Scan barcode
amykaycity's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
berenikeasteria's review against another edition
1.0
The Lady Elizabeth was bad but mildly entertaining, possibly because of the appearance of one of the most interesting figures from history, but Innocent Traitor is just plain bad. It begins with two very dull parallel birth scenes and gets worse from there. The language is tedious and pedestrian, sending me to sleep rather than catching my attention. The plot drags and is utterly predictable, for example, one day after the family has heard news that some heretics are to be burned, Jane’s nurse decides to take the children out for the day on a trip to visit her sister who lives in Smithfield. Gee, I wonder what will happen?! Yep, that’s right, it all ends in tears and traumatised kiddie-winks. This writing is just so juvenile and limp. The descriptions read just the same as in Weir’s non-fiction histories – incredibly dry, unmemorable lists. The worst of by far though was Weir’s poor research and total misunderstanding and the era.
Weir completely misunderstands the social mores of the day when she has Frances Brandon and Henry Grey acting all doom and gloom over Jane’s birth because she’s a daughter. She’s transferring the concerns of Henry VIII onto the couple. How she manages to do this when she’s a writer of non-fiction histories boggles the mind. Frances and Henry were still young at 20 years old and had only been married for four years, and whilst sons were undoubtedly desired, it was hardly a disaster for the Greys to have only daughters. King Henry VIII meanwhile, at the time the future Edward VI was born, was 46 years old, on his third marriage after almost 30 years of married life, and had only two surviving acknowledged but illegitimated daughters, and it was important to him to have a son because it was unprecedented for a woman to be accepted as ruler of England in her own right and the young Tudor dynasty could still be overthrown.
Weir also includes the nonsense about the Duke of Northumberland poisoning Edward VI and then smothering a lookalike and switching the bodies so that the “king’s corpse” would have no evidence of foul play. I cannot stress enough how absurd this is. In her author’s note Weir claims that the evidence for this is written in a letter by one of the duke’s sons, but that is completely made up - it's hearsay, and not mentioned in any letter written by one of the duke's sons. Mary and Elizabeth Tudor are titled "Princess" in the book when they were actually titled "Lady". Jane Parker is once again condemned for taking down Anne and George Boleyn. Frances and Adrian Stokes are described according to the painting which for years now has been known to actually be Mary Neville and her son. Oh, and of course, Frances and Henry Grey beat their poor daughter Jane black and blue. Tempted as I am to explain in detail exactly why all of this is wrong, I'm simply going to link y'all to that business and you can click on it if you're interested.
Jane Parker and the Boleyns' downfall
What really happened to Edward VI's body
The many misconceptions about Frances Brandon
Essentially, Weir shoves in every scrap of rumour and gossip from the era. Whether she did this out of sheer bad research or purposely to make things "juicier", I don't know, but it doesn't improve the pedestrian prose, only adds a repellent splash of lurid crassness.
Innocent Traitor is dull, wildly inaccurate, and unimpressive.
2 out of 10
Weir completely misunderstands the social mores of the day when she has Frances Brandon and Henry Grey acting all doom and gloom over Jane’s birth because she’s a daughter. She’s transferring the concerns of Henry VIII onto the couple. How she manages to do this when she’s a writer of non-fiction histories boggles the mind. Frances and Henry were still young at 20 years old and had only been married for four years, and whilst sons were undoubtedly desired, it was hardly a disaster for the Greys to have only daughters. King Henry VIII meanwhile, at the time the future Edward VI was born, was 46 years old, on his third marriage after almost 30 years of married life, and had only two surviving acknowledged but illegitimated daughters, and it was important to him to have a son because it was unprecedented for a woman to be accepted as ruler of England in her own right and the young Tudor dynasty could still be overthrown.
Weir also includes the nonsense about the Duke of Northumberland poisoning Edward VI and then smothering a lookalike and switching the bodies so that the “king’s corpse” would have no evidence of foul play. I cannot stress enough how absurd this is. In her author’s note Weir claims that the evidence for this is written in a letter by one of the duke’s sons, but that is completely made up - it's hearsay, and not mentioned in any letter written by one of the duke's sons. Mary and Elizabeth Tudor are titled "Princess" in the book when they were actually titled "Lady". Jane Parker is once again condemned for taking down Anne and George Boleyn. Frances and Adrian Stokes are described according to the painting which for years now has been known to actually be Mary Neville and her son. Oh, and of course, Frances and Henry Grey beat their poor daughter Jane black and blue. Tempted as I am to explain in detail exactly why all of this is wrong, I'm simply going to link y'all to that business and you can click on it if you're interested.
Jane Parker and the Boleyns' downfall
What really happened to Edward VI's body
The many misconceptions about Frances Brandon
Essentially, Weir shoves in every scrap of rumour and gossip from the era. Whether she did this out of sheer bad research or purposely to make things "juicier", I don't know, but it doesn't improve the pedestrian prose, only adds a repellent splash of lurid crassness.
Innocent Traitor is dull, wildly inaccurate, and unimpressive.
2 out of 10
emmarowlands's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
naturerosa's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
sad
slow-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? It's complicated
5.0
larissadistler's review against another edition
4.0
I admit that I have sort of a fascination with Jane Grey. She was born into a time where it was very difficult to be a woman and maintain a sense of self, while remaining respectable. Lady Jane was far ahead of her time and had she been allowed to rule, England would probably be in a different state than it is now.
This is my first novel by Alison Weir. Generally she writes non-fiction and she is very good at it. I expected her fiction to be closer to Hilary Mantel, richly detailed and still thoroughly enjoyable. I was slightly disappointed in that this novel was not quite as detailed an account of the life of Jane Grey and I was hoping for. I was also off put by how intelligent Jane sounds at the age of four. Jane was a very gifted child, but I highly doubt she had the reasoning capabilities Weir's Jane shows at the age of merely four.
Overall, this was an enjoyable novel. The perspective shifts between several characters and the effect is a pretty well rounded account.
This is my first novel by Alison Weir. Generally she writes non-fiction and she is very good at it. I expected her fiction to be closer to Hilary Mantel, richly detailed and still thoroughly enjoyable. I was slightly disappointed in that this novel was not quite as detailed an account of the life of Jane Grey and I was hoping for. I was also off put by how intelligent Jane sounds at the age of four. Jane was a very gifted child, but I highly doubt she had the reasoning capabilities Weir's Jane shows at the age of merely four.
Overall, this was an enjoyable novel. The perspective shifts between several characters and the effect is a pretty well rounded account.
tinky47's review against another edition
5.0
I keep reading about Tudor legacy and I love it. It was nice to read something not written by Phillipa Gregory, to get a different perspective.
Lady Jane Gray was one of two daughters, to her ambitious parents. Her mother was niece to King Henry and exceeding proud of her Tudor lineage. Jane was constantly reminded that she is only the substitute to the male heir her parents wished they had. Raised by her nurse, she is brought up to attend court and is taught her studies along side the princesses Elizabeth and Mary. She becomes one of the ladies to serve in Queen Katherine's court. This story tells Jane's tragic story, but also captures what a dangerous time it was. People were burned at street corners on Sundays for having the wrong beliefs. Religious faith was swapped out like fashion in order to keep alive.
After the death of King Henry and his sole male heir Prince Edward, England is prime for a civil war between, Catholics and Protestants. This book has many narrators to let the story of Lady Jane Gray, the young girl that conspirators put on the English throne to ensure the country would reclaim Protestant power, and to keep Princess Mary off the throne.
Lady Jane Gray was one of two daughters, to her ambitious parents. Her mother was niece to King Henry and exceeding proud of her Tudor lineage. Jane was constantly reminded that she is only the substitute to the male heir her parents wished they had. Raised by her nurse, she is brought up to attend court and is taught her studies along side the princesses Elizabeth and Mary. She becomes one of the ladies to serve in Queen Katherine's court. This story tells Jane's tragic story, but also captures what a dangerous time it was. People were burned at street corners on Sundays for having the wrong beliefs. Religious faith was swapped out like fashion in order to keep alive.
After the death of King Henry and his sole male heir Prince Edward, England is prime for a civil war between, Catholics and Protestants. This book has many narrators to let the story of Lady Jane Gray, the young girl that conspirators put on the English throne to ensure the country would reclaim Protestant power, and to keep Princess Mary off the throne.
noel_k's review against another edition
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Dead
jobustitch's review against another edition
3.0
Not bad, but it left me wanting to know more about the Lady Jane Grey.