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| | | From: ForeverAmber (Original Message) | Sent: 3/28/2008 5:11 PM |
My, is it Philippa Weir or Alison Gregory? I sure can't tell in reading the Lady Jane Grey novel, Innocent Traitor, Alison Weir's first actually named foray into the world of historical fiction. Good luck to you in getting through this book. Which was published first, this one or Philippa Gregory's The Boleyn Inheritance? They both do that maddening first person narrative that switches to a new character every few pages. Gregory only had it divvied up between Catherine Howard, Jane Rochford, & Anne of Cleves at least; Weir's thrown in Frances Brandon, Jane Seymour, Jane Grey, Jane Grey's nursemaid, Catherine Parr, Mary Tudor, Northumberland, Arundel, until you're so dizzy you want to get OFF this historical merry-go-round. PLUS she also wrote in present tense on top of that!  You know, sentences like "There is a frosty silence while my mother & the Duchess of Northumberland wait for Mrs Ellen to pack my belongings". That was actually a short example; many of the sentences are so run-on that by the time you reach the end of it, you're not sure WHAT you read & you have to go back & read it again. You just did NOT have an opportunity to let the tale absorb you because of the style in which it was penned  It seems a lot of books nowadays also have questions at the end in case you've picked this as the book of the month to read in some book discussion circle. One of them inquired if the reader was appalled by the author's representation of the brutal cruelty of Jane's parents. Henry Grey didn't do anything to Jane except get her & himself killed as per Wyatt's Rebellion; Frances Brandon smacked the kid around now & then, but I don't think Weir portrayed it as "brutally" as she seems to think she did. Even the bit where Jane refused to marry Guildford Dudley (whose name Weir spelt "Guilford", which isn't right) had the other Jane Dudley (Northumberland's wife) advising Frances to whip the disrespectful little brat; Frances calls for her whip & then cut to Jane miserably crying in her bed about how Jesus died for her sins & she couldn't hold out against a little whipping The cruelty was implied, but not graphic, & not monstrous. Weir never seems to work in that this WAS the attitude of 16th century parents toward their children & not at all unusual to have corporal punishment meted out regularly to "correct" a child, & for it to still be remarked upon 400 years later, Frances & Henry were over the top with it; I didn't think she presented it as horrible as it must've been. The reason she gives for the abuse is that Jane was not a boy. Well, neither were Catherine & Mary Grey (the latter of which was born with a hunchback, which must've appalled Frances with her royal pretensions), & Frances didn't smack the snot out of them  Jane as Weir presented her broke all the rules of 16th century children, failing to offer her parents the proper respect, sassing them constantly, & then poor poor me-ing about how abused she was. I think she was trying to portray Jane as "spirited", but she came off as this bratty kid who thought she knew it all because she was so clever & intelligent at her lessons, & needed to correct those around her, including her parents. Another query desired to know if Frances's attitude adjustment was believable, to which FA says a resounding HELL NO! Frances throughout the entire book was portrayed as a self-centered, ambitious, pleasure-seeking, lazy wench who thought everything was her due because of her Tudor bloodline & who cared not a whit for her children's welfare. Suddenly, when Jane & Henry are about to be executed, we find Weir places Frances in bed with her lover, Adrian Stokes (her 3rd husband later), lamenting the fact that she's been mean to Jane for 16 years & now she can never make it up to her considering the whole head-cutting denouement looming I didn't find this abrupt reversal of attitude at all convincing, especially given the fact that Frances was knocking boots with her BF as her daughter was dying! The BF seemed more distressed than she did. There was also no mention of Frances's siblings, except for the part where Henry & Charles Brandon died of the sweating sickness, & she & her husband inherited the Suffolk title. They were callous to Catherine Willoughby in her grief over losing both her children at once, & toasted their accession to the dukedom. Margaret Clifford & her children are never mentioned at all, it's like they doesn't exist. Guildford (I just cannot spell it like Weir does) was portrayed as Frances's evil twin ROFL except that he was prettier & drank more. When their parents deem it time for them to consummate their marriage, Jane is determined to resist having sex thrust upon her, so Guildford deflowers his bride sans preliminaries. Then Jane is all poor-poor-me, he raped me, get away from me Guildford yuck. Again, Weir is putting this into 21st century context; by Tudor standards, a wife's duty was to be obedient & submit to her husband. She had Jane choose to rebel against consummating her marriage, & it isn't like Guildford beat her into submission; he pinned her down on the bed & did the deed he'd come to do, & he was incredulously ticked off at Jane's blunt refusal so he certainly wasn't too careful of the fact that she was a virgin, but I think Weir is being melodramatic in calling it "rape" considering the times. Jane's screaming her fool head off through the whole thing besides, which is also overly-dramatic. Is losing one's virginity painful? Yes, but not as horrendous as Weir makes it out to be! She uses this as the reason why Jane wouldn't agree to creating him king with equal powers, & why Jane wouldn't see him when he requested to do so before their executions. By the end of the book I was cheering for the execution ROFL Weir wrote Jane as a right little snot for whom you had zero sympathy. Jane was a tedious, dogmatic, pious, preachy, annoying religious zealot, & the way Weir portrayed her made me realize that's probably HOW Jane really was, given that Mary told her she would spare her life if she gave Catholicism a spin & Jane declined, wanting to be a martyr for "the true faith". What 16 year old girl wouldn't jump on the chance at life? Her belief in the reformed faith was so strong that (like MQOS did under Elizabeth) she used it to be a symbol of the repression of her religion under Mary. If Weir's intent was to create Jane as a sympathetic character, it fell far short of the mark in my opinion. I thought she made Jane very unlikeable & unlovable a creature, & that she tried to invest modern values into Jane's story that were jarring. Plus that whole present tense first person thing, as I said, interfered with the flow of the book. I wonder if she does the same thingwith her new novel on Elizabeth She does have an Anne Boleyn bio in the works as well, so be prepared for her spin on old Sixfinger there ROFL |
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Wow, such a scathing review!  I have this book but have only read the first few pages. I guess I will have to hurry up with TOBG and move right into this one. Jane Grey was my first Tudor love so I am looking forward to reading this book, even after your comments, ForeverAmber.  I like it when you have thought of a character in a certain way and then some author brings another point of view into light. Should be interesting. Tudorgalusa |
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Just a minute....let me get this right. Is it safe to say that you don't like this book? LOL |
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Off with her head! Queen Mary said She's such a right little snot She thinks that she knows everything I'm here to tell her....NOT! She's such a brat Thinks she's all that Just 'cause she does translations From Latin to Greek & back again O what a dull relation! She needs a smack Dressed all in black Eschewing gowns so pretty And tho tis clever she might be She'll never pass for witty She's such an ass She hates the Mass Can't stand transubstantation Won't even sing a Christmas carol And claims we've no salvation! Well, I'll show her! That sabouteur! Thinks she can steal my crown My Philip will just clap with glee To see her head fall down! |
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It ain't every day you see a peep rhyming "transubstantion", now, is it?  |
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You've still got it ole bean! |
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| Just a minute....let me get this right. Is it safe to say that you don't like this book? LOL | |
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