BOOK OF THE MONTH
She rose as a favourite. Will she fall as a traitor?
In the dazzling, dangerous world of the Tudor Court, nothing is more powerful than a secret – or more deadly.
Jane Boleyn has mastered many masks: loving wife, devoted sister, and obedient spy.
But as the king's rule advances into tyranny, Jane must decide: keep playing her part, or use the only power she really has – her voice.
Philippa Gregory brings the Boleyn traitor into the light in an explosive story of one woman’s survival in the treacherous heart of the Tudor court.
Review
Boleyn Traitor takes a woman who has been blamed for some of the most infamous events of Henry VIII’s reign and gives her the chance to tell a very different story. Philippa Gregory’s Jane Boleyn is intelligent, ambitious and observant, but she is also living in a court where knowing too much can be every bit as dangerous as knowing too little.
I particularly enjoyed Jane’s relationship with Thomas Cromwell. He recognises how useful she can be as an informant, and through him Jane begins to understand the value of the things she sees and hears. There is something fascinating about watching her grow more confident in her ability to navigate court politics, especially when the people around her can fall from favour with frightening speed.
The changing queens also give the novel a real sense of just how precarious life at Henry’s court had become. I loved the sections surrounding Anne of Cleves, while Catherine Howard’s story was much harder to read because I knew exactly where Jane’s decisions were going to lead. There were several moments when I desperately wanted her to walk away, particularly when Thomas Culpeper became involved.
What I liked most was that Gregory doesn't turn Jane into an innocent victim. She makes questionable choices, enjoys being close to power and sometimes believes a little too strongly in her own ability to control what is happening. That complexity made her far more interesting to me than the traditional image of the bitter woman who betrayed Anne and George Boleyn.
Boleyn Traitor is a fascinating look at survival, ambition and reputation in the Tudor court. Whether Gregory’s interpretation comes close to the real Jane Boleyn is something we can never know, but it certainly made me question the version of her that history has handed down.
Amazon
Philippa Gregory
Philippa Gregory is an internationally renowned historian and novelist. She holds a PhD in eighteenth-century literature at the University of Edinburgh and is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the Universities of Sussex and Cardiff, an honorary research fellow at Birkbeck University of London and she was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for her services to literature and to charity. Her novels have been adapted for stage and screen and in 2023 she published her groundbreaking history book, Normal Women - 900 Years of Making History, which was also released as a podcast, a teen edition and a series for young children.
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