I have been fascinated by depictions of Lady Jane Grey in pop culture since childhood, but this book was the first time I had read a properly researched non fiction book on the topic. i was utterly absorbed. My opinion of Jane and her sisters has certainly been widened, but I still say she is one of my favourite historical figures. Very well written.

There was nothing inherently wrong with this book. It was well-researched and had a good idea, but some things were... bothersome. The book was not what it was marketed as. It was more of a book on the question of Elizabethan/Edwardian succession with a slight emphasis on the Grey sisters. The book focused too much on Jane Grey, compared with the others. She had half the book to herself with only the occasional mention of the other two. Additionally, she was mentioned only half of her time. The other just dealt with every... single...little...thing her family got themselves into, every single little fight and scandal. It droned on and on about this rebellion with no later impact and this disagreement that would never be mentioned again. I understand the background knowledge is necessary to understand Edwardian times and succession, but not the amount the book went into. Part 1 and 2 should have been titled "Life with Tudor Royals with recurring character Jane, who later became Queen." Then when her sister finally got mentioned, the book became "Elizabethan Succession with the remaining Grey sisters and how Elizabeth hated them and jailed them." The majority of the last two sections was only about the Elizabethan succession, nothing else about their life, only how it affected Elizabeth's attitude toward them. I just couldn't get into it, as I felt this was not the book I signed up for. If someone is interested in Elizabethan Succession with slight emphasis on the Greys or the Life of Jane Grey, then they should read parts of the book. As I only wanted to know about the younger sisters, and they turned out to be ignored, the book was a massive flop for me. I was personally most interested in Mary's marriage before reading, but had not realized that they were together so little, so Katherine's story became the most intriguing. The political machinations during Jane's life were overdrawn and lengthy which caused to lose interest in her very early on

I seem to be in a bit of a Tudor phase at the moment, so the biography books from The Pile have been rooted out and the first one that I finished was this one, the sad story of the Grey sisters and their lamentable lives. Jane, Katherine and Mary Grey were the great-granddaughters of Henry VIII, named as before the Stuarts in the succession by Henry VIII yet they have now faded from history. Like everybody else, I knew the story of Lady Jane Grey, the lamentable waif who was forced to be the puppet queen at the behest of her father-in-law and died at only sixteen at the hands of the ruthless Bloody Mary. This Lady Jane Grey was roughly handled by her parents, only ever knew true happiness while living with her beloved patroness Catherine Parr, but after the latter died prematurely in childbirth, Lady Jane was back under the influence of her ambitious parents. Of course, as it always with history, the truth is far more complex. And to be honest, it's also much more interesting.

This is the first time in a long while that I've read a non-fiction book about the Tudors which wasn't written by Alison Weir, which meant that every so often De Lisle would state something and the loyal Weir reader in me would take pause and think That's not what Alison said! but it's no bad thing to get information from a variety of sources and even Weir herself has admitted to making some mistakes. In an era where contemporary accounts were so notoriously unreliable, it makes sense that there will be disagreement. The story of the Grey sisters is also one of those in the footnotes of history, the younger two only ever crept in to Weir's books for a paragraph or two here and there. It was interesting that on the cover, this book was complimented that it read like a Philippa Gregory novel ... there were certain similarities in style but there were times when the style did teeter into frothy. Thankfully, it rescued itself - like the story of Katherine Swynford, this is one of those forgotten true stories that is so much better than anything the fictional world could dream up.

For my full review:
http://girlwithherheadinabook.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/the-sisters-who-would-be-queen-leanda.html#more

Fascinating, but brutal and gory.

Everyone knows the story of Lady Jane Grey, the 'Nine Days Queen', the innocent who was maneuvered into claiming the throne by her husband and family and executed by a vengeful Mary Tudor. In this book de Lisle argues that Jane was no innocent and no victim, that she was raised from birth fully conscious of her royal blood, her position as heir to the throne under Henry VIII's will and her role at the forefront of the struggle between Protestantism and Catholicism. Jane was an exceptionally educated, strong-willed and determined woman, who went to her death willing to serve as a martyr to her cause if she could not be queen.

One of the things this book highlights is how much of a curse royal blood was for women in the Tudor days. After the death of Edward IV, with nothing but female claimants, it was a dangerous time for women like the Grey sisters. Jane was executed for claiming the throne, arguably rightfully under the terms of Parliament and Henry VIII's will, which had excluded both Mary and Elizabeth on grounds of illegitimacy. Her sisters were both imprisoned for much of their lives for daring to marry for love without the Queen's knowledge and against her wishes, for the danger of them producing a son and heir for the throne was too much for Elizabeth.

This is a really good book, as engrossing and fast-paced as a novel. It may take a certain amount of literary license with some scenes or facts, but it does bring to life two marginalised historical figures in Mary and Katherine, whom I knew nothing about, and explodes a few myths about the Nine Days Queen, who was in fact queen for over two weeks. But nine days sounds better, right?

Actual rating: 3.5

After having read Lisle's [b:Tudor: The Family Story|18460016|Tudor The Family Story|Leanda de Lisle|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1401074836s/18460016.jpg|24349043], I wanted to read more by her. She's a great modern writer of times past that can seem so boring. She handled this book as well, making it engaging for me as a reader -- though I didn't need much since I am absolutely fascinated with this time in history. That's the reason why it got the rating it did.

At some points, it was a bit boring for me, mainly because I already knew quite a bit about Katherine and her struggles with her children's legitimacy and her marriage, one that was highlighted well in the aforementioned book when the reign of Elizabeth was addressed.

The sister I learned most about was Jane. And, man, she was fascinating. I could have read a whole book about her. It was obvious to me that Lisle favors Jane out of all the other sisters since she portrayed her as a strong woman who stuck to her faith and never trembled in the face of her own death.

Katherine, to me, was portrayed more as a woman that was so vested in her heart and her lust. I didn't really like that since I know there's more to that, but it's what she's remembered of in history. In both of Lisle's books she was portrayed in the same way, just like Elizabeth I was portrayed as a woman terrified of any threat to her thrown. I know that there is more to both of these women and I, quite honestly, would love to read other authors and see their portrayals of each woman.

Mary, the final sister, was barely mentioned. She was spoken of in a few chapters in the beginning, then, finally, in part four of the novel she was addressed. Still, it wasn't much. I found her to be a forgettable woman. She did basically the same thing as Katherine with her husband Keyes, but she was strong and was like Jane. A good mix of each sister, but there wasn't much about her. Again, I'd love to learn more about her.

One of my complaints about the book is that it focused so much on Elizabeth and her rule. The people she favored, all the negotiations about who would be her heir, and her fears. I get that it was prudent since the Greys were people that could have taken over her thrown, but I just wanted more about them rather than other people that had something to do with them.

My final thoughts on the book is that it's a good introductory book to the lives of the Grey sisters and all the things they had to go through. It's more for someone that has almost no knowledge of any of the sisters and the times. Therefore, it was a pretty good book for me to read since I'm familiar of the times, but it went a bit more in depth. Next book I want to tackle is one book about each sister. That way I can learn even more specific things on them.