The book begins in 1520 in Calais, where Anne is at an event called the "Field of the Cloth of Gold", hosted by Henry VIII of England and Francis I of France.

She meets up with her older sister Mary, who is a lady-in-waiting in Queen Catherine of Aragon's court, and is rumoured to be the mistress of King Henry VIII of England.

Always ill-favored by her parents, constantly antagonized by her older sister Mary, and disgusted by her own "deformities" (a small sixth finger and mole on her neck) she develops an ambition to rise to the top.

While strategically courting the King, Anne manages to persuade Henry to seek an annulment for his marriage to Catherine.

When the Pope refuses, he defies the Roman Catholic Church, declares his marriage null and void on his own authority, and marries Anne.

The inability to produce a male heir continues to trouble Henry, and places Anne in a dangerous position.

Meanwhile, Anne's sister Mary is now widowed after her husband dies of the sweating sickness and remarries a commoner in secret.

When Anne fails to give Henry a son after three years of marriage, the Seymour family begins plotting.

Like Anne earlier in the novel, Jane refuses to become the King's mistress and instead drops heavy hints of marriage.

The first report of Anne Boleyn having any kind of deformity was brought up by Nicholas Sanders, long after her death.

Historically, Anne was an affectionate mother to Elizabeth, while in the novel, she simply wants a son to please Henry and hardly ever sees her daughter.

The book depicts Henry's daughter Mary by Catherine of Aragon as having been summoned to Greenwich Palace to witness the birth of Elizabeth because tradition requires it.

She is then subsequently forced to perform several tedious and indignant tasks for Anne, which is merely "a means of passing the time."

At the end, while Anne is awaiting execution, she narrates that while Catherine of Aragon had many supporters during her time of trouble, she had none.

[1] While Anne was largely unpopular with the English common folk during most of her reign, the sympathy of the people shifted to her when the accusations were formed as they were so outrageous that even her enemy Eustace Chapuys was incredulous.

Anne donated what is equivalent to millions of dollars to the poor people, more than all of Henry VIII's other wives combined.