Lady Jane is briefly mentioned in two articles in the Christmas 2014 issue of BBC History Magazine.
‘Who was the real Edward VI?’ by Stephen Alford and ‘Mary: Queen Against the Odds’ by Anna Whitelock.
The article by Anna Whitelock also includes a close up of the ‘Streatham’ portrait of Jane, currently on display at the National Portrait Gallery.
Elizabeth Fremantle has announced details of the last book in her Tudor Trilogy. ‘Watch the Lady’ will be published in June 2015.
(c) Paola Pieroni
‘The daughter of the Queen’s nemesis, Penelope Devereux, arrives at court blithely unaware of its pitfalls and finds herself in love with one man, yet married off to another. Bestowed with beauty and charm she and her brother, The Earl of Essex, are drawn quickly into the aging Queen’s favour. But Penelope is saddled with a husband who loathes her and chooses to strike out, risking her reputation to seek satisfaction elsewhere. But life at the heart of the court is not only characterised by the highs and lows of romance, there are formidable factions at work who would like to see the Devereux family brought down. It seems The Earl of Essex can do no wrong in the eyes of the Queen but as his influence grows so his enemies gather and it is Penelope who must draw on all her political savvy to prevent the unthinkable from happening.
Told from the perspective of Penelope and her brother’s greatest enemy the politician Cecil, this story, wrought with love, hatred and envy, unfolds over two decades in which we see the last gasps of Elizabeth’s reign, and the deadly scramble for power in a dying dynasty.’
You can find further information at Elizabeth Fremantle’s website – Elizabeth Fremantle – Watch the Lady
The other books in the trilogy are ‘Queen’s Gambit’ and ‘Sisters of Treason.’
(c) Penguin
(c) Penguin
Congratulations to Elizabeth Fremantle, Jessie Childs and Helen Castor who all have Saturday Review Books of the Year.
History
God’s Traitors: Terror and Faith in Elizabethan England by Jessie Childs
(c) Bodley Head
‘Jessie Childs has explored the religious tumult of Elizabethan England through the experiences of the Catholic family, the Vauxes of Harrowden Hall: the result is a gripping tale of spies and skulduggery, of casuistry and unshakeable belief, of torture, martyrdom, courage and the ferocious collision and confusion of politics and religion. God’s Traitors is thought-provoking and timely, at a moment when the British state is once again beset by fear of religious fanaticism.’
p.5 (Saturday Review, December 6th 2014).
Biography
Joan of Arc: A History by Helen Castor
‘In 1428 a 17-year-old peasant girl appears at the French court and demands to speak with the king. The voice of God has told her to save France. And off to battle Joan the Maid goes, becoming the figurehead of a messianic crusade to liberate her homeland from its English occupiers. Castor, a Cambridge historian, ferrets away in the documents of time, carefully separating fact from myth. The story that emerges, after Castor has freed the warrior-saint from propaganda, both modern and old, is still utterly extraordinary.’
p.6 (Saturday Review, December 6th 2014).
Historical Fiction
Sisters of Treason by Elizabeth Fremantle
(c) Penguin
‘More Tudors. But even those jaded by the dynasty that launched a thousand novelists will find much that is fresh in Fremantle’s work. Katharine and Mary Grey are the younger sisters of Lady Jane Grey. The book starts with Jane’s execution and follows her sisters’ battle to survive the bloody religious turmoil of Queen Mary’s reign. This is powerful writing; the girls’ fears and passions burn through then pages. Mary Grey, the misformed, plain sister, is forced to dandle on the ageing Queen’s knee like an outwardly placid doll. Her inner fury lingers long after the last page is turned.’
p.14 (Saturday Review, December 6th 2014)
An Illustrated Introduction to the Tudors (Paperback) by Gareth Russell
‘The six monarchs of the Tudor dynasty are phenomenally well known. Henry VII succeeded in ending the Wars of the Roses, Henry VIII formed the Church of England and famously married six times: Katherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard and Katherine Parr. His three children, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I, would all ascend to the throne, as would his great-niece Lady Jane Grey. Between them they ruled for an eventful 118 years. This easy-to-follow introduction to the Tudors follows the major events and personalities of the age.’
From Amazon.co.uk
4 December – Edward VI (Penguin Monarchs): The Last Boy King by Stephen Alford
(c) Allen Lane
‘ Edward VI, the only son of Henry VIII, became king at the age of nine and died wholly unexpectedly at the age of fifteen. All around him loomed powerful men who hoped to use the child to further their own ends, but who were also playing a long game – assuming that Edward would long outlive them and become as commanding a figure as his father had been.
Stephen Alford’s wonderful book gives full play to the murky, sinister nature of Edward’s reign, but is also a poignant account of a boy learning to rule, learning to enjoy his growing power and to come out of the shadows of the great aristocrats around him. England’s last child monarch, Edward would have led his country in a quite different direction to the catastrophic one caused by his death.’
Further details – Amazon.co.uk
