English History with a Furry, Delightful Twist
Fun fact about me: I have an unreasonable amount of knowledge about the Tudors of England. I have devoured dozens of books about Henry VIII, Bloody Mary, and Elizabeth I. But I had never read very much about someone who had a (very) brief rule in between them- Lady Jane Grey. So when I heard about My Lady Jane, a new retelling of her tale by the combined creative minds of Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows, and Brodi Ashton, I could not resist diving in. It was so much fun!
For those of you who haven't spent ages researching Tudor monarchs, Lady Jane Grey had her nine day reign (yes, only NINE days) after the death of Edward VI. She had been married to the son of one of Edward's chief advisors, Lord Dudley. After Edward's death, Dudley put Jane on the throne (she had a legitimate, if distant, claim to the throne) to stop Edward's sister Mary from becoming queen. However, Mary soon gained the support of the military and common people, deposed Jane, and had her beheaded. (Starting her reign as "Bloody Mary" off right.)
My Lady Jane throws a good bit of this out the window. The first half of the book stays roughly within the historical record, but the second half is pretty much all fiction. I still loved it! To get to the actual book, several things start out fictional. For one, in this alternate version of reality, there are people who can turn into animals at will, and those who think that the animal-changers are evil and should be burned at the stake. Pretty hard line. Lady Jane's fiancé? He turns into a horse from sunup to sundown every day. With that fact, plus their sudden marriage, a possible conspiracy against Edward, a ransacking group of people that can turn into wolves- what else could go wrong?
As I've said, I LOVED this book. It's witty and fun and makes lots of references to pop culture. There's a Tangled reference! The authors did an amazing job of blending history and fiction together and creating something new and wonderful. One notable feature of the book is how it is told- each chapter alternates between the POVs of Jane, Edward, and G (Jane's husband). At first, I thought it would be confusing, but it's actually quite helpful as the book progresses. Jane is quick-witted, intelligent, and stubborn; Edward is surprising, tender-hearted, and endearing; G is loveable, dashing, and all you could ask for in a leading man. This book had it all- adventure, mystery, romance, surprises, and a happy ending. Again- I LOVED IT!
Plot: A
Characters: A+
Book Overall: A
For those of you who haven't spent ages researching Tudor monarchs, Lady Jane Grey had her nine day reign (yes, only NINE days) after the death of Edward VI. She had been married to the son of one of Edward's chief advisors, Lord Dudley. After Edward's death, Dudley put Jane on the throne (she had a legitimate, if distant, claim to the throne) to stop Edward's sister Mary from becoming queen. However, Mary soon gained the support of the military and common people, deposed Jane, and had her beheaded. (Starting her reign as "Bloody Mary" off right.)
My Lady Jane throws a good bit of this out the window. The first half of the book stays roughly within the historical record, but the second half is pretty much all fiction. I still loved it! To get to the actual book, several things start out fictional. For one, in this alternate version of reality, there are people who can turn into animals at will, and those who think that the animal-changers are evil and should be burned at the stake. Pretty hard line. Lady Jane's fiancé? He turns into a horse from sunup to sundown every day. With that fact, plus their sudden marriage, a possible conspiracy against Edward, a ransacking group of people that can turn into wolves- what else could go wrong?
As I've said, I LOVED this book. It's witty and fun and makes lots of references to pop culture. There's a Tangled reference! The authors did an amazing job of blending history and fiction together and creating something new and wonderful. One notable feature of the book is how it is told- each chapter alternates between the POVs of Jane, Edward, and G (Jane's husband). At first, I thought it would be confusing, but it's actually quite helpful as the book progresses. Jane is quick-witted, intelligent, and stubborn; Edward is surprising, tender-hearted, and endearing; G is loveable, dashing, and all you could ask for in a leading man. This book had it all- adventure, mystery, romance, surprises, and a happy ending. Again- I LOVED IT!
Plot: A
Characters: A+
Book Overall: A
(picture courtesy of goodreads.com)
Comments
Post a Comment