Innocent Traitor

A Novel of Lady Jane Grey

By: Alison Weir

Narrated by: Stina Nielsen, Davina Porter, Bianca Amato

Length: 18 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times best-selling author Alison Weir has earned her reputation as the preeminent historian of British royalty. Now with Innocent Traitor, Weir utilizes her vast knowledge and captivating narrative style to craft her first historical novel, choosing Lady Jane Grey, the most sympathetic heroine of Tudor England, as her enthralling subject.

The child of a scheming father and ruthless mother, Jane is born during a time when ambition dictates action. Cousin to Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I, she is merely a pawn in a political and religious game in which one false step means a certain demise. But Lady Jane has remarkable qualities that help her to withstand the constant pressures of the royal machinery far better than most expect.

Weir's striking novel sweeps readers back through the centuries to witness firsthand one of the most poignant tales from a time of constant scheming and power brokering.

©2007 Alison Weir (P)2007 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"Weir proves herself deft as ever." (Publishers Weekly)
"Complex yet completely absorbing....A brilliantly vivid and psychologically astute novel." (Booklist)

Riveting from beginning to end

I am a now a truly devoted fan on both Alison Weir and Davina Porter. With Alison Weir as an author and Davina Porter as the voice, or in this case one of the voices, you cannot go wrong! This book has everything that I love: history, religion, romance and intrigue. This author always educates as she entertains and I love that! Alison Weir always makes me feel one with the main character and transports me to that place in time.

Most excellent account

How can one not want to know more about this magnificent young girl who was abused and used by her power greedy parents. The author has done an outstanding job with this history as she has always done with all previous books .. kudos to her !! Devina Porter makes it sounds so real .. I so enjoy her voice, inflections and various accents

Poignant but well narrated

I'm very spoiled after listening to the Outlander Series. It took about an hour of listening to this story, before I could adapt to the narrator's different voices. This is a very poignant story, but one that seems to depict a pretty accurate historical version of this young girl who died far too young. I'm looking forward to reading more books from this author, since I truly enjoy historical fiction.

Used and Abused

I've listen to this recording many times. This 16 year old child no fault of her own played a part in the chaos surrounding the succession of Henry the VIII. Many girls and boys were used by their parents to gain social standings in the realm. Since her birth the Lady Jane Grey was abused, used and condemn to death before her 17th birthday. She was obedient to her social climbing parents, even when she knew they were wrong.

Multiple narrators was a great idea

Recommended for: Anyone who likes Tudor-era fiction
Read from August 26 to September 09, 2013

4 stars (story)
4.5 stars (audiobook)

Read by: Stina Nielsen, Davina Porter, Bianca Amato, Jenny Sterlin, Jill Tanner, Gerard Doyle, & Robert Ian Mackenzie

This was a LOOOOONNNNNGGGGG look at the life of the Nine-Day Queen, Jane Grey, the traitor queen of England who was forced to take the crown at age 15/16 by men who wielded power like bludgeons during one of the most chaotic times in England's history.

I enjoyed this book much more than I did The Lady Elizabeth, Weir's novelization of the childhood and youth of Elizabeth I. While that one betrayed Weir's experience as a nonfiction writer, this one read more like a Philippa Gregory novel---with multiple first-person viewpoints (much like my beloved The Boleyn Inheritance). And, much like the audio version of that Gregory novel, this one featured a different narrator for almost every viewpoint.

Because Jane Grey was so young for most of the book, it actually worked better to have the multiple viewpoint characters, since she was a passive player in most of what happened to her. It was good to get into the minds (in a fictional conjecture, of course) of the people behind the machinations that led, ultimately, to Jane's execution as a heretical traitor in February 1554.

Though I knew the story from the "outside" -- in that I knew the timeline and details of the historical occurrences -- it was interesting to get an "inside" look at the characters who are usually brushed aside as bit players in the transition from King Edward VI to Queen Mary I. Especially since I've recently read The Tudor Secret and The Tudor Conspiracy by C.W. Gortner, which is a complete fictionalization of these events.

There isn't much in fiction that covers the lives (and reigns) of both Edward VI and Jane Grey, so the subject matter was what drew me to this book. It was Weir's surprisingly deft handling of all of the characters that kept my interest throughout the 18+ hours of this audiobook (though, as with The Lady Elizabeth, I found that when she was unable to characterize Jane's youth through the prose--even at four years old, Jane came across as an adult, with an adult's vocabulary, reasoning, and understanding).

The only narrator I had any issue with was Stina Nielsen, who was the voice for Jane Grey's viewpoint. She had a tendency to pause at odd/awkward places in the middle of sentences, which made me have to run it back to figure out what the sentence was actually supposed to be saying, since the pauses chopped up the flow/meaning. She also had a tendency to mispronounce things/pronounce them oddly (such as saying tutor for Tudor). While this was annoying and would start getting on my nerves, invariably just when I was getting ready to turn it off, the viewpoint would switch to another character which meant another narrator.

I would have liked to have seen one last scene in the book--from Queen Mary's viewpoint, reacting to Jane's death. The ending, as it was for Jane, was too abrupt.

GREAT book!

What did you love best about Innocent Traitor?

I loved that I honestly felt like I got to know Jane Grey. Her absolutely resolve to stay true to herself, regardless of what that meant for her life on earth. The story is so told so wonderfully in different views of the participants involved. You hate her parents, you root for her at the end, even though you know the outcome of her life. You keep thinking things are actually going to go her way and almost seems shocking to approach the final outcome. I hated the manipulating of the politics involved and she was just caught in the middle of others' ambitions. I would almost be yelling at the people who wronged her, wanting to physically punch them for what they did to her.

What did you like best about this story?

I liked the different perspectives of the characters. That's how life truly is. People are thinking they are doing the right thing with little or no conscience care for how it may affect someone else.

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The narrators are amazing.

If you could rename Innocent Traitor, what would you call it?

I like the title, it is totally fits her life.

Ms. Weir Triumphs

Although difficult to bear the tragedy, I loved it for Ms. Weir's portrayal of these historical figures as real people, who lived, loved and died.

Inventive style

Would you listen to Innocent Traitor again? Why?

I have read many of Weir's histories but this was my first experience with her fiction. She is a great story teller and knowing of her interest in the period made this a particularly good read. I would listen again.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Innocent Traitor?

It was eerie to listen as events in Lady Jane's life portended her death. Her almost violent reaction to the ruby necklace -- looking like drops of blood around her throat -- sent chills up my spine. Having the story told in snatches and in first person was a very effective way of seeing how the characters developed and their reaction to the events.

Have you listened to any of the narrators’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

The multiple voices worked very well. Each made you think you had just met the character he/she represented.

history at its best !!

Any additional comments?

Extremely accurate. Not knowing much about Lady Jane, I researched the Internet as I was reading. Another innocent and tragic casualty to greed, pride and religious fanaticism.

History is NOT pretty sometimes!

Would you try another book from Alison Weir and/or the narrators?

From weir NOT narrators.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Innocent Traitor?

The ending!

What didn’t you like about the narrators’s performance?

The Lady Jane Grey sounded like she had gum or something in her mouth, not impressed at all.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Innocent Traitor?

The end I didn't need such great detail I actually can't stop thinking about it.