Customer Reviews

Lady Jane Grey and the House of Suffolk

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Author Plowden is very well known for her books concerning the Tudor dynasty of England. This book traces the story of Henry VIII's sister, Mary who first wed the elderly King of France. Upon his swift demise, Mary pursued and won the man she wanted, Charles Brandon. For a while she was banned from court for daring to marry for love, instead of dynastic reasons. From this marriage, her offspring and their descendants would be tightly controlled by the subsequent Tudor monarchs, Edward V, Mary I and Elizabeth I.

While focusing on primarily Lady Jane Grey, the granddaughter of Mary Tudor, all other descendants (primarily female) are also discussed. The complication succession to the throne made a minefield which ruined many lives.

The book is very well written and quotes extensively from original sources. I would recommend it and any other Plowden books to anyone interested in Tudor England.

A large portion of this book is about Lady Jane Grey/Dudley, the 9 day Queen of England. However, it doesn't just deal with her. It puts her in her social context within her scheming familiy and how they delt with Royalty and the Tudor court.

It also gives an interesting follow up of what happened to the rest of her familiy following their ill fated bid to get Jane on the throne. It's an interesting book, all the more so because it deals with a group of people, not just Lady Jane.

Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, was not only the brother-in-law of Henry VIII but also his best friend; after the king's own children, Brandon's descendants were named heirs to the crown. The duke's granddaughter, Jane Grey, died for her legacy at the age of sixteen, a Protestant intellectual challenging the accession of the Catholic Mary Tudor. Jane's sister Catherine subsequently ruined her chances to become heir-presumptive to Elizabeth I by her unauthorized marriage to the earl of Hertford -- and then by presuming to give birth to a healthy son (seven of whose close relatives lay buried headless under the chapel in the Tower where he was christened). The Suffolk drama would have been a fitting subject for a Shakespear-ean tragedy.

This book concentrates too much about Lady Jane Grey. I know it is called "LADY JANE GREY and the House of Suffolk", but the parts about Jane aren't detailed enough to be a biography, and the rest is too short and foggy to be read as an equal family saga.So close,yet so far.

I read this book almost 20 years ago, when I rented it from my local library. "Lady Jane Grey and the House of Suffolk" is so much better than Plowden's sequel "Lady Jane Grey: Nine Days Queen" that it shows "Nine Days Queen" as the tired rehash that it is. "Lady Jane Grey and the House of Suffolk" describes Jane beautifully. It also gives plenty of information about her parents, Frances and Henry Grey, and her two younger sisters, Catherine and Mary. Jane's life with her family and her royal Tudor relatives, her subsequent marriage to Guilford Dudley, her brief nine-day reign as England's unwanted Queen, and her following trial and execution are well covered. "Lady Jane Grey and the House of Suffolk" also tells what happened to Jane's surviving family members following her death. This book I'd heartily recommend to anybody who wants a good account of Lady Jane Grey, her life, and her ultimate fate.

It is really helpful in describing and understanding the Tudor period,but it's unbalanced.1 page on Mary Grey,2 chapters on the French Queen,Mary Tudor,1 paragragh on Frances Brandon.There's this uneveness.