Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #345 in Books
• Published on: 2007-06-07
• Binding: Paperback
• 432 pages

Synopsis
Alison Weir, our pre-eminent popular historian, has now fulfilled a life's ambition to write historical fiction. She has chosen as her subject the bravest, most sympathetic and wronged heroine of Tudor England, Lady Jane Grey. Lady Jane Grey was born into times of extreme danger. Child of a scheming father and a ruthless mother, for whom she was merely a pawn in a dynastic power game with the highest stakes, she lived a live in thrall to political machinations and lethal religious fervour. Jane's astonishing and essentially tragic story was played out during one of the most momentous periods of English history. As a great-niece of Henry VIII, and the cousin of Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I, she grew up realize that she could never throw off the chains of her destiny. Her honesty, intelligence and strength of character carry the reader through all the vicious twists of Tudor power politics, to her nine-day reign and its unbearably poignant conclusion.

From the Publisher
The outstanding debut novel from one of Britain's most successful popular historians.

From the Inside Flap
Alison Weir, our pre-eminent popular historian, has now fulfilled a life's ambition to write historical fiction. She has chosen as her subject the bravest, most sympathetic and wronged heroine of Tudor England, Lady Jane Grey.

Lady Jane Grey was born into times of extreme danger. Child of a scheming father and a ruthless mother, for whom she was merely a pawn in a dynastic power game with the highest stakes, she lived a live in thrall to political machinations and lethal religious fervour.
Jane's astonishing and essentially tragic story was played out during one of the most momentous periods of English history. As a great-niece of Henry VIII, and the cousin of Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I, she grew up realize that she could never throw off the chains of her destiny. Her honesty, intelligence and strength of character carry the reader through all the vicious twists of Tudor power politics, to her nine-day reign and its unbearably poignant conclusion.

Customer Reviews

Suspenseful even with a well-known ending
Alison Weir is a respected historian who is often recommended as an antidote to inaccurate representations in historical fiction as written by other authors. This is her first novel, and what a novel it is. I was entranced from the first line, and even though I knew how it was going to end, I still hoped that there would be a change at some point near the end. That's the sign of a good writer - someone who can write so compellingly and with such suspense that you hope they can even change historical facts for you.

Lady Jane Grey was a pawn in the ambition of her parents and of the Duke of Northumberland, almost from the moment she was born. Never forgiven for the cardinal sin of being born female, she was beaten and tortured into becoming a "lady" suitable for marriage to a monarch. When that ceased to be an option she was beaten into a marriage and a reign she never wanted, protesting even as the crown was being put on her head. These are facts that are known by most who have even read cursory information about this young lady. What is amazing is the way Alison Weir makes it seem like new information. The chorus of different voices in the telling of Jane's tale is exemplary and clever. I kept turning pages wanting to see what spin the next narrator would put on the story.

This novel did what historical fiction should do - it made me want to seek out the non-fiction bases for the story and do more reading. Anything that inspires further study can only be praised.

An Excellent Book into a Intresting Woman
Having known very little about the main character this book is based on, Lady Jane Grey, it was a refreshing and intresting read. I've been a fan of Philippa Gregory's book's but this surpasses them by leaps and bounds.

The characters are very much three dimension each with flaws. A previous reviewer had made the comment that Jane was too perfect, which I didn't find. To me she was flawed in the fact that she was too dogmatic in her views on religion, but this in itself was, at least to me, a form of rebelion against her parents. It was their disappointment in Jane and their ambition for power that ultimately led to her downfall.

The author has obviously done her homework and research and by intertwining known facts with certain key points in history that Jane 'Could' have witnessed, it brings it live.

I also began to fell for Queen Mary I, who even though knew that in order to give the country security of her marriage to Philip of Spain, and therefor give a heir to the throne, Jane had to die, Mary gave Jane many chances to live. First by trying to get her to convert and then to see if she was with child.

By the time that Jane's execution was drawing close, I found I could no longer read this book at bed time. I found myself getting very emotional at the scene.

All in all, an excellent book and I can't wait for the next one, which is sitting in my to-read pile.

good but nothing special
Ok so I really liked the whole concept of this story, as soon as I got the book I thought it was some thing special. I enjoyed the layout of being able to see the events taking place from various perspectives. But I feel the book and the protagonist is weak. I felt that at points Jane was too perfect and that it seemed like Alison weir had forgotten she was just a girl of 16 who would have had other hopes beyond religion and studies although I have not researched Jane so I would not know but I simply could not see her as a human. I did however enjoy her mother who seemed like a much more interesting and well developed character. I also disliked Jane's "wedding night" I felt the whole scene was unnecessary and very depressing, at points it became unbearable to read which really put me off finishing the rest of the book. I feel the problem with this book is that Jane lacked faults, she did not seem to me to be a real person who did actually live, she seemed more like a saint and I felt I simply could not relate to this character. I also felt some chapters were rather boring and I found myself skipping a few pages.