Wow! I loved this! It was like watching a series of Shameless but with posh people. Greed, bad mothers, bad fathers, plotting, bitching, murdering, affairs, rape……phew! Really, you couldn’t make this stuff up!
Seriously though, this is such a well written account of Lady Jane Grey, the young 16 year old Queen of England who only ruled for 9 days. It starts at her birth (to a mother who would have been carted off by social services today) and follows her throughout her 16 years by her own account and by accounts of those closest to her. Poor girl! She really was just a pawn in her parents greedy plans and ultimately met her death because of it. Lady Jane Grey was a complete surprise to me too: she was wilfull, feisty, somewhat precocious and very pious. For a girl to speak her mind so much in those days must have been incredibly difficult but speak it she does. The other big surprise for me was Queen Mary who was kind and compassionate in a way that I never knew. I thoroughly enjoyed this book – my first Weir. Never a dull moment, it rips along making you unwilling to put it down. An amazing period in history has been brought vibrantly to life. Stunningly good read!
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