Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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55 of 57 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Curse of Being Royal - the lives of three Tudor Princesses, 24 Jan 2009
The Royal succession in Tiudor England was a very dangerous and unstable. Henry VIII's Third Succession Act 1543 granted Henry the right to bequeath the Crown in his Will. It returned both of Henry's daughters Mary and Elizabeth to the line of succession, behind Edward, any potential children of his, and any potential children of Henry by his current wife Catherine Parr. His Will specified that, in default of heirs to his children, the throne was to pass to the heirs of his younger sister Mary Tudor, The French Queen and Duchess of Suffolk, bypassing the line of his elder sister Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots. Edward VI confirmed this by letters patent.
This put suddenly Frances Brandon, the eldest daugther of Princess Mary and the Duke of Suffolk, and her three daughters by the Marquess of Dorset, the Ladies Jane, Katherine and Mary Grey into the spotlight. They were suddenly pretenders to the throne. They were Tudor princesses without having the title of princess.
Leanda de Lisle re-creates the lives of these women in a most extraordinary period of English history, a time of great uncertainty and danger, of great changes, of religious divisions and of great political intrigue. The Tudor dynasty had more female heirs than every other, great women but a female ruler was regarded a liability.
Mrs de Lisle tackles the difficult subject with great knowledge, passion and understanding. She forms her own opinions and does not just go with "historical reputation". Her views of Frances Brandon or on Lady Jane Grey are refreshing, more objective and I feel more accurate and in the end more convincing than previous books had presented these figures. Very interesting are the pages on the Lady Katherine and Lady Mary, especially the later is a rather forgotten person.
The only objections I have is that Mrs de Lisle fills gaps with phrases like "have felt"... well that is merely guesswork. But all in all that does not make this book less interesting or less valuable. It is indeed a great inside into the politics surrounding the English's throne in the 16th century. I enjoyed every page and learned a lot. This is a great book and a great addition to every Tudor library.
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24 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Explodes myths about Lady Jane Grey, 26 Jan 2009
Leanda de Lisle writes that when starting her research, `she suspected there would be little new to say about Jane herself' (p314), but by revisiting contemporary sources found that this was not the case.
In this extremely readable account of the lives of the three Grey sisters, de Lisle challenges the traditional view that Jane was born at Bradgate in October 1537 (the same month as Prince Edward) and also Jane's relationship with her mother Frances, Duchess of Suffolk.
The author puts forward a new argument supporting David Starkey's identification of the Teerlinc miniature.
A more `human' Jane is presented than the Protestant martyr of previous biographies, whilst not diminishing her religious faith or acceptance of her role.
Her sisters, Catherine and Mary, are allowed to emerge from the shadow of their more well known sister, the nine day queen. The book includes a previously unpublished part of a letter between Catherine and her husband and a forgotten document relating to Mary.
De Lisle reinstates the importance of Catherine Grey and the possible alternate royal dynasty that were an ongoing threat to Elizabeth I. She also shows how Mary followed in Catherine's footsteps and how the lives of all three sisters were blighted by their closeness to the throne.
`The Sisters Who Would Be Queen' is a must read for anyone interested in Jane, Catherine and Mary Grey.
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12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A gripping guide to the whole period, 4 Mar 2009
Popular history books have to combine two apparently contradictory virtues. On one hand, they have to be scholarly and academically rigorous, on the other, readable and entertaining. Leanda de Lisle manages this balancing act with consumate ease.
The sisters of the title are Jane, Katherine and Mary Grey. Jane, the eldest and best known Grey, is the subject of the first half. I already knew parts of her story - or at least I thought I did. De Lisle debunks the mythology surrounding Lady Jane, showing her not as the tragic Protestant martyr of legend, but as an ambitious, strong-minded young woman with an Evangelical fervour. She knew exactly what she was getting into.
I found Jane the least personally attractive of the Greys - she's a bit uptight for my tastes, especially when she's urging her younger sisters to `despise the flesh'. Katherine and Mary are easier to identify with, so while their stories are less eventful, they carry just as much weight. Their lives are ruined by their claims to the throne - claims they never cared about in the same way as Jane. The tale of Mary's husband, Thomas Keyes, is particularly affecting. The tallest man at court, he was locked in a tiny room in the Tower, brutally tortured for falling in love with the wrong woman.
For me though, the best portrait in the book was of Elizabeth. Of all the women who contend for the throne after Henry VIII's death - from Mary Tudor to Mary Queen of Scots - she alone makes it and makes it stick. But, through the eyes of the Greys, we see a queen who is frightened and loveless, pushed into acts of extreme cruelty by her constant fear of usurpation. Jane is her rival. But Mary and Katherine are her victims.
This is a really excellent book. Despite the title, it's not just about the Greys. It's about the whole period, and all the women in it.
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