Book Review: Innocent Traitor

Author: Alison Weir
Title: Innocent Traitor
Genre: Historical Fiction
Pages: 416
First Published: April 6th, 2006
Where I Got It: Borrowed from Library

"I am now a condemned traitor . . . I am to die when I have hardly begun to live.

The child of a scheming father and a ruthless mother, for whom she is merely a pawn in a dynastic game with the highest stakes, Jane Grey was born during the harrowingly turbulent period between Anne Boleyn’s beheading and the demise of Jane’s infamous great-uncle, King Henry VIII. With the premature passing of Jane’ s adolescent cousin, and Henry’s successor, King Edward VI, comes a struggle for supremacy fueled by political machinations and lethal religious fervor. 

Unabashedly honest and exceptionally intelligent, Jane possesses a sound strength of character beyond her years that equips her to weather the vicious storm. And though she has no ambitions to rule, preferring to immerse herself in books and religious studies, she is forced to accept the crown, and by so doing sets off a firestorm of intrigue, betrayal, and tragedy.

Alison Weir uses her unmatched skills as a historian to enliven the many dynamic characters of this majestic drama. Along with Lady Jane Grey, Weir vividly renders her devious parents; her much-loved nanny; the benevolent Queen Katherine Parr; Jane’s ambitious cousins; the Catholic “Bloody” Mary, who will stop at nothing to seize the throne; and the protestant and future queen Elizabeth. Readers venture inside royal drawing rooms and bedchambers to witness the power-grabbing that swirls around Lady Jane Grey from the day of her birth to her unbearably poignant death. Innocent Traitor paints a complete and compelling portrait of this captivating young woman, a faithful servant of God whose short reign and brief life would make her a legend."

This is my first book about Lady Jane Grey, the Queen of 9 Nine Days, so this was a new feat for me. Alongside reading this I did actual research about her (because I'm that person). She was an interesting character. Poor girl, as smart as she was, could not escape the fate her parents and others MADE her take. She didn't want the throne, but her fear of her parents and complete naivety she was forced to wear the crown. In the end, she forced to pay the ultimate price that should have belonged to her bitch of a mother.

There was so much going in this one. So many characters and so many POVs. However, I owe Alison Weir a big hug! Why? Well, she actually announced in BIG BOLD letters of the POV change. No guessing or thinking on who the Hell was talking. I nearly wept with joy! Such a rare sight indeed! Thanks to that, though, it was easy to keep up with all the intrigue and political goings on.

I really liked Lady Jane Grey. She was young and I bet if she was allowed to grow into an adult and furthered her studies she would have been a nice competitor to Queen Elizabeth. She would have been hundreds of years ahead of her time. Poor girl. :/ Stupid Queen Mary and her need to have a Spanish stud in her bed. >.> *grumble* *grumble*

Anyways, this was a very entertaining and interesting book. Even though I'm Team Elizabeth, I actually like Lady Jane Grey and I think she would've been a great queen and a great lady if allowed to grow up. She was just a child of 16 or 17 (something like that). Such a sad story, but a very interesting one. I think I should read more about her. I would recommend this book to other HF lovers and others that can handle all the religious bullshit of pre-Elizabethan era. I shall stamp this with 5 stars. ^.^

Favorite Character(s): Lady Jane Grey, Elizabeth (though they painted her in a slutty light at one point), Catherine Parr, and Ms Ellen (sweet old lady who really loved Jane)
Not-so Favorite Character(s): Queen Mary (*grumble* *grumble*) and Jane's parents (>.>)

*CaroleRae*