‘My Lady Jane’

Author(s): Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows

Year: 2016

Pages: 491

Genre: Historical Fiction/Young Adult

I haven’t posted a review in FOREVER! And I am sorry for that! I am going to try and be better with posting regularly, but I can’t guarantee you that I will post weekly.

My Lady Jane is easily one of the best of the best books that I have read this year. It had me in tears of laughter within the first two pages.

The book tells readers the story of Lady Jane Grey, the sixteen year old girl that became Queen after the death of the sixteen year old king, Edward VI. In reality, she lasted nine days on the throne of England before Mary I wrangled an army, took Jane captive and subsequently had her beheaded. In My Lady Jane, Jane has a little more of a chance to be the person she should have been allowed to grow up to be.

As a lover of all things to do with the Tudor period, I found this representation of the life of Lady Jane Grey and her (non) demise a breath of fresh air between all of the other dire accounts of Historical fiction.

The authors have replaced the conflicting religions of Catholicism and Protestantism with the rather fun idea that there are a set of people with the ability to transform into an animal (Eδians) and there are a set of people who can’t – the same conflict and illogical hate, but with a lot more comedic effect.

Jane’s husband (yes, husband. though sixteen, she did actually get married before she died), Gifford, became my favourite character of the book. His inability to control his transformations (into a horse) were endearing and I found myself willing him to finally master the gift he had been given.

Though I wouldn’t recommend this book to those lovers of Historical fiction who hate it when authors play with the cold hard facts (the entire second half of the plot completely deviates from reality), I would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading historical fiction and is up for a bit of a chuckle.

Must have: a sense of the ridiculous!