Review Two of Innocent Traitor, by Alison Weir

This novel, about Lady Jane Grey, who became the "Nine Day Queen," and shortly thereafter was put to death by Queen Mary Tudor, is engrossing from beginning to end. The biggest downside is that from the very beginning, you know this book is going to have a terribly sad ending. There are different historical interpretations of Jane's life. It's debatable whether she really was quite as innocent as this book portrays. Nonetheless, even if she did have some part in the treachery, it's still horrible to think about a mere teenager being executed for political scheming that surely was not completely her own.

Along that same theme, this book caused me to realize exactly how different our ideas of childhood and adulthood are these days in comparison to the time of the Tudor reign in England. Jane was married when she was merely 15 years old. It was not unusual for boys and girls to be married, sharing a bed, and having children at age 14 in that period of history. Can you imagine? In a time in which so many hold off on marriage and childbearing until their early thirties, such a world is truly like another planet. Not only was the age of marriage much earlier, but the type of behavior expected of teenagers in that period of history was much different than now. King Edward VI, son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, was crowned king at age nine. Although a regency council helped him to rule during those years from when he was crowned to when he died just a handful of years later, he was expected to make decisions that no child would ever be expected to make in this day and age.

Overall, as long as you brace yourself for a terribly sad ending, this book is well worth reading for those who enjoy historical fiction. It is one of those books that will make you think about the way we do things today, and how different it is from the way of things in the past.