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Summary
Summary
Escorting the nine-day queen Lady Jane Grey across the Tower of London from throne room into imprisonment is Elizabeth Tilney, who surprised even herself by volunteering for the job. All Elizabeth knows is she's keen to be away from home; she could do with some breathing space. And anyway, it won't be for long: everyone knows Jane will go free as soon as the victorious new queen is crowned. Which is a good thing because the two sixteen-year-olds, cooped up together in a room in the Gentleman Gaoler's house, couldn't be less compatible. Protestant Jane is an icily self-composed idealist, and Catholic Elizabeth is . . . well, anything but.They are united though by their disdain for the seventeen-year-old boy to whom Jane has recently been married: petulant, noisily-aggrieved Guildford Dudley, held prisoner in a neighboring tower and keen to pursue his prerogative of a daily walk with his wife.As Jane's captivity extends into the increasingly turbulent last months of 1553, the two girls learn to live with each other, but Elizabeth finds herself drawn into the difficult relationship between the newlyweds. And when, at the turn of the year, events take an unexpected and dangerous direction, her newfound loyalties are put to the test.
Author Notes
Suzannah Dunn is the author of nine previous novels. Her most recent novel, The Confession of Katherine Howard is a magisterial return to the court of Henry VIII. Suzannah lives in England.
Reviews (3)
Kirkus Review
An addition to the growing shelf of Tudor-era historical fiction explores the consequences a young queen faces after her brief reign. The unfortunate Lady Jane Grey, cousin of the short-lived Edward VI, was bullied into marriage and foisted upon the throne for a nine-day reign before being swatted aside by supporters of Mary Tudor. Dunn adds to her body of work set in this period (The May Bride, 2014, etc.) by guiding us through the months of Jane's imprisonment in the Tower of London. She is chaperoned by Elizabeth Tilney, the love-starved teenage daughter of rural gentry who narrates the novel: "A good Catholic girl was what they said they needed" to keep Jane company in her Tower apartment. Merely indifferently good or Catholic, Elizabeth has an arresting, original voice, and, country girl or no, she sounds darkly street-smart and contemporary. Jane is a scholarly Protestant, dedicated to her books and the great theological freedom they might bring to England. Elizabeth, by contrast, describes herself as a "ducker and diver, following my nose, keeping to corners, taking what I could get and believing in nothing and no one." In those turbulent times, Elizabeth's equivocation is shared by most of her countrymen, who flipped between Catholicism and Protestantism to save their necks. But Elizabeth begins to feel fickle in the face of the devotion of her pious bedmate. Despite their differences, the women bond, and Elizabeth also grows close to Jane's pompous but loyal husband, Guilford. Dunn assumes a reading audience attuned to the theology and politics of the times. But the story of the reluctant friendship between two young women, one from whom the world expected too much and one whom the world barely acknowledged, is keenly drawn and wrenching in its outcome. Fun, engaging prose enhances complex religious themes; a good novel for those already Elizabethan-era savvy. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Sixteen-year-old Elizabeth Tilney raises her hand and offers her help, and the next thing she knows, she is sharing a room with Lady Jane Grey, who has been dethroned after only nine days and is now kept within the walls of the Tower of London. Outside their window, as the spinster Lady Mary is soon to be crowned queen, their small view of London captures the bustle and excitement and also reflects Lady Jane's similarly imprisoned husband, 17-year-old Lord Guildford Dudley, a man she mostly refuses to see, instead sitting inside and reading (If you read books, you can choose who to listen to), keeping to herself. What young helpmate Elizabeth keeps to herself is that she is pregnant, carrying the child of middle-aged family friend Harry. Autumn is coming, as is dramatic change in 1553 England, and Dunn's rich, colorful prose details the season's changing as skillfully as it does the era and the rising and dashing hopes of the three young adults: What will come next, freedom or death? Suggest this historical novel, brightly and smartly narrated by the clear-eyed Elizabeth, to fans of Hilary Mantel's work.--Kinney, Eloise Copyright 2015 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Dunn's (The May Bride) Tudor-era novel focuses on Lady Jane Grey after her brief rule, during her imprisonment on the grounds of the Tower of London. The story is told in the first person from the point view of fictional lady-in-waiting Elizabeth Tilney, a volunteer companion to Jane, and is more about the impetuous Elizabeth than the stoic deposed monarch. The tale captures the desolate and endless days of captivity in which Jane is unaware of her fate, but most of the characters other than the narrator have little depth, and the pace is rather slow until the very end. Charlotte Anne Dore provides a smooth and engaging reading. -VERDICT Fans of low-key historical fiction will enjoy this title.-Denise Garafalo, Mount Saint Mary Coll. Lib., Newburgh, NY © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.