Thursday, July 26, 2012

Her Highness, The Traitor by Susan Higginbotham

Her Highness, The Traitor is a gripping historical fiction novel that traces the path that Lady Jane Grey took to becoming the Queen of England for 9 days. Told through the perspective of her mother, Frances Grey, and her mother-in-law, Jane Dudley, it is a unique look at the people involved with the plot.


I enjoyed how the familiar tragic story of Lady Jane Grey was told through two new viewpoints. Lady Jane was not always the nicest person and her parents are not shown to be evil people plotting their own rise through the use of the daughter as is often shown in film and book. As I read the book, I realized that no one was safe in Tudor times. The hero of one moment was the villain of the next and sure to find himself on the chopping block literally. It also seemed to be the case of what goes around comes around. If you plotted the downfall of someone, you should always look behind you as you are probably going to be next!

I’ll admit that I didn’t care for the character of Lady Jane herself, but I did really like Frances Grey and Jane Dudley and felt for them when tragedy struck. It was also interesting to read about the early life of Robert Dudley, Queen Elizabeth’s love.

Book Source: Review Copy from Sourcebooks – Thank-you!!

1 comment:

  1. This sounds wonderful. I think I may have a review copy coming or maybe even in my NetGalley queue. I'm so with you on how people are not necessarily as portrayed in history books, as the "winner" is the one who writes the history. I love reading differing interpretations of life during Tudor times, when one always had to be on guard, as a favorite one day could be riding to the Tower the next. Great, concise review!

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