bryan8063's review against another edition
emotional
informative
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
meringued's review against another edition
4.0
I have always adored the Tudors and England. When I was younger, I thought living in that time period would be the best thing in the world. I known better now, but I used to devour books and movies about any and all of the Tudors. My reading tastes changed towards fantasy when I picked up Tamora Pierce for the first time. I gradually reduced my Tudor searching, and I can't remember when I stopped looking for them altogether. I still have a few lonely middle grade books about Elizabeth and Mary on my shelves. However when my mother picked Innocent Traitor up from the library, I was very interested. And when she recommended it after she was finished, I immediately resolved to start my Tudor frenzy up again.
Lady Jane Grey is best remember for her tragic control of the crown for only nine days. Her reign was cut short by Mary, who seized the crown and beheaded Jane and her supporters. But what of this young girl's childhood? What led her to her fate? This novel explores Jane's past, as she continues to defy her controlling parents only to give under their cruel punishments. It shows her relationships with the royalty she would one day move against in the powerful political game they all played.
When I cracked open Innocent Traitor, I wasn't too thrilled with how the story first progressed. The first two chapters contain nothing but Jane's mother and the current Queen giving birth. I know its a natural thing and yadda yadda yadda, but if you have read one birthing scene, you have read them all. There are a number of births described in Innocent Traitor, all of which I wanted to skim over. One of them is particularly gruesome, and it leaves the woman basically mutilated and her baby a hunchback. The other stories of Jane's childhood, which are also told in the first part of the book, describe Jane's demeaning abuse at the hands of her parents, especially her domineering mother. I could understand how this related to future events and Jane's character being defined, but it was hard to read at times. All I wanted to do was scoop Jane up and rescue her from her life.
The feeling I have when I read historical novels from this period, especially about people who end up rather headless, is the same feeling I have when I read Shakepseare's tragedies. I know what the end result will be going into the book. I already know how the main character will end up, the same character I expect to became emotionally invested in. And of course, I do become emotionally attached, and I do find myself hoping against hope that history will change before I finish the story. Like a Shakepeare tragedy, there are always heaps of foreboding and foreshadowing found inside the story. I find that foreshadowing is always fun for me to read, sort of like a 'Where's Waldo' for me to sniff out and spot.
Alison Weir writes Innocent Traitor in alternating view points for each chapter. I usually don't enjoy this approach. It wasn't my favorite way to read the book, and I still think it could have been written solely from Jane's perspective and the story wouldn't have suffered. However I do think it was a great way for the reader do learn everyone's hidden agenda and polticial plans, something that reading from the Jane's perspective wouldn't have been made clear.
One apsect that completely surprised me was how big a role religion played in Jane's story. I realize that this was a turbulent time for England in terms of religious freedom. I knew Mary especially was a staunch supporter of Catholicism, against the rest of her family's wishes. Somehow I expected Catholicism versus Protestantism to play a smaller role. However, Jane herself is extremely devout in Protestantism from a young age. She clings to her religion throughout the whole novel and roughly defends her faith to people twice her age. From Ms. Weir's point of view, Jane's religion played a large role in her undoing. It was extremely interesting to me how Catholics and Protestants fought over such tiny things, things I don't even remember discussing too often or in much detail in my Catholic Religion class or in my Protestant church.
Recommended for historical lovers, especially those with a strong adoration of all things Tudor (and I don't just mean the steamy HBO show). It was a rather sad novel about a young girl whose life was cut short too soon. I felt like the fate of these people led them, instead of these people taking control of their own destinies. Their fates were hard to read about, especially since young women like Jane had little control over their lives unless their parents or husband gave it to them. It was informative and heart-wrenching, but to say it was entertaining would just be cruel.
Lady Jane Grey is best remember for her tragic control of the crown for only nine days. Her reign was cut short by Mary, who seized the crown and beheaded Jane and her supporters. But what of this young girl's childhood? What led her to her fate? This novel explores Jane's past, as she continues to defy her controlling parents only to give under their cruel punishments. It shows her relationships with the royalty she would one day move against in the powerful political game they all played.
When I cracked open Innocent Traitor, I wasn't too thrilled with how the story first progressed. The first two chapters contain nothing but Jane's mother and the current Queen giving birth. I know its a natural thing and yadda yadda yadda, but if you have read one birthing scene, you have read them all. There are a number of births described in Innocent Traitor, all of which I wanted to skim over. One of them is particularly gruesome, and it leaves the woman basically mutilated and her baby a hunchback. The other stories of Jane's childhood, which are also told in the first part of the book, describe Jane's demeaning abuse at the hands of her parents, especially her domineering mother. I could understand how this related to future events and Jane's character being defined, but it was hard to read at times. All I wanted to do was scoop Jane up and rescue her from her life.
The feeling I have when I read historical novels from this period, especially about people who end up rather headless, is the same feeling I have when I read Shakepseare's tragedies. I know what the end result will be going into the book. I already know how the main character will end up, the same character I expect to became emotionally invested in. And of course, I do become emotionally attached, and I do find myself hoping against hope that history will change before I finish the story. Like a Shakepeare tragedy, there are always heaps of foreboding and foreshadowing found inside the story. I find that foreshadowing is always fun for me to read, sort of like a 'Where's Waldo' for me to sniff out and spot.
Alison Weir writes Innocent Traitor in alternating view points for each chapter. I usually don't enjoy this approach. It wasn't my favorite way to read the book, and I still think it could have been written solely from Jane's perspective and the story wouldn't have suffered. However I do think it was a great way for the reader do learn everyone's hidden agenda and polticial plans, something that reading from the Jane's perspective wouldn't have been made clear.
One apsect that completely surprised me was how big a role religion played in Jane's story. I realize that this was a turbulent time for England in terms of religious freedom. I knew Mary especially was a staunch supporter of Catholicism, against the rest of her family's wishes. Somehow I expected Catholicism versus Protestantism to play a smaller role. However, Jane herself is extremely devout in Protestantism from a young age. She clings to her religion throughout the whole novel and roughly defends her faith to people twice her age. From Ms. Weir's point of view, Jane's religion played a large role in her undoing. It was extremely interesting to me how Catholics and Protestants fought over such tiny things, things I don't even remember discussing too often or in much detail in my Catholic Religion class or in my Protestant church.
Recommended for historical lovers, especially those with a strong adoration of all things Tudor (and I don't just mean the steamy HBO show). It was a rather sad novel about a young girl whose life was cut short too soon. I felt like the fate of these people led them, instead of these people taking control of their own destinies. Their fates were hard to read about, especially since young women like Jane had little control over their lives unless their parents or husband gave it to them. It was informative and heart-wrenching, but to say it was entertaining would just be cruel.
kpetz1's review against another edition
5.0
Loved this book. Brought the story of Jane Grey to life in a way I hadn't seen before. Felt bad for her because of the way her parents always treated her. Sad that even though she had no real input in what happened in her life, she was the one who took blame and was punished for it. Alison Weir is without a doubt one of my favorite authors.
sarahcoller's review against another edition
4.0
Such a tragic life poor, innocent Jane Grey led! I'm still in my introductory days of Tudor history so I did NOT know the ending of the story and was so grieved to know justice was not served.
I've loved everything I've read by Alison Weir and this was no exception. I usually strongly despise stories that are told from many different viewpoints but Weir did this one extremely well. My only complaint is that the voice of the very young Jane is not at all what one would expect from a 4 year old---even a very learned, higher class, 500 year old 4 year old. In fact, it wasn't until she was about 11 that I felt her voice could come near to matching what was probably reality. I can't imagine a scenario that would have better endeared me to her character though---it was just hard to get past this implausibility.
I was very impressed by Jane's strength of character and devotion to her convictions. Her feelings on modesty and the proper way to worship and approach God were very important to her---ultimately leading to her terrible end. While she felt she sometimes compromised them, she honored God in the end by refusing to budge.
I was also intrigued by what supposedly happened to the young King Edward after his death. Upon further research, it seems most scholars believe this to be a myth. However, Weir's account is very plausible and she makes a note and case for sufficient evidence in her afterward---so who knows?
I learned a lot about Tudor history, England, religious customs, and more by reading this novel. Such an excellent story!
I've loved everything I've read by Alison Weir and this was no exception. I usually strongly despise stories that are told from many different viewpoints but Weir did this one extremely well. My only complaint is that the voice of the very young Jane is not at all what one would expect from a 4 year old---even a very learned, higher class, 500 year old 4 year old. In fact, it wasn't until she was about 11 that I felt her voice could come near to matching what was probably reality. I can't imagine a scenario that would have better endeared me to her character though---it was just hard to get past this implausibility.
I was very impressed by Jane's strength of character and devotion to her convictions. Her feelings on modesty and the proper way to worship and approach God were very important to her---ultimately leading to her terrible end. While she felt she sometimes compromised them, she honored God in the end by refusing to budge.
I was also intrigued by what supposedly happened to the young King Edward after his death. Upon further research, it seems most scholars believe this to be a myth. However, Weir's account is very plausible and she makes a note and case for sufficient evidence in her afterward---so who knows?
I learned a lot about Tudor history, England, religious customs, and more by reading this novel. Such an excellent story!
kayedacus's review against another edition
4.0
First reading: August 26--September 9, 2013.
4 stars (story)
4.5 stars (audiobook)
Read by: Stina Nielsen, Davina Porter, Bianca Amato, Jenny Sterlin, Jill Tanner, Gerard Doyle, & Robert Ian Mackenzie
This was a LOOOOONNNNNGGGGG look at the life of the Nine-Day Queen, Jane Grey, the traitor queen of England who was forced to take the crown at age 15/16 by men who wielded power like bludgeons during one of the most chaotic times in England's history.
I enjoyed this book much more than I did The Lady Elizabeth, Weir's novelization of the childhood and youth of Elizabeth I. While that one betrayed Weir's experience as a nonfiction writer, this one read more like a Philippa Gregory novel---with multiple first-person viewpoints (much like my beloved The Boleyn Inheritance). And, much like the audio version of that Gregory novel, this one featured a different narrator for almost every viewpoint.
Because Jane Grey was so young for most of the book, it actually worked better to have the multiple viewpoint characters, since she was a passive player in most of what happened to her. It was good to get into the minds (in a fictional conjecture, of course) of the people behind the machinations that led, ultimately, to Jane's execution as a heretical traitor in February 1554.
Though I knew the story from the "outside" -- in that I knew the timeline and details of the historical occurrences -- it was interesting to get an "inside" look at the characters who are usually brushed aside as bit players in the transition from King Edward VI to Queen Mary I. Especially since I've recently read The Tudor Secret and The Tudor Conspiracy by C.W. Gortner, which is a complete fictionalization of these events.
There isn't much in fiction that covers the lives (and "reigns) of both Edward VI and Jane Grey, so the subject matter was what drew me to this book. It was Weir's surprisingly deft handling of all of the characters that kept my interest throughout the 18+ hours of this audiobook (though, as with The Lady Elizabeth, I found that when she was unable to characterize Jane's youth through the prose--even at four years old, Jane came across as an adult, with an adult's vocabulary, reasoning, and understanding).
The only narrator I had any issue with was Stina Nielsen, who was the voice for Jane Grey's viewpoint. She had a tendency to pause at odd/awkward places in the middle of sentences, which made me have to run it back to figure out what the sentence was actually supposed to be saying, since the pauses chopped up the flow/meaning. She also had a tendency to mispronounce things/pronounce them oddly (such as saying tutor for Tudor). While this was annoying and would start getting on my nerves, invariably just when I was getting ready to turn it off, the viewpoint would switch to another character which meant another narrator.
I would have liked to have seen one last scene in the book--from Queen Mary's viewpoint, reacting to Jane's death. The end of the book, as it was for Jane, was too abrupt.
4 stars (story)
4.5 stars (audiobook)
Read by: Stina Nielsen, Davina Porter, Bianca Amato, Jenny Sterlin, Jill Tanner, Gerard Doyle, & Robert Ian Mackenzie
This was a LOOOOONNNNNGGGGG look at the life of the Nine-Day Queen, Jane Grey, the traitor queen of England who was forced to take the crown at age 15/16 by men who wielded power like bludgeons during one of the most chaotic times in England's history.
I enjoyed this book much more than I did The Lady Elizabeth, Weir's novelization of the childhood and youth of Elizabeth I. While that one betrayed Weir's experience as a nonfiction writer, this one read more like a Philippa Gregory novel---with multiple first-person viewpoints (much like my beloved The Boleyn Inheritance). And, much like the audio version of that Gregory novel, this one featured a different narrator for almost every viewpoint.
Because Jane Grey was so young for most of the book, it actually worked better to have the multiple viewpoint characters, since she was a passive player in most of what happened to her. It was good to get into the minds (in a fictional conjecture, of course) of the people behind the machinations that led, ultimately, to Jane's execution as a heretical traitor in February 1554.
Though I knew the story from the "outside" -- in that I knew the timeline and details of the historical occurrences -- it was interesting to get an "inside" look at the characters who are usually brushed aside as bit players in the transition from King Edward VI to Queen Mary I. Especially since I've recently read The Tudor Secret and The Tudor Conspiracy by C.W. Gortner, which is a complete fictionalization of these events.
There isn't much in fiction that covers the lives (and "reigns) of both Edward VI and Jane Grey, so the subject matter was what drew me to this book. It was Weir's surprisingly deft handling of all of the characters that kept my interest throughout the 18+ hours of this audiobook (though, as with The Lady Elizabeth, I found that when she was unable to characterize Jane's youth through the prose--even at four years old, Jane came across as an adult, with an adult's vocabulary, reasoning, and understanding).
The only narrator I had any issue with was Stina Nielsen, who was the voice for Jane Grey's viewpoint. She had a tendency to pause at odd/awkward places in the middle of sentences, which made me have to run it back to figure out what the sentence was actually supposed to be saying, since the pauses chopped up the flow/meaning. She also had a tendency to mispronounce things/pronounce them oddly (such as saying tutor for Tudor). While this was annoying and would start getting on my nerves, invariably just when I was getting ready to turn it off, the viewpoint would switch to another character which meant another narrator.
I would have liked to have seen one last scene in the book--from Queen Mary's viewpoint, reacting to Jane's death. The end of the book, as it was for Jane, was too abrupt.
hiltzmoore's review against another edition
3.0
This author really knows her Tudor history and it shows in this page-turner, but I get the sense that the excitement in her writing comes more from the natural fascination with this weird historical era than an actual great talent at fiction writing. Both of my experiences with her historical fiction books had some sections written from the point of view of a very young child that was laughably over-advanced understanding, even for these supposedly advanced youngsters. I think she should probably stick to non-fiction and I look forward to reading some of the non-fiction novels she has written. Still, I do enjoy a good Tudor historical fiction. What a messed up time in British history!
act_10's review against another edition
5.0
Amazing novel. Definitely competing for my favourite book of all time. It's extremely historically accurate and very poignant. A must read for historical fiction fans!!!
alldaffer's review against another edition
3.0
I watched snippets of Lady Jane Gray when it has been on TV before, but don't remember much of the movie. I am glad, because this book might have been overshadowed by the Movie. It took some getting used to the way the book was written, with each character being the narrator of a chapter, but once I got used to the technique, it was a good way to get everyone's viewpoint. I really like historical fiction from this time period, and am interested in reading the non-fiction books that Alison Weir has written. This book is very consistent with the books I have read by Philippa Gregory covering the same people and places. Even though the end of the story is known, how we get there, and how brief the end is compared to the rest of Jane Grey's life gives you reason to ponder how fragile our lifetime here is.
sheritolley's review against another edition
4.0
So glad I didn't live back then. The life of women of noble birth was a hard one. Trying to make a good marriage,and all the court stuff, no freedom whatsoever I really liked the book about Lady Jane Gray. It is about her becoming her being forced into becoming Queen of England. I just thought it was sad. She really got used by those seeking power.