The Tragic Life of Lady Jane Grey

by Beverley Adams

Lady Jane Grey, the nine-day queen is considered to be one of the most tragic characters in English history. In July 1553 when King Edward VI died at the age of just 15 years old, the Tudor dynasty fell into chaos. The king had no legitimate male heirs and was determined his half-sisters Mary and Elizabeth would not inherit his throne, despite his father Henry VIII stating in his will that they should. We are led to believe that on Edward's instructions his cousin Lady Jane Grey was to be proclaimed queen. But who was she? Was she the innocent young girl that our history books tell us she was, or a religious fanatic with the aim of keeping Mary off the throne and England Protestant? Or was she nothing but a pawn to men in the game of power and politics, abused by her parents to marry against her will all for a crown she did not want? This book looks into her life from her early years in relative seclusion at the family home at Bradgate through to her tragic end on the scaffold at the Tower of London, executed on the orders of her cousin Queen Mary. What was her place within the Tudor royal family, was she ever entitled to claim the throne of England, and do we even recognise her as a true queen today?

Genres: History, Biography, Tudor Period, Nonfiction

171 pages, Hardcover

First published September 11, 2024

Reviews

[Mai T.]

Non-fiction November TBR

📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Pen & Sword History

[Rosie Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished this little gem a sad tale of the life of Lady Jane Grey and amazing read

[Megan Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

The life of Lady Jane Grey is one marred by tragedy because of a decision in which she had no say. The life of 'The Nine-Day Queen' is the focal point of Beverley Adams' book, which shows her life beyond the tragedy, before she was given the crown, the family she left and lost, and the long life she was denied because of religious differences and power struggles.

Adams writes a compelling and intriguing book, revealing the short life of Lady Jane Grey that strips away all pretence and historical biases and presents the real girl that history remembers in romantic paintings or for the faults of her father. I absolutely devoured Adams' book in a day; she writes in a matter-of-fact manner that dismantles the myths surrounding her name and life.

Overall, The Tragic Life of Lady Jane Grey is a fascinating read, exploring the life of a young woman caught in the power struggles of the Tudor Court. I highly recommend Adams' book to anyone who wants to learn more about the young woman who nearly became Queen. I also recommend it to anyone interested in women's history or Tudor history.

Thank you, NetGalley and Pen & Sword, for sending me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Tate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am pleased to say that this biography satisfied my curiosity about England’s tragic nine-day Queen. The author was able to thoroughly convey the way that the male authority figures in Jane’s life orchestrated the events that would eventually lead to her downfall and the little that we know about Jane’s inner life. I did struggle to follow the timeline as the narrative tended to go on spirals - looping back over itself and muddling the current events.

Rating: 3.5

Thank you to Pen & Sword Publishing and Netgalley for providing an E-Arc in exchange for an honest review!

[Georgi_Lvs_Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘There is a time to be born and a time to die, and the day of our death is better than the day of our birth.’

I’ve always admired Jane and I enjoyed learning more bout her.

This is my second read by Beverley :)

If you enjoy history and the Tudor era, check this one out!

‘A young innocent seventeen-year-old girl executed for being born into the royal house of Tudor.’

[Lauralee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lady Jane Grey is famous for being queen of England for nine days. She was the great-granddaughter of King Henry VII of England. Her grandparents were Mary Tudor, the Dowager Queen of France, and Charles Brandon, the Duke of Suffolk. She was the niece of King Henry VIII of England. She was third in line to the throne. When King Edward VI of England died, he named Lady Jane Grey as his heir. However, her reign ended when Mary Tudor ousted her from the throne and was crowned queen of England. This biography retells the sad life of Lady Jane Grey.

Lady Jane Grey has often been seen as a sympathetic figure. She was a pawn and was manipulated by the men around her. Her father and his ally, John Dudley, the Duke of Northumberland, used her hoping to rule through her when she became Queen. Mrs. Adams suggested that while Lady Jane Grey was initially reluctant to become queen, she may have viewed her ascendancy to the throne as God’s purpose to further the Protestant faith. She opposed Queen Mary I because of her Catholic beliefs and was a staunch Protestant. The book also showed that Lady Jane Grey was rebellious and stood up for her beliefs. Even though she was a strong-willed woman, she was still a pawn and could not control the events around her. Therefore, she was a tragic victim and was forced to die because she was once proclaimed queen of England.

Overall, I thought this book was not a scholarly biography of Lady Jane Grey and was amateurish. There is only one primary source. The rest consists of twenty-three secondary sources. Therefore, there was little research in this biography. There were also no footnotes in this book. Because it was not scholarly researched, it was a rehash of what other historians have already published. Mrs. Adams also makes a lot of assumptions that were not based on evidence. I am very disappointed with this biography because it was very low quality. I did like that Mrs. Adams stated that Lady Jane Grey should be counted as one of England’s monarchs because she was proclaimed queen by the Privy Council of England. Still, Lady Jane Grey deserves a better biography than what this book has given us. This book may be for you if you are interested in reading about the Tudors. However, I’d suggest you skip this book and read Nicola Tallis’s Crown of Blood or Eric Ives’s Lady Jane Grey instead! You will not miss out on anything!
(Note: I read an ARC copy of this book in courtesy of Netgalley.)

[Shreedevi Gurumurty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lady Jane Grey (1536/7–12 February 1554), aka Lady Jane Dudley after her marriage and as the "Nine Days' Queen",was an English noblewoman.Jane was the great-granddaughter of Henry VII, through his youngest daughter Mary, and a great-niece of Henry VIII.Lady Jane Grey was the eldest daughter of Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk, and his wife, Frances Brandon.Under the will of Henry VIII, Jane was in line to the throne after her cousins.She had a humanist education and a reputation as one of the most learned young women of her day.She preferred academic studies rather than activities such as hunting parties and allegedly regarded her strict upbringing, which was typical of the time, as harsh.Around February 1547, Jane was sent to live in the household of Edward VI's uncle, Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley, who soon married Henry VIII's widow, Katherine Parr.After moving there, Jane was able to receive educational opportunities available in court circles.Jane lived with the couple at Sudeley Castle in Gloucestershire as an attendant to Katherine, until Katherine died in childbirth in September 1548.About eleven years old at the time, Jane was chief mourner at Katherine's funeral.After Thomas Seymour's arrest for treason, Jane returned to Bradgate and continued her studies.Among other things,Thomas Seymour was charged with proposing Jane as a bride for the king.Jane then wed Lord Guildford Dudley, a younger son of John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland,Lord President of the King's Council.The dying King Edward VI chose Lady Jane Grey as his successor than his two half sisters, Mary and Elizabeth.On July 9,Jane was informed that she was now Queen.She was initially reluctant to accept the crown, although she later relented after pressure from an assembly of nobles, and her family.On July 10 she was officially proclaimed Queen of England, France and Ireland.But she was not as popular as Mary,who had large support.Jane was accused of having treacherously assumed the title and the power of the monarch.Jane was betrayed and used by her family and other men as a political pawn to gain power.What really sealed Jane's fate was the Wyatt's Rebellion.

[loopyloulaura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lady Jane Grey was proclaimed Queen of England in July 1553 and reigned for just 9 days before her cousin Mary claimed the throne. Was Jane a pawn in men's political games or was she exercising her own agency?
The Tragic Life Lady Jane Grey is a non fiction book about the life, death and legacy of the tragic queen.
Jane was just 16 when she was made queen. A Protestant claimant chosen by her dying cousin to continue his mission to reform religion, but battling against another cousin who most saw as the legitimate heir as the daughter of Henry VIII. Sadly for Jane, most of the country also believed that Catholic Mary was the rightful queen and Jane was executed to secure the dynasty.
The Tudor period is one I love and the author has clearly done a thorough job of researching the era and trying to bring Jane's character into the open. However, even though she was queen, there is little evidence of Jane herself and much of the information relies on the experiences of her family (particularly her father), the court and political figures. The author makes a good attempt to remain focussed on Jane as an individual but is constrained by the dearth of primary evidence.
I had a slight issue with the jarring punctuation (colons, semi colons and commas used incorrectly) and the inconsistent quotes which variously used old or modern language, appendices could have been quoted within text. I thought the appendices could have been included within the main body of the book to add depth.
The Tragic Life Lady Jane Grey is a detailed and well researched book about England's shortest reigning queen, treating her as an indivdual and exploring her personality.

[SnarkyMoggie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received a free e-book of this through NetGalley. The following review are of my own thoughts, and it hasn't been influenced by the author, publisher or NetGalley.

I've tried to delve into the short life of Lady Jane before, but for many of them, it's more about the people around her than Lady Jane. I understand that no one paid attention to her life in the records, until she married and was proclaimed Queen and so the information is very limited. Thankfully, Beverley Adam's book balances this. Lady Jane's life is weaved in between her mother, her dad, and so on, but it never feels as though she's being pushed to the side. She features, and it truly feels as though it's a book about her life. And, I loved the touches of reminding the reader of how Lady Jane may have been feeling during certain parts of her life. I felt the passion that Beverley Adams has for Lady Jane.

I'd recommend this book, but unfortunately the grammatical errors, and issues with the structure as it sometimes feel as though information is being repeated just to increase the length of the book, is what lets it down. If it was given a revision; if someone edited it and fixed these things, then this would be a very good choice for anyone to get a good understanding of Lady Jane Grey. Most particularly if this is the reader's first foray into Lady Jane.

So, two stars.

[Soozee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lady Jane Grey, queen for 9 days, is a figure of tragedy, a young girl manipulated by her scheming family in the turbulent Tudor years following the early death of Edward VI. There is a lot to speculate and investigate around her short life; her parents, her husband, his family all scheming at a time when religion was important and the country was enduring a young king who died without issue. Jane was the pawn to provide a Protestant monarch and succession, rather than the Catholic Mary Tudor.

This book was disappointing on many levels. It was neither a work of fiction, with the author painting a readable story of the life of this tragic girl, nor was it a scholarly non-fiction book as it had no references and used almost no original sources. Most of it involved the personal opinions of the author based on other books she had read. It was not particularly well written, with modern colloquialisms, poor grammar and punctuation and occasionally use of the wrong word which the reader found jarring.

By the author's own admission in the introduction the book adds nothing new to the research, and perhaps there is nothing new to find, but I found this rehashing to be poorly presented, not telling the story of Jane and her life in the most interesting or accurate manner.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pen & Sword for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Carol Standish-Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting read with an engaging style of writing. Ms. Adams being her book with a run down of the main characters in the story of Lady Jane Grey. Frances Grey was a niece of Henry VIII and so provided a familial connection with the Tudor bloodline. It was good to read about the events of the Grey families lives and understand the motivations of Jane’s parents. Jane wasn’t the meek and mild mannered young girl history would have us believe. She was highly respected by serious reformist theologians on the continent and corresponded with two in particular. She was very forthright in her beliefs and made no effort to understand anyone with differing views. Despite this, she was misused by the power players of her day and ultimately by her father. I would recommend this as an entry level book for anyone wishing to delve into the life of Jane and the events in which she played her part.

[Elowen . · Rating 3 out of 5]

A copy of this book was given in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a really fascinating read. Lady Jane Grey's life is really interesting. The author really helps bring it to life. I received an advanced reader copy, which means that the version I read may not be the final version. The version I read was a bit disjointed which took away from the fascinating story being relayed. Some parts sounded more like conjecture than fact, which is fine, but should be clarified as such.

Nonetheless, I think this book does what it set out to do - inform people about the tragic life of Lady Jane Grey.

[Stephanie P · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley, Beverley Adams, and Pen & Sword for allowing me to read an advanced copy of The Tragic Life of Lady Jane Grey. I received an advanced reader copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

If this had been the first book I have read about Jane Grey, then maybe I would have appreciated it more. The author tried to explain this tragic part of history as best she could, but it could have been presented better with a different editor. There were numerous mistakes to overlook.

[Andrea Wenger · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book delves into the life of Lady Jane Grey, from her upbringing to her execution, challenging the traditional narrative of an innocent pawn. Was she a religious fanatic, a reluctant queen, or simply a victim of political machinations?

This book is interesting and easy to read. The author explores the possibility that Lady Jane may have had more agency than the usual portrayals suggest. This book doesn’t really add anything new to the scholarship, but it’s a good introduction to the subject.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

[Sarah - All The Book Blog Names Are Taken · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not particularly well-written, unfortunately. Review to come.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to the publishers - Pen & Sword and Pen & Sword History – for giving me access to this book as an E-ARC via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Lady Jane Grey is one of these women in history that you wish you could have taken by the hand and remove from a terrible situation. She’s also one of these figures in history you wish you knew more about, and I feel like this book makes a good introduction to Jane, her life and the history around her.

[Abbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Tragic Life of Lady Jane Grey by Beverly Adam’s tells the story of the life of the young woman known to history as the “Nine Days Queen.” Jane Grey was executed at sixteen by Mary I for treason, having taken the throne under duress from the adults around her and reigning as Queen for less than two weeks.

Jane Grey was entwined with the royal family of England from birth. Her grandmother was Mary Tudor, Queen of France, and her grandfather was the best friend of King Henry VIII, Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. Royal blood ran through Jane’s veins, and when Henry VIII’s son was dying, he named the Protestant Jane his heir in place of his sisters, leading to what would become her gruesome end.

Adam’s does a good job telling the life of a young woman who was betrayed by her family. As with most women in history, there is very little documentation about the person in question, but Adam’s works well with the sources she has available. I highly recommend this book for fans of Tudor history or those who are interested in learning more about the Grey family.

Thank you to Netgalley and Pen & Sword for the advanced digital reader copy.