Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Her Highness, the Traitor-Susan Higginbotham

Her Highness, the Traitor


Susan Higginbotham

Sourcebooks, Jun 1 2012, $14.99

ISBN: 9781402265587



With the death of King Henry VIII, his only male offspring becomes King Edward VI in 1547. However, since King Edward is only nine years old, a Regency Council (selected by the late ruler before his death) forms led by his maternal uncle Edward Seymour. Meanwhile men from three families (Seymour, Grey and Dudley) greedily compete for power. John Dudley’s son Jack and Edward Seymour’s daughter Anne marry, and another of his sons Guildford weds Henry Grey’s daughter Jane. . Dudley becomes a favorite of King Edward especially after the death of Seymour. When King Edward becomes deathly ill, he selects Jane Grey as his successor instead of either of his half-sisters. However, when Edward dies, Princess Mary, backed by the Regency Council’ makes a bid for the throne; while the Dudley and Grey families know what is at stake so they push Jane Grey.



Using the premise that behind every great man is a woman, this entertaining Tudor historical focuses on the manipulations by the crafty wives of John Dudley, Jane, and Henry Grey, Frances as they team up to place Lady Jane Grey on the throne. Fans of the era will enjoy this engaging entry filled with plenty of tidbits from the period between the two Tudor ruling giants though neither of the behind the scenes female powerbrokers come across as fully developed.



Harriet Klausner



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