Review: Anne Boleyn: 500 Years of Lies by Hayley Nolan

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So leave all notions of outdated and romanticised folklore at the door and forget what you think you know about one of the Tudors’ most notorious queens.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

• Title: Anne Boleyn: 500 Years of Lies
• Author:  Hayley Nolan
• Publisher: Little A
• Publication Date: 1/12/2019
• Genre: Non Fiction, History, Biography
• Targeted Age Range: Adult
• Content Warnings: Death, death mention, miscarriage, spousal abuse, violence, gore, sociopathy, murder, sexual content. 
• Rating: ★★★★

This may not be something many know about me, but I love history. In fact, before changing my degree to Criminology, my minor was in history and I absolutely adored it. To me, there is nothing better than exploring an old, historic town and viewing various exhibits in museums. It’s so fascinating to me learning about times past, and the people who lived then. One of my favourite areas of history to learn about is the Tudor era, which is why I decided to pick up Hayley Nolan’s Anne Boleyn: 500 Years of Lies. This book came to my attention though TikTok, having seen Nolan’s videos about the various locations this book explores. Hearing her words over videos of the buildings still standing made for an exciting visual, and a compelling argument as to why I should read her book. Thankfully, the audiobook was on Scribd, so I popped my earphones in and Anne’s story kept me entertained on my commute to and from work.

Despite my love of history, I hadn’t known a lot about Anne before starting this book. I knew she was the second wife of King Henry VIII, and that she unfortunately met her demise at his hands, but didn’t know anything past the general portrayal of her in the media. And, as I soon came to learn, what a disservice this portrayal was. Hayley Nolan recounts Anne’s life in a respectful and interesting way, highlighting not only her graces, but her flaws as well. Unlike some other Tudor biographies, Anne was painted as a real person: one you were genuinely invested in getting to know through various examinations of her correspondents, diary entries and other forms of existing artifacts that survived the time period.

When I first decided to read this book, I was very worried it would read like a textbook. After all, what else do you expect from 300+ pages of pure facts, figures and historical recounts? However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Hayley Nolan’s approach to writing Anne Boleyn’s biography was casual, accessible and downright entertaining. I think she writes in a way that is so easy to understand that, if English isn’t your first language or you struggle with academic texts, this wouldn’t be as hard to digest. Nolan’s use of chapters throughout the book helped it remain easy to read, as it connected the timeline of Anne’s life. The chapter titles allowed for the reader to piece together the next part of Anne’s history without having to do some external research, which I thought to be a very pleasant touch.

One of the things I loved about this book is that, while Anne is known for being Henry VIII’s wife, she is presented first as an independent woman, and a strong one at that. Oftentimes books on the wives of Henry VIII make being his wife their sole personality trait, or their sole reason for existing, ignoring the fact that they had independent lives before he came into their lives. Hayley Nolan paints the reader a clear picture of Anne’s life before Henry, and her experiences working abroad in the French Court, and how that upbringing would have influenced her decisions when she became queen. It was nice to have context for her actions, as well as know her on a deeper level. Finally, we have a book that brings back her personality instead of squashing her into the tiny title of Wife 2. Anne was a very interesting woman, and it is very lovely to see historians reclaiming some of her achievements and sharing them with the world. 

Similarly, I thoroughly enjoyed the fact that this book was solely about Anne. It’s so easy to get caught up in the wives of Henry VII that a biography on one becomes a biography on them all, however Nolan steers clear from this. Jane Seymour is mentioned very briefly throughout the end of the book due to two reasons: the overlap in her time as Henry’s mistress while Anne was Queen, and the fact that she is Anne’s cousin, therefore playing an important role in the family structure being discussed. Naturally, the same can be said for Catherine of Aragon, who gets notable mention at the start of the book for her own contribution to Anne’s story. However, Nolan remains careful in keeping the story strictly on Anne, and she does it successfully. In fact, she does it so successfully it’s making me very interested to read biographies for the other wives, just to know what I’m missing out on! 

Ultimately, I think this book is a wonderful introduction to Tudor history, specifically Anne Boleyn. One of the major criticisms this book receives is the fact that people claim Hayley Nolan did not uncover anything new, and did not add to the existing information already accessible about Anne. However, as someone who did not know the information already, Anne Boleyn: 500 Years of Lies was a great way to not only learn it, but have it explained and dissected so I could understand it better. Claiming Nolan did nothing to contribute to the information out there on Anne I think is unfair to say, and takes away from the fact she is helping people learn and appreciate all Anne did for history. I strongly recommend reading this book via audiobook, as the recording is read by Nolan herself, so you get to hear it read exactly as she intended it to be. I would love to know if Hayley Nolan is planning a follow up book for any of the other Queens, or even Henry himself, and I would be eager to read it if she does. 

Let me know your thoughts below on biographies, and the best one you’ve read! Happy reading! 

Links for Anne Boleyn: 500 Years of Lies: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound