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I am now a condemned traitor...I am to die when I have hardly begun to live.
Historical expertise marries page-turning fiction in Alison Weir's enthralling debut novel, breathing new life into one of the most significant and tumultuous periods of the English monarchy. It is the story of Lady Jane Grey — the Nine Days' Queen — a fifteen-year-old girl who unwittingly finds herself at the center of the religious and civil unrest that nearly toppled the fabled House of Tudor during the sixteenth century.
The child of a scheming father and a ruthless mother, for whom she is merely a pawn in a dynastic game with the highest stakes, Jane Grey was born during the harrowingly turbulent period between Anne Boleyn's beheading and the demise of Jane's infamous great-uncle, King Henry VIII. With the premature passing of Jane's adolescent cousin, and Henry's successor, King Edward VI, comes a struggle for supremacy fueled by political machinations and lethal religious fervor.
Unabashedly honest and exceptionally intelligent, Jane possesses a sound strength of character beyond her years that equips her to weather the vicious storm. And though she has no ambitions to rule, preferring to immerse herself in books and religious studies, she is forced to accept the crown, and by so doing sets off a firestorm of intrigue, betrayal, and tragedy.
Alison Weir uses her unmatched skills as a historian to enliven the many dynamic characters of this majestic drama. Along with Lady Jane Grey, Weir vividly renders her devious parents; her much-loved nanny; the benevolent Queen Katherine Parr; Jane's ambitious cousins; the Catholic Bloody Mary, who will stop at nothing to seize the throne; and the protestant and future queen Elizabeth. Readers venture inside royal drawing rooms and bedchambers to witness the power-grabbing that swirls around Lady Jane Grey from the day of her birth to her unbearably poignant death. Innocent Traitor paints a complete and compelling portrait of this captivating young woman, a faithful servant of God whose short reign and brief life would make her a legend.
Review:
"Popular biographer Weir (Eleanor of Aquitaine, etc.) makes her historical fiction debut with this coming-of-age novel set in the time of Henry VIII. Weir's heroine is Lady Jane Grey (1537–1554), whose ascension to the English throne was briefly and unluckily promoted by opponents of Henry's Catholic heir, Mary. As Weir tells it, Jane's parents, the Marquess and Marchioness of Dorset, groom her from infancy to be the perfect consort for Henry's son, Prince Edward, entrusting their daughter to a nurse's care while they attend to affairs at court. Jane relishes lessons in music, theology, philosophy and literature, but struggles to master courtly manners as her mother demands. Not even the beheadings of Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard deter parental ambition. When Edward dies, Lord and Lady Dorset maneuver the throne for their 16-year-old daughter, risking her life as well as increased violence between Protestants and Catholics. Using multiple narrators, Weir tries to weave a conspiratorial web with Jane caught at the center, but the ever-changing perspectives prove unwieldy: Jane speaking as a four-year-old with a modern historian's vocabulary, for example, just doesn't ring true. But Weir proves herself deft as ever describing Tudor food, manners, clothing, pastimes (including hunting and jousting) and marital politics." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
Review:
"After publishing 10 works of history about the kings and queens of England, Alison Weir has come over to the dark side and written a novel. The process, she says, 'filled me with a heady sense of freedom,' but clearly that appraisal is based on the 'Historian's Heady Sense of Freedom Index,' which runs from 1 (using colored note cards) to 10 (hiding in the library after hours). 'Innocent Traitor'... Washington Post Book Review (read the entire Washington Post review) is an enormously entertaining novel to read, but writing it was obviously a process of painstaking research, the same sort of hard work that resulted in Weir's best-selling history 'The Six Wives of Henry VIII.' What's different this time is her decision to write about Queen Jane — England's briefest monarch — in the voices of the participants. The result is an engrossing story that's suspenseful even though we know poor Jane will end up on the chopping block at 16, one of the first of Bloody Mary's many victims. The novel rotates through a small collection of narrators, starting with Jane's bitter mother on the day in 1537 when she goes into labor. Jane doesn't emerge from the womb reading Latin, but almost. She quickly grows into an exceptionally, even weirdly, brilliant girl, who struggles to be obedient while remaining true to herself. Any parent might be thrown by a 4-year-old who says, 'I must above all remember that each meal is like the Last Supper, so I must eat with as goodly manners as if I were in the company of Our Blessed Lord Himself.' But the mean treatment Jane endures from her parents shocks even the family's servants and friends. Jane's mother, as the niece of Henry VIII, is in a position to build a powerful house, but she needs a son, and her failure to produce one makes her impatient and cruel. The importance of male heirs was, of course, a foundation of this patriarchal society. The disappointment that Jane's parents feel is just a small version of the king-sized anxiety that Henry VIII feels in the boudoir. An intimate scene of the bloated, ulcerated monarch making one last flaccid attempt with his sixth and final wife, Katherine Parr, will put most readers out of the mood for weeks. But Katherine emerges as one of the novel's most fascinating narrators. She comes into the story when Jane's parents send her to live with the royal family in a craven effort to boost their standing. Long deprived of maternal affection, Jane adores the queen, who secretly encourages the girl's radical Protestant ideas and gives her a crash course in surviving the ecclesiastical tensions tearing England part. Who better to teach her than a queen married to a serial wife-killer? Katherine knows the importance of quick denials and heartfelt pleas, but, sadly, this is one lesson Jane will never learn. Even before the king is dead, Jane's parents and the maniacal duke of Northumberland scheme to subvert the law of succession and drag Jane to the throne as queen. Alternately beating her and appealing to her religious idealism, they succeed — but only for nine precarious days before Henry VIII's Catholic daughter, Mary, revives her own claim to the throne and begins wrenching England back toward Rome. This complicated history sweeps along in a remarkably accessible way — always exciting, always engaging. And the use of multiple voices — each clearly named and dated — keeps us at the center of every new outrageous plot twist. You'll be tempted to guffaw at these events, but Weir anticipates that skepticism in a witty author's note: 'Some parts of the book may seem far-fetched,' she writes. 'They are the parts most likely to be based on fact.' What ultimately seems far-fetched, though, is not the ax-wielding murderer who bursts through a wall or the use of arsenic to prolong young King Edward's gruesome death; it's each character's complete self-knowledge and candor. Weir has given these people a strong dose of truth serum and set them down in front of a bright light. No matter how conniving, proud, foolish or deluded they may be with each other, they speak to us without a hint of dramatic irony, clearly and honestly explaining their actions and motives. What's gained in historical clarity comes at the cost of psychological depth, as though, after spending decades laying out the complexities of British history, Weir were unwilling to create characters who would consciously or unconsciously mislead us or who might not fully realize why they behave as they do. But ambiguity may be too much to ask for from such an enthralling story. You can't resist Jane — so young, so brilliant, so cruelly used and sacrificed. In the nine days' queen, Weir has found a fascinating and deeply sympathetic figure through which to examine one of the strangest crises of British history. Ron Charles is a senior editor of The Washington Post Book World." Reviewed by Howard NormanMichael DirdaJohn McQuaidMargaret MacMillanJonathan YardleyDaniel GrossRobert PinskySusan JacobyMatt SchudelMartin FletcherCharles MatthewsRon Charles, Washington Post Book World (Copyright 2006 Washington Post Book World Service/Washington Post Writers Group)
(hide most of this review)
Review:
"An impressive debut. Weir shows skill at plotting and maintaining tension, and she is clearly going to be a major player in the...historical fiction game." The Independent (UK)
Review:
"Alison Weir is one of our greatest popular historians. In her first work of fiction...Weir manages her heroine's voice brilliantly, respecting the past's distance while conjuring a dignified and fiercely modern spirit." London Daily Mail
Review:
"A brilliantly vivid and psychologically astute novel." Booklist (Starred Review)
Review:
"[An] entertaining and moving novel....[H]ighly recommended..." Library Journal
Review:
"An affecting portrayal." Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis:
The exciting fiction debut of acclaimed historian Weir breathes life into themany dynamic personalities involved in this fascinating novel. Losing none ofits historical authenticity, the author takes the reader inside the minds andhearts of the key characters in Lady Jane Grey's story.
Synopsis:
The girl who led an army, the peasant who crowned a king, the maid who became a legend It is the fifteenth century, and the tumultuous Hundred Years War rages on. France is under siege, English soldiers tear through the countryside destroying all who cross their path, and Charles VII, the uncrowned king, has neither the strength nor the will to rally his army. And in the quiet of her parents garden in Domrémy, a peasant girl sees a spangle of light and hears a powerful voice speak her name.Jehanne. The story of Jehanne dArc, the visionary and saint who believed she had been chosen by God, who led an army and saved her country, has captivated our imagination for centuries. But the story of Jehannethe girlwhose sister was murdered by the English, who sought an escape from a violent father and a forced marriage, who taught herself to ride and fight, and who somehow found the courage and tenacity to persuade first one, then two, then thousands to follow her, is at once thrilling, unexpected, and heartbreaking. Rich with unspoken love and battlefield valor,The Maidis a novel about the power and uncertainty of faith, and the exhilarating and devastating consequences of fame.
Alison Weir is the New York Times bestselling author of Eleanor of Aquitaine; Mary, Queen of Scots and the Murder of Lord Darnley; The Six Wives of Henry VIII; Queen Isabella; and several other historical biographies. She lives in Surrey with her husband and two children.
Mikeonalpha, April 4, 2007 (view all comments by Mikeonalpha)
Lady Jane Grey (1537 - 1554) was a great-granddaughter of Henry VII of England and reigned as uncrowned queen regnant of the Kingdom of England for nine days in July 1553. Though Jane's accession to the thone was codified by King Edward VI, many felt that her reign in fact breached the English laws of succession.
The Protestant powers of the land did prove willing to accept Lady Jane Grey as Queen of England, even if only as part of a power-struggle to stop Henry's elder daughter, Princess Mary, a Roman Catholic, from acceding to the throne. Jane's brief rule ended, however, when the authorities revoked her proclamation as queen, and subsequently Mary had her executed for treason.
Alison Weir's historical novel, told from multiple view points, passionately recounts Jane's sheltered childhood, her troubled homelife, her penchant for learning, and eventually her ascendency to the reluctant Queen where this girl of "of privileged royal blood" becomes a pawn in the machinations of the aspiring noblemen and conniving ladies, a wager for the great aristocratic families of the time.
In an age where a male heir is considered paramount, Jane grows older feeling somewhat like a fish out of water. Her parents the Marquess and Marchioness of Dorset are far more concerned with seeing Jane married off to a wealthy aristocrat, perhaps even to Edward, the future King and the son of Henry who will one day need a wife. For them, God has sent their daughter for a reason, which is to bring a different kind of glory upon the house of Dorset.
In this era where marriage is a political bargain and an opportunity to enrich associations with the royal court, Jane finds a kindly adviser in Katherine Parr, who after Henry's death retires to a life of comfort and security. Together with her new husband, Thomas Seymour, Katherine tries to give Jane a measure of comfort and security that has previously been denied to her by her officious and overbearing parents.
Encouraged by Katherine who is quickly and secretly adhering to the Protestant faith, Jane discovers a new way of looking at religion, her radical ideas and openly heretical views viewed as a counterpoint to the rigid Catholicism that still permeates much of the Kingdom.
Meanwhile, the battle begins to heat up over "the monstrous idol of Rome" and the opportunity by the Protestants to rid the Church of England of every last vestige of popery. And it is in this environment that Jane must learn to live in a world where the "walls have ears and the penalty for heresy is burnings."
Jane is constantly astonished at her parent's willingness to use her as barter in order to bring out her family influence and greatness. When the King's new Lord Protector, the Earl of Northumberland, arranges for Jane to marry Edward, Jane is placed as a possible candidate for Queen. After all, Jane is a Princess of blood, who must frame her mind towards marriage and the crown, forever accepting the path that God means her to follow.
But the marriage soon falls through and Jane finds herself caught up in the maneuverings of the court as the order of succession is manipulated to give Jane the best possible chance of becoming Queen in her own right. Forever the reluctant Princess, this poor young girl finds herself thrust into a situation not of her own making as she is forced to into a life-threatening showdown with Mary 1, a fanatical Catholic and whom many consider to be the rightful heir to the throne of England.
With remarkable insight Author Alison Weir gets right to the heart of Jane's life, ultimately shedding some much needed light on this enigmatic and misunderstood girl who is determined to resist under any circumstances becoming a party to treason.
This is Weir's first foray into fiction, so the novel suffers a bit and doesn't flow as easily as it should. Still, her characters are always wonderfully wrought and totally multifaceted and her recounting of the plots, counter-plots and interminable political trickery is always fascinating to read. Jane readily admits that she's not the stuff of which martyrs are made, but she has been born into the family of the royal house, where power, rank, wealth, and duties and obligations are of the utmost importance; consequently she must be above reproach.
In the end, Jane is portrayed as an intelligent and thoughtful girl, who ultimately finds herself cruelly used by those around her, a sufferer of circumstance and an innocent victim of a time where unending royal privilege doesn't necessarily guarantee a life of luxury free from the horrible outcome of the chopping block. Mike Leonard March 07
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"Publishers Weekly Review"
by Publishers Weekly,
"Popular biographer Weir (Eleanor of Aquitaine, etc.) makes her historical fiction debut with this coming-of-age novel set in the time of Henry VIII. Weir's heroine is Lady Jane Grey (1537–1554), whose ascension to the English throne was briefly and unluckily promoted by opponents of Henry's Catholic heir, Mary. As Weir tells it, Jane's parents, the Marquess and Marchioness of Dorset, groom her from infancy to be the perfect consort for Henry's son, Prince Edward, entrusting their daughter to a nurse's care while they attend to affairs at court. Jane relishes lessons in music, theology, philosophy and literature, but struggles to master courtly manners as her mother demands. Not even the beheadings of Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard deter parental ambition. When Edward dies, Lord and Lady Dorset maneuver the throne for their 16-year-old daughter, risking her life as well as increased violence between Protestants and Catholics. Using multiple narrators, Weir tries to weave a conspiratorial web with Jane caught at the center, but the ever-changing perspectives prove unwieldy: Jane speaking as a four-year-old with a modern historian's vocabulary, for example, just doesn't ring true. But Weir proves herself deft as ever describing Tudor food, manners, clothing, pastimes (including hunting and jousting) and marital politics." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
"Review"
by The Independent (UK),
"An impressive debut. Weir shows skill at plotting and maintaining tension, and she is clearly going to be a major player in the...historical fiction game."
"Review"
by London Daily Mail,
"Alison Weir is one of our greatest popular historians. In her first work of fiction...Weir manages her heroine's voice brilliantly, respecting the past's distance while conjuring a dignified and fiercely modern spirit."
"Review"
by Booklist (Starred Review),
"A brilliantly vivid and psychologically astute novel."
"Review"
by Library Journal,
"[An] entertaining and moving novel....[H]ighly recommended..."
"Review"
by Kirkus Reviews,
"An affecting portrayal."
"Synopsis"
by Ingram,
The exciting fiction debut of acclaimed historian Weir breathes life into themany dynamic personalities involved in this fascinating novel. Losing none ofits historical authenticity, the author takes the reader inside the minds andhearts of the key characters in Lady Jane Grey's story.
"Synopsis"
by Firebrand,
The girl who led an army, the peasant who crowned a king, the maid who became a legend It is the fifteenth century, and the tumultuous Hundred Years War rages on. France is under siege, English soldiers tear through the countryside destroying all who cross their path, and Charles VII, the uncrowned king, has neither the strength nor the will to rally his army. And in the quiet of her parents garden in Domrémy, a peasant girl sees a spangle of light and hears a powerful voice speak her name.Jehanne. The story of Jehanne dArc, the visionary and saint who believed she had been chosen by God, who led an army and saved her country, has captivated our imagination for centuries. But the story of Jehannethe girlwhose sister was murdered by the English, who sought an escape from a violent father and a forced marriage, who taught herself to ride and fight, and who somehow found the courage and tenacity to persuade first one, then two, then thousands to follow her, is at once thrilling, unexpected, and heartbreaking. Rich with unspoken love and battlefield valor,The Maidis a novel about the power and uncertainty of faith, and the exhilarating and devastating consequences of fame.
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