“One of the Best Books of 2016” – Open Letters Monthly; Finalist, 2016 Novel of the Year – Underground Book Reviews; Semi-Finalist – 2017 M.M. Bennetts Award All Jane Seymour wants is a husband; but when she catches the eye of a volatile king, she is pulled deep into the Tudor court’s realm of plot and intrigue….England. 1535. Jane Seymour is 27 years old and increasingly desperate to marry and … increasingly desperate to marry and secure her place in the world. When the court visits Wolf Hall, the Seymour ancestral manor, Jane has the perfect opportunity to shine: her diligence, efficiency, and newfound poise are sure to finally attract a suitor.
Meanwhile, King Henry VIII is 45 and increasingly desperate for an heir. He changed his country’s religion to leave his first wife, a princess of Spain, for Anne Boleyn — but she too has failed to provide a son. As Henry begins to fear he is cursed, Jane Seymour’s honesty and innocence conjure in him the hope of redemption.
Thomas Cromwell, an ambitious clerk whose political prowess keeps the King’s changing desires satisfied, sees in Jane Seymour the perfect answer to the unrest threatening England: he engineers the plot that ends with Jane becoming the King’s third wife. For Jane, who believes herself virtuous and her actions justified, miscarriages early in her marriage shake her confidence. How can a woman who has committed no wrong bear the guilt of how she unseated her predecessor?
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I read this book via an ARC from the author, for Rosie’s Book Review Team. The fact that it was free has not affected this honest review.
A light piece of historical fiction that, on the whole, I liked. I was tentative at first, being very much ‘Team Boleyn’ as far as the six wives are concerned, but I was pleased to note that Jane Seymour was not portrayed as the meek angel of many a historical novel or TV drama, but every bit as calculating as her predecessor in her mission to capture the heart of Henry VIII; she was used as a tool by her ambitious family in exactly the same way.
The book is written in alternative third person POVs: that of Jane herself, and Thomas Cromwell. I liked that the author showed the downfall of Anne Boleyn to be a fiction carefully constructed by Cromwell, who knew that Henry needed to get rid of her so he could marry another who might give him a son, but that he could not afford to have another abandoned ex-wife who refused to disappear. Thus, a story had to be concocted to justify the murder of Anne. I also liked the explanation of the dissolution of the monasteries; it is clear, concise, and makes for a good understanding of the whys, hows and consequences. Janet Wertman writes factual detail in a fashion that is both easy to read and entertaining; thus, this book would be an excellent choice for someone who doesn’t know much about the era; for instance, she even explains what a monarch’s yearly Progress is. Now and again I was a little too aware of the research being translated into the narration, but on the whole it was executed well.
The author is American and, alas, I did come across some American English in dialogue, along with historical inconsistency and modern phraseology. Examples:
* ‘Snuck’ – the British English past tense of the verb ‘sneak’ is ‘sneaked’.
* ‘Snicker’ – British English is ‘snigger’.
* ‘Gift’ used as a verb and ‘caring’ used as a general adjective to describe someone – these have only crept into British English in more recent years.
* A reference to mashed potatoes – potatoes were not introduced into this country until some fifty years later, by Sir Walter Raleigh.
* The phrase ‘in for a penny, in for a pound’ – the first recorded use of this phrase was in a play, in the late 17th century.
* ‘teenagers’ – not in use until the latter half of the 20th century.
* Henry said, ‘You center me, Jane’. So American and 21st century that it might as well have ‘Gee’ at the beginning and ‘lol’ at the end!
I also thought that, now and again, the dialogue between Kings, courtiers and Jane was too familiar, and doubted that Cromwell would have introduced the idea of Anne Boleyn’s treason to the King while both were in the presence of Jane Seymour. I’m aware that writing historical fiction that takes place outside one’s own country must be an incredibly hard thing to do, and I always feel sorry for authors whose editors have let them down. Google alone is a wonderful and easy-to-use tool.
Despite these ‘dodgy’ areas, though, I did enjoy reading it. The writing flows, Ms Wertman tells a story in a compelling fashion, and I believed in the characters; these three factors alone are much of what this writing thing is about, after all. With assistance from a more experienced editor (possibly an English one?), I imagine her work would get better and better. To sum up, I would say this is light fiction for the newer reader of the genre; perhaps lovers of programmes like Showtime’s The Tudors series, or who enjoy an introduction to the period, rather than the serious history addict – avid readers of this genre are notoriously picky!
In this new book and part one of a Seymour trilogy, Janet Wergman has taken on the unenviable task of turning a “boring” woman into an interesting study. Did the name Plain Jane originally come from her? Any basic study of Henry VIIIs wives tend to give Jane short shrift as the antidote to the exciting and tempestuous Anny Boleyn. And of course, Henry loved her the rest of his life because he didn’t have the opportunity to get tired of her. Oh, and she gave birth to his heir.
But there were a lot of unanswered questions in the Jane Seymour story. How could a shy, unspoiled, sheltered girl find herself in the compromising position of wanton replacement for a pitiful queen about to be executed? And with such haste! There have been so many fictional assertions that Henry married her with a day or two of Anne’s beheading, that I had to go back and track the passage of time between Anne’s execution (May 10), Jane’s betrothal to Henry (May 20), and their formal wedding (May 30). The author helps us along by dating every section, including the time. Yes, it was hasty but Henry wasn’t sitting at her house waiting for the cannon to go off so he could marry her, which I remember from a long ago story. But still, it took some explaining to show how Jane got to this point, and Wergman has done a good job giving Jane a little ambition after all, and a rather sweet account of her early meetings with the King. It was all so innocent and comforting that I no trouble accepting it.
As things got more and more complicated, Jane’s ambitions (or love?) got the better of her and she seemed to lose focus. She seemed to be a little confused as to what she was expecting out of this relationship, but as usual Henry was in charge and she could just go along for the ride. It helped that Jane didn’t really like her cousin Queen Anne anyway, so it wasn’t all that difficult to see a tiny bit of vindictiveness in her actions. Throughout, Jane’s brothers were most annoying, and it was good to see her get the upper hand in the end, forcing them to admit that she wasn’t such a nonentity after all. She didn’t particularly appreciate being used to further their aims; on the other hand, she bought into their conspiracy of manipulating the king’s affections. It’s interesting to wonder at what point it felt OK to hanker after the crown, and more than once Jane thought she might have overplayed her game. For by this point, it seemed more like maneuvering than naivete, and I lost a little respect for her.
Although there no surprises (and shouldn’t have been, I think), we do get a full three-dimensional depiction of this not uncomplicated woman. I didn’t find her overly likeable, but she is capable of capturing our sympathy. I found myself rooting for her, even though I like her predecessor. She had her own story to tell, after all, and secured a foothold in history.
Great escape to Tudor England….I love the Tudor Era, and having read so many Tudor books you can find yourself reading the same thing over and over. The one reason I really liked JANE THE QUENE was because the main character was Jane Seymour, she always seems to be a secondary character, but not this time. Janet Wergman did a great job taking the boring, plain Jane and making her interesting . This was a well written novel that kept my interest from beginning to end, I am ready for the nest book in the trilogy
I’m fascinated by the Tudor era and this book was an original take on one of Henry VIII’s wives.