Book Summary and Reviews of Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir

Name: Innocent Traitor
Rating: 5.0 (1 reviews)
Author: Alison Weir

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Innocent Traitor

A Novel of Lady Jane Grey

by Alison Weir

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Readers' Rating (1):

Published:
Feb 2007, 416 pages

Genre: Historical Fiction
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Summary

Book Summary

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.

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Media Reviews

"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.

"A brilliantly vivid and psychologically astute novel." - Booklist.

"Weir tries to weave a conspiratorial web with Jane caught at the center, but the ever-changing perspectives prove unwieldy." - PW.

"An affecting portrayal." - Kirkus.

Note: Alison Weir is the New York Times bestselling author of a number of historical biographies. This is her first work of fiction.

This information about Innocent Traitor was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

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Cathryn Conroy

Mesmerizing!
Even students of British history who know how this story ends will find this fictionalized version (that is solidly based on historical facts) a riveting and even mesmerizing read. Author Alison Weir masterfully tells the life story of Jane Grey, known as the nine-day queen of England. The great-niece of King Henry VIII, Jane was the eldest of three daughters in a time when only sons were wanted. She was physically and emotionally abused by her mother, but found solace in books and learning--highly unusual for a young girl of these times. But her life only gets worse. When her marriage is consummated, she is brutally raped by her husband.

The entire book is written in the first person but from the viewpoint of several people, including Lady Jane Grey; Mrs. Ellen, her loving and trusted nursemaid; Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk, Jane's hateful mother; Queen Katherine Parr, the sixth wife of Henry VIII who took an interest in Jane; and John Dudley, the man who wrested the crown, albeit temporarily, from Princess Mary, the rightful heir.

The book is filled with the gossip, intrigue and conspiracies of court life with such vivid descriptions that the story just pops--making you feel as if you're living in the middle of it. In the author's note at the end of the book, Alison Weir writes: "It is my sincere hope that the story that has unfolded in these pages has both enthralled and appalled you, the reader." It did both magnificently.

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