Innocent Traitor - Book Review

The idea of reading a historical fiction novel was not something I'd considered before I was 16. I'd heard of them, primarily because I watched The Other Boleyn Girl and learnt that it was based on a novel, but there was very little interest for me. That changed when I came across Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir in 2013.

The story of Lady Jane Grey is very fascinating to me. I didn't know much about her until I'd watched Lady Jane (1986), which featured Helena Bonham Carter and Cary Elwes. Until I was 11, all I knew about Lady Jane Grey was that she had been Queen of England for 9 days, a role granted to her by her predecessor, Edward VI. Watching the film made me want to know more about the mysterious young girl, so I researched her as much as I could - with the limitations of an eleven-year-old. My interest in the Tudor dynasty never wavered as I grew older, but I was running out of resources. I didn't have the keenness to pursue reading historical texts at the time (what teenager would?), and films could only do so much without tampering with historical accuracy. By this point, I had just created a goodreads.com account, and I had documented what books I had read. I decided to see what books were similar to The Other Boleyn Girl, since I had zero interest in reading it after watching the film. There, I found Innocent Traitor.

If I thought this book was going to be anything like Lady Jane, I was sorely mistaken. The elements remained the same: Jane Grey, the daughter of harsh parents, was married off to a man she despised, and was considered a Reformist martyr. That's about it. The finer details were vastly different. The most important detail of the book was the character development of Jane Grey, transitioning from a devout Catholic to an unyielding Reformer. The form in which she supports reforms in the Church of England has varied depending on the author's interpretations; where Philippa Gregory portrays Lady Jane as a staunch Calvinist, Alison Weir depicts young Jane as a fervent supporter of general reform against anything Catholic, which makes it difficult to tell exactly what school of thought she holds to. Another fascinating detail about this novel is that it tells the story of Lady Jane Grey from various perspectives, ranging from young Jane to Katherine Parr to the Duke of Northumberland.

Central to this story is the relationship between Jane and her parents, and how this has affected her own relationship with her sisters, and with her nurse, Mrs Ellen. Jane's mother, Frances Grey, was known to be a tenacious and ambitious woman, yet the way in which she treated Jane was speculated to be that of overly harsh. When speaking to scholar, Roger Ascham, Jane remarked:

"For when I am in the presence either of father or mother, whether I speak, keep silence, sit, stand or go, eat, drink, be merry or sad, be sewing, playing, dancing, or doing anything else, I must do it as it were in such weight, measure and number , even so perfectly as God made their world, or else I am so sharply taunted, so cruelly threatened, yea presently sometimes with pinches, nips and bops and other ways (which I will not name for the honour I bear them) that I think myself in Hell."

The general understanding was that Jane bore her parents the dutiful love she was expected to, but that was it; if given the chance, she might've hated them. I did read an alternative approach to this statement from another historical fiction novel, Her Highness, the Traitor, by Susan Higginbotham, which depicted Jane as susceptible to exaggeration. It was not uncommon for a parent to use corporal punishment on their children in this time period, so to say that Frances did not beat Jane at all is extremely inaccurate. However, Weir's portrayal of Frances Grey, in my opinion, was overly harsh. Frances is seen in the novel as hating Jane because she was not the son Frances had hoped for, going as far as to only show the slightest bit of remorse for the way she treated Jane when it was too late to do anything about it. Furthermore, Frances demonstrates a higher regard for her second daughter, Katherine. Is this because Katherine is the beauty of the family? Possibly. I surmise it is because the disappointment of bearing another daughter was not as great as when Jane was born (especially considering Jane Seymour bore the heir to the throne not long after, which more than likely felt like salt on a wound), because Katherine did not demonstrate as much willful attitudes compared to Jane, and because she was not disabled in any way unlike her youngest sister, Mary. Thus, it is understandable why Jane bears indifference, and sometimes jealousy towards her younger sister.

Jane's scholarly reputation was infamous in England and Europe; it was unusual for a mere teenager, and a female one at that, to be so widely read about doctrines, enough to hold her own in a debate against other theologians. As a Catholic, I found her arguments, which I've encountered countless times on debate groups, ridiculous, but on a rudimentary level, Jane's desire to learn more was no doubt fascinating. She was fluent in at least five languages, enough to read, interpret and analyse classic texts from ancient civilisations; she frequently corresponded with theologians from Switzerland, like Heinrich Bullinger, where the Calvinist interpretations of the Scriptures flourished. While the latter was not seen as much in Innocent Traitor, her love for learning and for languages was definitely clear, so much so that Frances is seen telling Jane off for being too learned. Or just too "anything." Unfortunately, it is this love of learning for the reformed religions that made her a dangerous target for Queen Mary, and ultimately condemned her to death as Mary was likely to have forgiven her all her treason if she converted.

Unlike Lady Jane, Jane's relationship with her husband, Guildford Dudley, was far from the tragic romance that the film made it out to be. Whether Frances whipped Jane into submission to the marriage is unknown, but what was known was that Guildford and Jane did not like each other. In the novel, Guildford is depicted as a spoiled brat and a hypersexualised male, who rapes Jane when they consummate their marriage and then again when she is Queen. I'm not sure how much of this depiction I agree with; a chronicler who knew Guildford remarked that he was a "comely, virtuous and goodly gentleman." At the very least, on the outside, Guildford was a stereotypical gentleman with all the knowledge of court etiquette. As for his relationship with Jane, I'd like to believe it was a very frosty one that had been consummated, but more out of duty than anything else, and that the two grew closer in imprisonment. Guildford more than likely did not love Jane much when she was declared Queen of England, as he was reputed to have been furious that she did not wish to make him King. Up until that point, his known acts of love towards her were through "prayers and caresses" when Jane reacted negatively to Edward VI's last wish. Many authors depict Jane as not wanting to meet with Guildford when they were locked up in the Tower of London, but based on Guildford's known actions (writing to Jane's father, writing Jane's name on the walls he was locked up in, etc.), one can at least come to the conclusion that Guildford developed a spousal respect for Jane, which I believe may have come from meeting together in the Tower of London.

Don't get me wrong, I love this novel. A sensational piece, my love for the Tudor dynasty grew tenfold and I developed a desire to research key characters of this time period by using historical books. However, because I became more invested in historical research, I began to see the flaws of a novel I came to love so much. Yet, in spite of these flaws, I can still say Alison Weir is one of my favourite authors, and I've followed her publications religiously for nearly 7 years. Overall, I'd give this one a 4 out of 5.