Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir

I'm stuck in the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport for the next three hours, so what better to do than review a book that I absolutely loved reading!
It's pretty hard to go wrong with a novel by Alison Weir. She's a pro when it comes to anything Tudor related, not to mention her writing style is outstanding. Her descriptions allow the reader to imagine themselves right in the middle of what is going on in the story. I became completely lost (in a good way) in this novel.
Innocent Traitor was actually one of the first novels dealing with historical fiction that I had read, outside of Philippa Gregory or historical romance novels. I had no idea who Lady Jane Grey was, but I thought the book sounded good, so I ordered it. It's a book that will definitely stay in my permanent library.
Jane Grey was a young and very intelligent girl, who was related to the King of England, who at the time was Edward VI, son of King Henry VIII. There were plots to wed Edward VI to Lady Jane Grey, but Edward VI died at a young age, and Jane's ambitious family as well as Edward VI's Protestant advisors decided to push her forward onto the throne anyway (because she was somewhat in line for the crown.) The plan was to keep Mary I (Henry's daughter by Catherine of Aragon) off the throne. Edward had been Protestant, and on his death bed his will was changed naming Jane his successor to the throne, rather than his Catholic sister Mary I. Edward VI and his advisors strove to keep Mary I off the throne in order to keep the current religion intact.
Jane had no ambitions herself to the throne, but as a young girl she was at the mercy of her parents as well as other adults in power. Jane was forced to marry Guildford Dudley, and then forced to take the Crown of England, even though she believed that Mary I was the rightful heir to the crown, and that it was completely wrong for herself to be named Queen of England.
As I've said, I really didn't know anything about Lady Jane Grey, so I found myself rooting for her throughout the story. That said, the ending of the novel really got to me. I knew that King Henry VIII's daughter Mary became Queen, but I didn't realize under what circumstances, or the sad story of Jane until I finished the novel.
Although this novel tore at my heart strings, and bummed me out, it was still an amazing book. Jane may have only been Queen for nine days, but her story is one that will endure forever. Even though she was such a small part of history, the circumstances of her rise and fall are sad, but yet completely interesting. Anyone who is a lover of Tudor literature should definitely pick this book up.
Jane seems to be forgotten in the novel's that focus on the Tudor's, and I think it's awesome that Alison Weir chose to research and write about her life and death. There are hundreds of books about the other Tudor monarchs and also King Henry VIII's wives, but how many are there on Lady Jane Grey?
The decision that Mary I made in the end regarding Jane's life is heart wrenching (I actually teared up), and was one of the many events during Mary's reign which gave her the nickname "Bloody Mary." However, Jane alive would have continued to be used as a figurehead for people who opposed Mary I, in order to get people to rise up against Mary I's rule.
I find that I often have trouble getting into Alison Weir's novels that are strictly historical. I enjoy learning about important people in history, especially the Tudors, but I can't seem to get engrossed in her historical novels. However, her historical fiction novels are some of the best I've read, and her writing style and knowledge of the events of the time are the best out there!

Captive Queen by Alison Weir

I really enjoyed reading this novel by Alison Weir. Weir's novels are usually non fiction, but when she does right a fictional novel they are good!

This was the first book I've read about Eleanor of Aquitaine's life and family. Reading about her life has definitely piqued my interest regarding her life, and I've been looking for other books about her. I have to say that her life fascinates me as much, if not more, than Anne Boleyn's, and I've been an avid reader of Anne for years!

Anways! This book details her life from her marriage and eventual divorce to King Louis VII of France, to her scandalous marriage and eventual estrangement to King Henry II of England. It was extremely interesting to read about what a strong woman she was, especially during a time period when the opinion of women was neither listened to nor respected. She caused a huge scandal by divorcing King Louis VII and going on to marry King Henry II shortly after. She was the most powerful woman in Europe during this time, and was very well-known, for good and for bad. Reading about the love affair she initially had with King Henry II and the birth of her children, as well as her great love for her children, and then the great betrayal she felt when King Henry II fell in love with "Fair Rosamund", was enough to make it impossible to put this book down. Not only did this book tell a great story about a powerful woman, but it was written in such a smoothly flowing way, that as a reader you became completely engrossed in the novel. It had enough of a love story, drama, and betrayal to forget that you were reading a novel that was based of historical facts. I knew very little about Eleanor of Aquitaine to begin with, so this novel was even more interesting to me, because I didn't know what was going to happen next! However, by the end of the novel I had a pretty solid understanding of who she was, her life, marriage, children, and also how things ended up for her. Reading about her also helped me to become interested in the lives of her children, especially Richard the Lionheart. Weir's writing style is fantastic, and her descriptions and dialogue are effortless. I try to read every every book that Weir puts out, because I know that I'll love it!

I must say that I enjoyed Gortner's novel on Queen Juana, "The Last Queen" a little more than this novel, but I think that is because he portrayed Queen Juana in a light that I had never seen before, so it made it that much more interesting. However, reading this novel definitely interested me in Eleanor of Aquitaine, and I will be keeping my eyes open for more books that have to do with her fascinating life!