The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory

This novel teeters on the edge of romance (in the modern, Harlequin, bodice-ripper sense of the word) and has a heroine with a strikingly anachronistic sense of self and purpose. Other critics lambaste its historical accuracy, but as this work is fictional, deviations from the historical record don't bother me so much. Instead, the attitudes of characters, which strike me as significantly more modern than they should be, are troubling. Still, the story is pretty good (if the ironic foreshadowing a bit self-satisfied at times), and I will probably read more of her Tudor Court novels.