RC: Does the history of Tudor England have any relevance to what is going on politically and culturally in England and America today? The book was OK, and by GR rating that means it should be given two stars, so that is what I am giving it. Only two stars!

Innocent Traitor - Penguin Books UK Innocent Traitor - Penguin Books UK

Una specie di martire al contrario, se è vero che le sarebbe bastato abiurare e riprendere la fede dei suoi nonni, ma non lo fece. The book is written in the first person, which helps change, the perspective of looking at history. You look at the events from the point of view of the character, in the event, at that time. It adds certain emotion and ‘personality’ to the event(s) and allows history to become warmer than a chronological the presentation of cold facts. And a brave attempt, may I add, for Alison says: Hrm. I think I would've enjoyed this more if it had been a straightforward history textbook instead of an attempt at prose. The multiple POVs are mutually indistinguishable, Jane at age 4 sounding the same as her mother as the queen as the duke and so on. The dialogue all sounds scripted, and the emotions are overwrought and rarely wring true. RC: In your author’s note, you write: “Some parts of the book may seem far-fetched: they are the parts most likely to be based on fact.” This bears out the old adage of truth being stranger than fiction. Were there facts that you felt you had to leave out because they would have seemed too farfetched?

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Jane è prima di tutto vittima dell'ambizione dei propri genitori: allevata per divenire un giorno sposa di un re Tudor, si ritrova damigella a corte, spettatrice delle vicissitudini delle mogli di Enrico, amica-confidente di Catherine Parr, buona conoscente di Maria Stuarda e poi sua stessa concorrente, nel momento in cui altri vogliono regnare attraverso un'adolescente messa sul trono a caso. AW: The whole experience was liberating, not just being able to do away with footnotes. I loved the freedom of being so creative. Yet it’s true that writing historical fiction does have its constraints. I was very aware that it is important to get the language spoken by the characters right, and spent a lot of time modifying original quotations–which I used wherever possible–so that they did not sound incongruous in a twenty-firstcentury text. I also found that it is generally better to show the reader– through actions and conversations–what is happening, rather than relying on narrative skills to tell the story. One problem I encountered was that, in every respect, the historical Jane comes across at every stage of her life as much older than her years, and I feared that portraying her in this way–which was essential if the book was to make sense–would stretch my readers’ credulity to the limit. So I had others talk about her precocity and her formidable intelligence, and endeavored to show that in Tudor England, children were treated as miniature adults and expected to behave accordingly.

Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir | Goodreads Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir | Goodreads

Loved the part where she had to go to the "Privy" but was to scared to leave, so she just lifted her skirts and let it go and hoped the dogs would be blamed! It is so interesting, how, even when you know the story well, it can still move you to tears when it is well told, as it is here in Weir's expert hands. Weir is an accomplished and much respected historian, her accuracy is not in question, but she writes in her afterword about how freeing it is to be able to speculate on the psychology and inner workings of the players in this very real drama (it's also interesting to note that some of the most unbelievable pieces of the story are the ones that are of undisputed fact). This story is not only about Jane, but about the life and death intrigue of the day to day life of the Tudor court~and many of the voices in this novel often wish to be commoners rather than players on the royal, and very public stage (although i've always said IF i HAD to live in that place and time the only person i would want to be would be Anne of Cleves, because, though she was said to be ugly {which i'm not entirely convinced of} and smell bad), she had the most freedom of all {once her marriage was annulled}). 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. Roger Ascham was so impressed with Jane's intelligence that he set up correspondence between her and many learned men, in England and Europe. A staunch Protestant, she would correspond and debate with them on various subjects including theology. Edward VI died on July 6 1553 and the unwilling Jane's famously short reign as Queen began on July 10th, ending on July 19th when Mary I was named the true monarch and Jane was charged with treason. Her sad life ended on Tower Green in Tower of London on 12th February 1554. One point: I'm tired of Tudor-era books writing graphic descriptions of rape. It's out of place and just feels really uncomfortable -- kind of like gore-porn. Just because it's historical doesn't make rape entertaining or somehow okay to portray in ways that modern fiction would shy away from.Non sapremo mai se questo sarebbe bastato a salvarla, però la Weir traccia un quadro ansiogeno di quei giorni, dove bastava un po' di tosse e un parto per morire, dove il corpo femminile era merce di scambio per ottenere titoli e favori, dove ogni battuta era passata al vaglio di informatori e dove bastava un pettegolezzo anonimo a corte per essere rovinati. E in quell'epoca folle Jane trova il tempo di studiare, di apprendere le nuove idee che agitano il mondo religioso, di rafforzare la propria fede protestante contro la fazione cattolica. 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. There are, I know, a few fussy writers who insist on the facts and the gaps in availability of historical data to be left as empty and dark as a question mark. However, this book, does offer a glow in that abyss. John Man speculates fairly well when he has to deal with gaps in history. His fillers, however, are more based on reason and logic. He does wonderful justice too – makes for interesting reading. Yet, it is all in the third person.