Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir

The Book: Lady Jane Grey was born into times of extreme danger. Child of a scheming father and a ruthless mother, for whom she was merely a pawn in a dynastic power game with the highest stakes, she lived a life in thrall to political machinations and lethal religious fervour.

Jane's astonishing and essentially tragic story was played out during one of the most momentous periods of English history. As a great-niece of Henry VIII, and the cousin of Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I, she grew up to realise that she could never throw off the chains of her destiny. Her honesty, intelligence and strength of character carry the reader through all the vicious twists of Tudor power politics, to her nine-day reaign and its unbearably poignant conclusion.

My review: I love the different P.O.Vs shown by Weir in this book. This increases the sense of Lady Jane being so helpless. This makes her execution all the more tragic as there was nothing Lady Jane could have done to save herself. Her short life was blighted by the tyranny of her parents and even by her royal blood. It is due to her royal blood that she is unable to retire from court life and read her books and study and it is due to her royal blood that she must die. I especially enjoy the change of heart Lady Frances has at the end. Although there is no historical evidence to it, I like to imagine that at least one of her parents felt remorse in the end. I cannot wait to read more books by Alison Weir.

Other reviews: 'Alison Weir is one of our greatest popular historians. In her first work of fiction, she sets out to trace the brief life of one of hitory's most tragic heroines...Weir manages her heroine's voice brilliantly, respecting the past's distance while conjuring a dignified and fiercely modern spirit' DAILY MAIL

'[Weir] gives us a meaty flavour of the times, one of the bloodiest and most dangerous periods in history, full of betrayals and beheadings...An impressive debut.' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY

'This is a novel that will grips readers and give great pleasure.' ALLAN MASSIE - SCOTSMAN

In The Shadow of Lady Jane by Edward Charles

The Book: It is 1551 and a single act of heroism plunges ambitious young Richard Stocker into a tide of religious and social upheaval which will change not only his own life byt the course of British history.

In gratitude for saving his daughters from a flooded river, the powerful Lord Henry Grey agrees to employ Richard in his household. Passionate young Lady Katherine has already fallen for the dashing man who saved her life, while Richard himself develops a profound friendship with her troubled but brilliant sister, Lady Jane Grey. Theirs is a bond which will only be severedd three years later, when Lady Jane is put to the axe at the age of just sixteen.

My review: Lady Jane Grey has always struck me as one of the most tragic queens in history. One must have a heart of stone not to be moved by her tale and this book makes it all the more powerful by being written in the third person. It is impossible not to sympathise with all who suffer in this book and Charles has done a wonderful job of capturing the story. Despite the fact the book is a novel, there are few historical inaccuracies and one can learn a lot about the young girl who was merely a political pawn, but paid for it with her life. I definitely agree with the four stars given it by Amazon.com