Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir
I found myself close to tears last night, for the silliest reason. I had just finished Innocent Traitor, a fictionalized account of the life of Jane Grey, who was queen of England for a brief span of nine days. If you know English history, you know how her story is going to turn out, no matter how much you come to like the character. Jane was a brilliant, sweet tempered young girl who found herself in extremely dangerous circumstances due to her parents conniving and overreaching ambition. Such is the power of the author’s skill that she took a well known historical fact and spun a tale that involves you deeply in Jane’s short, sad life. Jane was a disappointment to her parents from the moment she drew breath because she was a girl. Even worse, she was a girl with freckles who had a mind of her own and deeply held convictions. Her few moments of happiness came to her from the other women in her life: her nurse, and Queen Catherine, one of the few wives to survive Henry VIII. This compelling novel, loaded with the voices and flavor of the Tudor court, is a deeply satisfying read, not to be missed.