Before reading this book I had not encountered Lady Jane Grey's sister's. It was interesting to read about these figures as well as seeing how disability was treated in the Tudor times. I can't wait to learn more about these figures. ( )

This is a fictional account of the lives of the three Grey sisters, the granddaughters of Mary Tudor (Henry VIII’s youngest sister). The eldest, Jane (at only 15-years old), became queen for only 9 days after Henry’s son, Edward died. She was later beheaded after Mary I (Henry’s oldest daughter) became queen. Katherine later secretly married for love, and both she and her husband were imprisoned for the rest of Katherine’s life, by Elizabeth I. The youngest, Mary, who had a curve in her spine that kept her under 4’ (?) tall, also secretly married for love, and she and her husband were also imprisoned when found out.

I have read quite a bit about Jane, and only one or two other books about Katherine and Mary, but I just didn’t recall very much about Katherine and Mary, so I was kept interested. With regards to Elizabeth I, this book sure looked at a different side to her, where she was so very worried about being outsted by others in her family to take over the throne. Katherine and Mary were next in line since Elizabeth had no children (alongside Mary of Scots, granddaughter to Margaret Tudor, Henry VIII’s oldest sister, Margaret, but she was Catholic). I listened to the audio and had no problem with it. ( )

Not my type of book (any more) ( )

This is my first historical fiction by Philippa Gregory. You may ask why I would start with book #14 in a series. In attending our weekly trivia game, one of the questions had to do with the name of the Queen of England who lasted but nine days. We knew the answer was Lady Jane Grey, but did not know much about her life, so decided to investigate further, and this book came up in an online search. This book is basically a character study of the three Grey sisters, with approximately a third of the book devoted to each.

This storyline is filled with political intrigue, imagined and real conspiracies, religious differences between “Papists” and “Reformers,” and rationale for various claimants’ rights of succession to the throne. I enjoyed the historical part of this novel, learning more about Jane, Katherine, and Mary Grey than I had known previously, along with prominent families such as the Stewarts, Dudleys and Seymours. I particularly enjoyed the way the author handles Lady Katherine’s pets. She gives them each a personality and I found it endearing when the sisters interacted with them.

Unfortunately, there’s only so much action to be found when one is confined to the Tower of London or placed under house arrest. Visitors and letters were used as vehicles to relate what was happening off stage. Elizabeth is portrayed as a one-sided villain, a capricious ruler who locks up her cousins due to jealousy. I found it repetitive and the ending felt rushed. It contained references to items and knowledge that didn’t exist in the 1500’s and communications would have taken much longer back then. Even so, it held my interest through fifteen audio discs, and it spurred me to look up more about these historic people. The narrator of the audio book, Bianca Amato, did an excellent job of portraying many characters with distinct voices. I plan to seek out non-fiction about the lives of the Grey sisters and Queen Elizabeth I to see how much of The Last Tudor is based on fact and learn more about this period in English history. ( )

This is Philippa Gregory’s final book about the Tudor line and my final read in the series, and boy was it a great way to end. It is the story of three sisters, Lady Jane Grey, Lady Katherine Grey, and Lady Mary Grey, cousins to Queens Mary and Elizabeth Tudor. Of course, the brief reign of Lady Jane is a well-known story, but I had no knowledge whatsoever of either of her sisters or their tragedies and victimization at the hands of Queen Elizabeth.

Told in a first person narrative, the novel has a very personal feeling, the girls seem quite real and to see them so obviously used by others because of their royal connection is difficult. I try to imagine going through such experiences at such a young age. Lady Jane was a mere seventeen years of age when she was beheaded. Her story was tragic, but I found her sister Katherine’s story almost worse. I found myself deeply involved in the injustice of her confinement and the cruelty of her separation from her husband and children.

It seems that I will live and die in prison for the crime of marrying my lover, because Elizabeth Tudor could not marry hers. This is jealousy taken to an extraordinary degree. This is fatal malice...and I fear only death will release me. Like all Tudors she invokes death. He sister killed my sister. She will kill me. This can only end in death: mine or hers.”

It does certainly seem that history proves the Tudors to have been a blood-thirsty lot. They were eternally insecure, but of course for good reason, and I wonder how much a crown and power can mean to some people. In fact, their lives were all miserable. Couldn’t they have been happier men and women if they had not had royal blood, if they had lived in simpler houses and with no jewels? I cannot imagine a life in which someone could order you to the Tower on a whim or hold you for endless years without a trial or even a charge. The irony, of course, is that being in the royal line might mean you ended up being the Queen, have unbridled power and wealth, or it might mean you have your head lopped off before you reach your eighteenth birthday.

Mary Grey, who is a dwarf, is a fascinating character as well. She is small of stature and large of spirit and heart. Her continued love for her sisters makes her both brave and admirable. Gregory paints a brilliant picture of this small woman who is treated, because of her stature, as a child, but refuses to be anything other than a woman and a lady. She learns from her older sisters, and she has a marvelous will to survive.

I am damned if I am going to oblige Elizabeth by the silent exit of yet another rival. I am Jane Grey’s sister--they are calling her the first Protestant martyr--I am not going to slip away in silence; she did not. “Learn you to die!” does not mean lie down like Jo the pug, with your paw over your nose, and give up. “Learn you to die!” means consider how your death is meaningful, as your life is meaningful.

I started this journey with [b:The Other Boleyn Girl|37470|The Other Boleyn Girl (The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels, #9)|Philippa Gregory|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1355932638s/37470.jpg|3248536], where I met Mary Boleyn for the first time; I have ended it with [b:The Last Tudor|33368917|The Last Tudor (The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels, #14)|Philippa Gregory|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1497784079s/33368917.jpg|54438123], where I met Katherine and Mary Grey. I was struck by the way Gregory handles the stories of sisters, how she understands the complex relationship that exists between girls who both love and compete with one another, as sisters so often do. I found both of these books to be extraordinary reads. I would happily start again and re-read the series, had I time, but I do not so I will just be grateful to have had the opportunity to read them once.



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