Innocent Traitor

This post first published June 19, 2012.

Author: Alison Weir
First published: April 2006
Publisher: Ballantine Books
397 pages (paperback)
 
I actually have never, ever heard of Lady Jane Grey before reading this book. I remember, while hunting for some historical royal fiction at the bookstore, initially looking at the back cover, seeing her name amongst other names I am more familiar with like Henry VIII and Queen Mary, thinking, “Who the heck is Jane Grey? Why is there an entire book about her?” Curiosity, as well as many Goodreads reviews singing its praises, convinced me to try the book. After reading it, I don’t think I can ever forget Jane Grey, The Nine Days Queen.

Lady Jane Grey was born during the reign of King Henry VIII. Her parents, the Duke and Duchess of Suffolk, were very disappointed that she was not the son and male heir that they hoped for. Schemers and very ambitious, her parents decide that perhaps they can still use their daughter to their advantage, and hoped that the young heir of Henry, Prince Edward VI, will marry their daughter one day. After all, they do have Tudor blood in their veins. And so, Jane is brought up strictly and harshly by her parents, who try to mold her into a future Queen. Poor Jane endures years of physical and emotional abuse, with few moments of reprieve. At long last, an opportunity arises for Jane to take the throne and her parents greedily reach for it, despite Jane stating that she has no desire to become Queen.

Reading the book without knowing even the smallest bit about Jane Grey probably added to my enjoyment of the novel. I had no idea how things will turn out, for the most part (except for the very end, because her destiny was the prologue so you know already if she lives or dies at the end of the book). This book was written really well, and from the very first few pages, I was sucked into the story. I liked how there were no “useless” scenes — sometimes historical novels, for the sake of accuracy, like to put in scenes of things that really happened in time but have no real bearing on the actual plot of the novel. Thankfully, that never happened here. All the characters were wonderfully memorable as well, and are pretty much forever etched into my memory, especially Jane, despite myself not knowing any of these people before the book (okay, except Henry VIII …)

Weir paints Jane Grey as a very innocent girl, a complete pawn of her parents and others who wanted to maintain their power after Edward VI’s death. She shows Jane as a very intelligent girl, a devout Protestant and someone who can be outspoken if she wants to, but more often that not, is literally beaten into submission by her parents, husband and those around her. She was completely used, and really, my heart ached for her, not just for the character, but just knowing this stuff happened to a real person. It was so easy to sympathize for Jane, and oftentimes I felt angry on her behalf at all the injustices being handed to her. I remember thinking, “Geez, this girl just cannot catch a break, can she? Poor girl.” And then I would have to keep reading and turning the pages to find out if she does. It was difficult putting this book down.

I like to read about the real person after I finish a historical novel. Granted, I only use Wikipedia, and maybe a few scattered webpages, as my “source”, but for my purpose, it is enough. From what I can tell, Alison Weir, who is already an established author of several non-fiction books regarding historical royalty, with this being her first foray into the fiction world, has written Innocent Traitor to be rather accurate of the actual events. Jane is, by and large, really seen as a reluctant Queen, the most unwilling accomplice to the conspiracy that unfolded. So if you are curious as to how historically accurate this book is (I know, there are some historical novels that just create really big events out of nowhere, and when you know you’re reading history (albeit in a fictitious manner), it can be a little shocking), I can tell you it’s quite good. I feel like I learned a lot!

When I finished this book, the first thing I did was jump on Amazon.ca and order Weir’s other book, The Lady Elizabeth (I actually do already have her other other book, The Captive Queen).  I can already tell that I am going to be a loyal fan of her works. I really, really loved this book and would most certainly recommend this to everyone.

My Rating: 5/5