Especially when it was more than one piece that I was trying to make fit together.

However, the science behind things seemed to be well described in this book, which is nice. I just wish I could have followed the characters around a bit easier. It would make a good movie though, because there was a lot of action, and tension, and parts with gunfire and explosions. Maybe if I could see the characters faces, I could keep them straight a bit easier. Not a bad book, just a confusing one.