Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.92
EAN: 9780345495341
ISBN: 0345495349
Label: Ballantine Books
Languages: Array
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 432
Publication Date: 2007-11-06
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Release Date: 2007-11-06
Studio: Ballantine Books

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

Historical expertise marries page-turning fiction in Alison Weir’s enthralling debut novel, breathing new life into one of the most significant and tumultuous periods of the English monarchy. It is the story of Lady Jane Grey–“the Nine Days’ Queen”–a fifteen-year-old girl who unwittingly finds herself at the center of the religious and civil unrest that nearly toppled the fabled House of Tudor during the sixteenth century.

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.

“An impressive debut. Weir shows skill at plotting and maintaining tension, and she is clearly going to be a major player in the . . . historical fiction game.”
–The Independent

“Alison Weir is one of our greatest popular historians. In her first work of fiction . . . Weir manages her heroine’s voice brilliantly, respecting the past’s distance while conjuring a dignified and fiercely modern spirit.”
–London Daily Mail


From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Lady Jane
Comment: What a poor little girl!!! It is really sad how the parents used their daughters for personal advancement. Lady Jane was a victim of the tudor times. She had parents whom did not love her as parents should love thier children and used her for thier own personal advancements. I do not want to spoil the story for anyone, but it was a good read. In the end, I imagine Jane must have welcomed death, as she would finally be free from her abusive family and free from being an instrument of treason. Her life could have been very different had she had different parents. I hope she found peace in heaven.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Unlucky to be named Jane
Comment: I really unjoyed this book.
Poor Jane,, a total inncocent.
All she wanted were her books and her faith it seemed.
For me, it's been a bit tough to find anything on this Jane or Jane Rochford. I already read Vengence Is Mine, but I won't go there here.
This womanchild was so dominated by her parents, to the point of child abuse.
You really feel for Jane, her life is nothing like she had hoped it would be.
She was used til the very end. The crown was put upon her head for nine days...nine days!
It's truly a wonder how some slept at night back then. They would have had no concious whatsoever.
I reccomend this book, it's a good but sad read.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: a great story
Comment: what a wonderful story and tragic story made more so that it is true. alison weir is equally fantastic in writing this in novel form rather than the fiction books she writes. this novel is captivating, interesting, and moving. i highly recommend this to anyone loving either history or great stories involving mystery and intrigue. definitley a great buy.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Get to know the tragic nine day Queen
Comment: A fascinating novel of the life of Lady Jane Grey, England's nine day Queen. Intelligent beyond her years, Jane is born to greedy and corrupt parents who plot to place her on the throne of England after Henry VIII's heir, Edward VI, dies. Jane, who is powerless to stop her conniving parents, is merely a spectator to the tragic events that ultimately lead to her death.

Other reviewers have pointed out that Mrs Weir's writing was slightly dull. While I admit that her style of writing in this book was not as colorful as say Philippa Gregory, the author explains this in the Author's note.

Since she wrote this book in the first person, it was more important for her to unveil the characters's thoughts and feelings, as opposed to spending a page describing the look and feel of fabrics etc. Innocent Traitor was also Alison Weir's first historical fiction novel. If you haven't already, you should read some of her royal biographies. Every work by this author is fascinating from start to finish!

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Not terrible, but not a re-reader.
Comment: When I was in high school, my mom was reading a book called The Six Wives of Henry VIII. At one point, she copied down one of Henry's poems to Anne Boleyn and gave it to me ("Green Grows The Holly"). Being young, American, and ignorant, I had no idea who or what the hell she was talking about. I think I had, at that point, seen the movie "Elizabeth" with Cate Blanchett (and oh, Joseph Fiennes!), but I hadn't thought about anything beyond that. I think it was the poem that led to me reading the book. I'd expected it to be dry and boring--after all, it's history! But I loved it, and it sparked a waxing and waning interest in Tudor England that's lasted for about ten years. Typically something will happen to re-awaken my interest, I'll re-read Six Wives, continue with whatever else originally sparked it, and then ... um ... get distracted with a-ha or House or god knows what else.

All of this is to say two things: I knew of Lady Jane Grey, but not in depth, and when I saw Alison Weir had started writing fiction novels, I jumped in and read Innocent Traitor. And although it was interesting enough, I still put it aside for almost a week to read other things, something I almost never do. A book this size I normally would've finished in a few hours if uninterrupted, but it just couldn't hold my interest that long.

At first, I thought it was because of the simple fact that I already knew the outcome. I knew Jane ended up being queen for nine days and then got her head chopped off. So I thought that was what was holding me back. However, I eventually realized it was more complicated. The first issue, I think, as the fact that the entire book is in first person ... but from the perspective of quite a few peoples' internal dialogue. I can think of at least seven narrators off the top of my head. Honestly, it just gets confusing after a while, especially since there's no distinctive "voice" to each. They're all in the same thoughtful, self-aware, carefully conscious voice, and the only way to tell them apart is by the headings or the events.

The other issue is the fact that I just didn't much care for the character of Jane after her early childhood. I swung from pity for a child who was abused, to disbelief that someone so young could suddenly grasp the fundamental difference between Protestantism and Catholicism, to annoyance that she suddenly was all holier-than-thou to everyone around her, and eventually a sort of disbelief. I realize that when reading these sorts of books, you had to accept the fact that women had few personal freedoms and were the property of men. I also realize that religion was an unchallenged, permeating tenant of peoples' lives.

But when Jane, suddenly confronted with being queen because of others' machinations, convinces herself that God wants her to be queen to keep the country Protestant, I just gagged. Even moreso when she feels sorry for her husband who raped her (which we got two or three graphic descriptions of). As sad as it was that a brilliant, introverted woman got pushed on to the throne and ultimately beheaded, by the time the book ended, I was basically sick of Lady Jane.

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