Customer Reviews

JANE SEYMOUR: Henry VIII's True Love

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I was looking forward to this book as a full-length biography of Jane Seymour. Jane is by far the most neglected of Henry VIII's queens, and I have been waiting for something that would shed some light on her life and character. Unfortunately, after reading this book, I am still waiting.

Perhaps the problem here is that there just is not enough information available on which to base a full examination of Jane Seymour's life. As a child of the minor gentry, her youth would have been unremarkable and largely unrecorded. I do think, however, that some conclusions could have been reached by a more thorough examination of the records concerning her family - which would have offered some clues as to Jane's whereabouts at various points in her life.

There is more information available after Jane arrived at the court of Henry VIII, but Norton tends to attempt to enliven her narrative by supplying Jane's reactions and feelings concerning the events that she witnessed. As Jane did not leave a diary telling us how she felt, this is entirely speculation and very disconcerting to someone who is used to reading more traditional biographies.

On the positive side, there are a number of interesting illustrations provided. These are the reason that the book will continue to reside on my bookshelves.

Since there is not much known about the short but eventful life of Jane Seymour, this book is necessarily short and speculative.

Elizabeth Norton gets you thinking about the character of Jane. Norton provides evidence to back up the idea that Jane's "career goals" (and those of her supporters) shifted from mistress to queen as an opportunity presented itself. She details what is known of where Jane went and what she did and speculates on what she thought and felt during the trial and execution of Anne Boleyn.

Jane shows spunk on the issues of Princess Mary and the closing of monestaries. It could be her actions here indicate that she is not as afraid of her dangerous husband as Norton implies. It could be that she decided that Henry had come to his senses about Anne, had learned his lesson, and that she would be treated with the respect initially accorded Catherine.

Given the dearth of information on this short life, there is a lot of guessing as to her motives, attitudes and feelings. Not all of it is labeled "probably", "must have" or "could have". The title itself is representative of this speculation.

A good read, finally a book on Jane Seymour.

Since little is known about Jane's life before her arrival to court, much of that part of the book is speculation based off historical records and facts.

However once Jane arrives at court, we see more fact. Jane temperance allows for thoughts and ideals on her feelings of the actions surrounding her, in particular, her rise to Queen. Norton does a fine job of neither villifying or absolving Jane of this contraversial subject.

Also, Norton helps dispell the "Plain" Jane myth. Jane was remebered kindly and some Historians have taken that and made her "Plain", Norton shows that while Jane was not as memorable as her predessecors, she was indeed a woman of intelligence and quiet strengths.

All in all, a good book on Jane Seymour. Not quite the one everyone has been waiting for, but it does provide information on a woman who is often over-shadowed.JANE SEYMOUR: Henry VIII's True Love

This book is well written, except for the author's repeated use of the word 'whilst' instead of while. However, I did not learn much about Jane Seymour. I know there isn't a lot of documentation to work from, and the book does give a lot of good information on Jane's way of life in Tudor times, but not a lot of actual facts about Jane herself. If you do not know a lot of Tudor history this book will give you a quick look and you will learn a few things about Queen Jane, but if you already know a lot about the time period you may not learn much more.

"Jane Seymour: Henry VIII's True Love," by Elizabeth Norton was boring from beginning to end. I teach AP European history and I am especially interested in Tudor England. I had never read a biography of Jane Seymour, so I searched Amazon for a biography. I was very disappointed. I plugged my way through the book hoping it would end. Perhaps, it is not the author's fault because there is little documentary evidence in regard to Jane Seymour, but this biography will put you to sleep! Someone has to write a more interesting biography of one of Henry VIII's most famous wives. In my humble opinion, I would not waste the money or the time to read this book.