"I have send you, good sister Katherine, a book, which, though it be not outwardly trimmed with gold, yet inwardly it is of more worth than precious stones. It will teach you to live it will learn you to die..."

Leanda de Lisle's The Sisters Who Would Be Queen offers fascinating insight into the lives of the previously overlooked Grey sisters. Thoroughly researched, the book depicts a contrasting image of Jane Grey: a strong-willed figure, raised to become a fierce leader. The impression created of Jane during the previous years (and centuries) was of an innocent and powerless girl, incapable of making her own decisions and prone to the controlling force of others. We are finally presented with a genuine description of the woman she really was, a woman born to be a queen.

The stories of her two sisters, Katherine and Mary, are utterly tragic and unsettling. Forced to spend a substantial part of their lives imprisoned and isolated from everyone they loved, they became the victims in an international quest for power. It is clearly evident that they chose to have a life of warmth and affection, disregarding their role in the succession. Nevertheless, they represented a great threat towards the English monarchy and, consequently, they were not allowed to live and die freely. Sadly, they remained prisoners in a war they could not fight.

The three Grey sisters seem to have been doomed from the start. Proud, uncompromising and determined, they were compelled to endure the sufferings of sacrifice, depression and isolation in the only way each of them knew how. "Learn to die..." indeed.