10. At what point, if ever, do we really see Mary assert her independence? What enables her to stand up for what she really wants and stay firm in her convictions and her choices? From where does she draw her strength?
11. What role does love, both romantic and familial, play in The Last Boleyn? Where do you see love felt and expressed between these characters?
12. So much in this novel happens at the whim of a King, but what of the Kings themselves? What do you think motivates the male monarchs in this story? Why do they behave the way that they do, and what are your feelings about Francois and Henry in particular? Are they sympathetic characters in any way? What are they looking to achieve in their lives?
13. Interspersed throughout the novel are Tudor sonnets or songs that the author tells us in the Afterword she is using “to help establish the mood, emotions, and themes of the story” with the very words that Mary herself might have known. What do you make of this literary device? What, if anything, did it add to your reading experience?
14. After Mary’s son, Henry Carey, who became the first Lord of Hunsdon under Elizabeth I (Anne’s daughter), put down the Catholic Dacre rebellion in 1570, Elizabeth sent him a letter that read in part, “I doubt much, my Harry, whether that the victory were given me, more joyed me, or that you were by God appointed the instrument of my glory; and I assure you that for my country’s good, the first must suffice, but for my heart’s contention the second pleased me . . . you have done much for honour . . . Your loving kinswoman, Elizabeth R.” What do you think Mary would have made of this correspondence between her niece and her son? What do you think of it, knowing the history that created them both?
15. From what you’ve seen of Tudor England in this novel, are there any similarities that you can draw to modern society? Much has changed, but what driving forces, societal pressures, or political pitfalls that Mary had to navigate seem most familiar to you? Can you think of any contemporary families that remind you of the Boleyns? What in Mary’s story is timeless and resonates most with you as a modern reader?