When Henry VIII died in 1547, he left ten-year-old Edward to rule for six painful years. Edward was his son by Jane Seymour, whom he married the day after Anne Boleyn was beheaded.
Jane Seymour, the Tudor Rose, as she has been called, has always been something of an enigma. Little is known of her early life, only that she attended the French court with Anne Boleyn and then returned to England to become maid-of-honour to Catherine, Henry’s first Queen.
This is Jane’s story: of her rivalry with Anne, her secret ambition, her achievement in making Henry, already tiring of the Boleyn and plotting her downfall, notice her, and of her final triumph—her marriage to the King. It is, as befits a novel about the Tudor age, a story of cruelty and courage, defiance and ambition. The portrait of Jane Seymour that emerges is some way removed from the one we have come to accept.
Summary from the back of the book
Date Started: 2/15/24 – Date Finished: 2/17/24
3.5 out of 5 stars
The Quick Review – who want a hurry up and tell me yes or no:
This was 1000% not at what I was expecting. I know the back of the book told us that it would be a different view but oh man this view was wild. A lot of internal monologue in this book (which is okay in this instance because I could not get enough) Instead of the typical meek and obedient Jane Seymour that we are known to be exposed to. We get cruel, vindictive, scheming and down right evil at times woman. But we only know her to be this way in her head. She portrays the meek and submissive woman to the rest of the world but her brain is off the walls. She is not the Jane I was expecting. I liked this book, I did have some issues with the book as in she could have been a little less…well psycho. But it was a nice refreshing change even though it was extreme. Will read again.
** **** **
The Long Review – For people who like to have a lot of information and some spoilers.
Ah Jane…..Plain Jane. Meek and obedient Jane. Well not this one, at least in her head. I was not expecting a full blown psychopath. She is downright crazy. And I loved it, even though it did make me uncomfortable at times reading the things that went on in her head. There is a good balance being a schemer who would do anything for the throne. But to really truly believe that Henry was made for Jane and that he would only be a good person when he was with her. And that only SHE could be the one to “control” him or comfort him. That she could be exactly like his mother. She was obsessed with this idea.
This Jane hated Anne but she also hated Catherine and Mary. She wanted Catherine to just accept her fate, that Catherine was old and fat and unworthy of Henry. She even complains that Catherine finds comfort in her, and cries on her shoulder during the “Great Matter” and her weird giddiness with Anne dying. Saying that it gave her strength to imagine that Anne was diving off a cliff to her death. It became uncomfortable when the author said that Jane desired the death of the unborn child of Anne’s wishing something horrible would happen. That rubbed me the wrong way, but with this weird obsessive Jane I suppose it is on par with the personality that is written. But murdering a child, I don’t even think the real Jane would have went that far. Outright murdering someone doesn’t seem Jane-ish, or Anne-ish. Jane threatening to poison the baby Elizabeth was not needed. You can be cruel and scheming but not a murderer of children.
Then Jane is haunted, (which is good for her) towards the end of the book. Seeing Anne everywhere and freaking out about it, saying why should she haunt me, I have done nothing. Feeling quite sorry for herself. She doesn’t feel much except when it comes to things that affect her.
But this Jane is unfeeling towards the birth, of the child which she is sure is a son. She doesn’t care about it. She says that she can not imagine anything past the birth which she takes it to mean that she dies. So she is unfeeling about her child, unfeeling about her maid Clarys. All are pawns to her to get what she wanted, and that was to be a wife to Henry and give him a son.
Nice palate cleanser this version of Jane. Would read again but would skim past the child murder desires.
Now on to the Questions!
Why so evil?
Why such a weird possessive reaction regarding Henry?
Why did she not portray her as a Catherine/Mary loving woman like the rest of them? I mean there’s plenty of evil going around in here but there should be something that endears us to the character.
Liz of a Thousand Books 
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