I seem to be having a bit of a Tudor moment, what with CJ Sampson's Matthew Shardlake and all. I started Innocent Traitor comparing it unfavourably with Sampson's work. But I found it in due course a real page-turner. The truly horrifying history of Jane Grey, the nine-days Queen is told through the eyes of many of the people involved in her life. Their individual voices are hard to distinguish one from the other, but their different views of aspects of the same tale make for interesting reading. There's Jane herself, quiet, studious but strong-minded, her loyal loving nurse, her dreadfully inhumane mother and the political entourage surrounding her. The characters are believable, and the story is a true one.

Alison Weir, an historian, has clearly enjoyed the opportunity, new to her, of fictionalising her account, putting words and thoughts into her characters' mouths and heads that can have no basis in hard historical fact. But she is so conversant with the period and the characters about whom she writes that the feel of the book is likely to be an accurate refection of this particularly unsavoury episode in English history. A very good if uncomfortable read. ( )

Such a tragic life poor, innocent Jane Grey led! I'm still in my introductory days of Tudor history so I did NOT know the ending of the story and was so grieved to know justice was not served.

I've loved everything I've read by Alison Weir and this was no exception. I usually strongly despise stories that are told from many different viewpoints but Weir did this one extremely well. My only complaint is that the voice of the very young Jane is not at all what one would expect from a 4 year old---even a very learned, higher class, 500 year old 4 year old. In fact, it wasn't until she was about 11 that I felt her voice could come near to matching what was probably reality. I can't imagine a scenario that would have better endeared me to her character though---it was just hard to get past this implausibility.

I was very impressed by Jane's strength of character and devotion to her convictions. Her feelings on modesty and the proper way to worship and approach God were very important to her---ultimately leading to her terrible end. While she felt she sometimes compromised them, she honored God in the end by refusing to budge.

I was also intrigued by what supposedly happened to the young King Edward after his death. Upon further research, it seems most scholars believe this to be a myth. However, Weir's account is very plausible and she makes a note and case for sufficient evidence in her afterward---so who knows?

I learned a lot about Tudor history, England, religious customs, and more by reading this novel. Such an excellent story! ( )

This book intrigued me when I first heard about it. I thought this book was the culmination of years of research, since Jane Grey is so rarely known. Clearly, I was mistaken. It doesn’t really tell us much about Jane Grey’s life. It’s more of a fictionalized account of her life, and the lack of factual information disappointed me. The book could have been better if it had included more accurate details on Jane Grey's life.

It begins with two very dull parallel birth scenes, then gets progressively worse. Instead of capturing my attention, the language is tedious and pedestrian. From what I understand, Jane Grey’s parents did not complain about the fact that she was a daughter. It is possible they expected Jane to perform well, but I do not believe they were disappointed because she was a daughter. I find it extremely irritating when the author depicts women in a historical fiction novel as being like one another. The author portrays the characters with similar bland personalities, always showing them as weak and not resembling humans at all.

The story of how the Duke of Northumberland poisoned Edward VI, smothered a lookalike, and switched their bodies to hide the foul play is buried among the gibberish. There are no words to describe how absurd this is. This is a complete fabrication, as there is no evidence to support this conspiracy theory. I know all that for sure is that Edward VI died of an illness at a very young age. The rest is just speculation and rumor.

It’s been a while since I read anything about Jane Grey’s life. Most of these books/articles dismiss the idea that someone forced Jane Grey into a loveless marriage and exploited her. All accounts, including contemporary accounts, show that Jane was a strong and independent woman who could make her own decisions. She actually agreed to marry Guildford willingly. She was (reportedly) the driving force behind her inauguration as queen. It also ordered the same husband by her to be a duke instead of a king.

Jane Grey could have been a victim of domestic violence and chosen for her husband's ambition. Weir lacks a history degree, but many qualified historians believe that Jane and Guildford had a happy marriage and genuinely loved each other.

The author may have made Guildford look bad to make the novel's heroine seem innocent. It would make readers more invested in the heroine's character and story by garnering sympathy.. It would also provide an interesting narrative arc and drive the story forward.

I lost a lot of trust in Weir at that point, regardless of her past accomplishments. Innocent Traitor is dull, wildly inaccurate, and unimpressive. ( )

I enjoyed Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir. I was spurred on to learn more about Queen Jane. I did not enjoy learning that things didn't go as they went in the book. Despite fiction license, Philippa Greggory would have included footnotes to annotate that certain parts of the book were based on other historical narratives and that other views exist. ( )

This book is a good beach read, but don't expect literature. Most of the characters are stereotyped, such as Jane's overly ambitious and cruel parents, jane herself is too saintly, etc. It felt as if the facts of history forced the characters to be one dimensional. Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading this book. ( )