Innocent Traitor

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AW: The whole experience was liberating, not just being able to do away with footnotes. I loved the freedom of being so creative. Yet it’s true that writing historical fiction does have its constraints. I was very aware that it is important to get the language spoken by the characters right, and spent a lot of time modifying original quotations–which I used wherever possible–so that they did not sound incongruous in a twenty-firstcentury text. I also found that it is generally better to show the reader– through actions and conversations–what is happening, rather than relying on narrative skills to tell the story. One problem I encountered was that, in every respect, the historical Jane comes across at every stage of her life as much older than her years, and I feared that portraying her in this way–which was essential if the book was to make sense–would stretch my readers’ credulity to the limit. So I had others talk about her precocity and her formidable intelligence, and endeavored to show that in Tudor England, children were treated as miniature adults and expected to behave accordingly.

Innocent Traitor - Penguin Random House Innocent Traitor - Penguin Random House

RC: It must have felt liberating to be able to do away with footnotes for once. But fiction, especially historical fiction, has its own constraints, and I wonder if you found yourself bumping up against them. As the reader, we watch her grow from childhood to a young adult..although at times I felt the author made Jane too old for the age that she was at.

Events in the book are portrayed first person, through the eyes of a number of people—from Lady Jane Grey to her parents to Mrs. Ellen to Queen Jane Seymour to Queen Mary to the Duke of Northumberland and so on. While this adds a personal perspective that works pretty well, it can sometimes be a bit too kaleidoscopic for my taste. Through these various characters, we learn of the great events of the day as they happen—Henry VIII’s marriages to Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard, Katherine Parr, Edward VI’s brief reign, internal and external crises facing the country. Pare impossibile, ma nell'Inghilterra del '500 ci fu anche spazio per una regina-bambina e quella regina regnò nove giorni prima di essere condannata per altro tradimento e decapitata a colpi d'ascia su un ceppo. Ma come si è arrivati a tutto ciò? The Lady Elizabeth was bad but mildly entertaining, possibly because of the appearance of one of the most interesting figures from history, but Innocent Traitor is just plain bad. It begins with two very dull parallel birth scenes and gets worse from there. The language is tedious and pedestrian, sending me to sleep rather than catching my attention. The plot drags and is utterly predictable, for example, one day after the family has heard news that some heretics are to be burned, Jane’s nurse decides to take the children out for the day on a trip to visit her sister who lives in Smithfield. Gee, I wonder what will happen?! Yep, that’s right, it all ends in tears and traumatised kiddie-winks. This writing is just so juvenile and limp. The descriptions read just the same as in Weir’s non-fiction histories – incredibly dry, unmemorable lists. The worst of by far though was Weir’s poor research and total misunderstanding and the era. The device of having multiple narrators is a useful one, making it easy to reveal the thoughts of key characters, but I'm not convinced that Wier has the novel-writing expertise to pull it off. There were places where she showed her pedigree as an historian by having people describe the quotodian in a way that helped to set the scene but that no-one talking to a contemporary would have thought to do. For example, a subtle anachronism - a reference to the discomfort of travelling in an unsprung carriage at a time when few, if any, benefitted from this convenience - was the very one I remember being cautioned against by my Latin teacher.

Innocent Traitor - Penguin Books UK Innocent Traitor - Penguin Books UK

AW: Because I knew it well, I was aware that it had all the elements of a compelling and poignant tale, and I needed a story that was not too long. Above all, I’ve always found Jane an intriguing character, for she was not always a sympathetic heroine, but a feisty and dogmatic teenager who could be uncomfortably candid, outspoken, and uncompromising. I wanted the challenge of writing about her in such a way as to excite my readers’ compassion, rather than having them pity her only on account of her youth and her being used as the tool of ambitious men. Alison Weir: I’ve been writing historical novels for fun since the 1960s, and this one was no exception. I first wrote it eight years ago, while I was researching Eleanor of Aquitaine. It was then called Light After the Darkness, and was more “faction” than fiction. Historical novels weren’t selling very well at that time, so I just put the manuscript away when I finished it. I rewrote the whole thing a couple of years ago and was delighted when it was accepted for publication.The child of a scheming father and a ruthless mother, for whom she is merely a pawn in a dynastic game with the highest stakes, Jane Grey was born during the harrowingly turbulent period between Anne Boleyn’s beheading and the demise of Jane’s infamous great-uncle, King Henry VIII. With the premature passing of Jane’s adolescent cousin, and Henry’s successor, King Edward VI, comes a struggle for supremacy fueled by political machinations and lethal religious fervor. I enjoyed this book, sad and flawed as it was. I knew the bare outline of the life of Lady Jane Grey, although, in spite of having read some version or other of Foxe's Book of Martyrs several times in my childhood, had forgotten that she is considered a martyr by the Anglican Church. It was therefore interesting to read a more detailed version of her story. Yes, I know the account is fictional but with such a reknowned historian writing we can be fairly certain that the events, if not the motives for them, are fairly accurately recounted. Innocent Traitor: A Novel of Lady Jane Grey is a historical novel by Alison Weir, published in 2006. It is the story of Lady Jane Grey, who was Queen of England for nine days in 1553. Previously known for her non-fiction publications, Innocent Traitor was Weir's first work of fiction; she later spoke of its impact on her, saying she "learned so much from the editorial process about the writing and craft of fiction." [1] Summary [ edit ] When it becomes clear that the young king will not live long, other plans are made for Jane. John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, gets the young Edward to proclaim Jane as his successor.