Jane Rochford was sister-in-law to Anne Boleyn and Lady of the Bedchamber to Katherine Howard, whom she followed to the scaffold in 1542. Hers is a life of extraordinary drama as a witness to, and participant in, the greatest events of Henry's reign.

Enjoy! 😊

Gratefully Received today as a RABCK.

A very thorough approach to this enigmatic historical figure. Although Jane Boleyn had everything money could buy, one sees a lonely and tragic figure underneath.

Being part of the most ambitious and ruthless families in the kingdom at that time, Jane had to really live on her wits and fight for her entitlements.
I liked the fact that the biographer did not shy away from Jane's difficulties. The biographer was also honest and forthright with pieces of evidence that could have multiple meanings, or that could not be proved, but she ensured to differentiate between the two.

This copy has copies of portraits and all in all, I found this a wonderful work.

Highly recommended Biographer.

Sent to LittleSuz as a HGG as her reading list does ask for history and this book is too good to be kept and not shared, or go into the wild release abyss!

Be shared and enjoyed wonderful book!

Yay! This looks fab. Thank you ever so much kirstykat. The chocolate and card are both fab too!

I liked this. It was an engaging read, and cleverly written to ensure there were elements of surprise in Jane's story towards the end. I'm familiar with the story of Henry VIII's wives, but had never previously realised how so many small anecdotes I've heard of involving ladies at court were all about the same woman, Lady Rochford/Jane Boleyn.

She certainly had an exciting life, and must have had an interesting personality to go with it. Personally serving five of Henry VIII's six wives is quite an achievement! Sometimes I felt that Fox underemphasised the amount of political and networking skill this must have taken, given tensions of the era and the very different personalities involved. It also implies a huge personal appetite for risk, which again, Fox rarely mentioned.

As a former historian, I'd have preferred more footnotes in the main text in order to deter understand what parts of the narrative were based on direct sources, how much is deduced from incomplete sources, and how much is Fox's guesswork. But I understand why it was published without them. This is a non-fiction book that really wants to be a novel, and the story of Jane Boleyn's life is worthy of that.

Released at the meetup.

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I do love a bit of Tudor history. Should be an interesting take on the times from a different perspective from the usual.

Thanks

Jane Boleyn: The Infamous Lady Rochford by Julia Fox - OK

This is supposed to be a biography of Jane and it kind of is, but not quite what I was expecting.

As a girl/woman in Tudor England there is virtually nothing written about her. We don't know when she was born and only have a vague idea of when she married George Boleyn. All we really know is her involvement in the downfall of two queens and her own execution. Or at least, we think we do.

The majority of this book is a re-run of the usual history of Henry's court supposedly from Jane's point of view. Lots of assumptions that Jane may have attended this, Jane may have seen that, Jane was probably here. The only things that are definite are that Jane first attended court as one of Katherine of Aragon's maids and then went on to serve as a lady in waiting to all of Henry's Queens up to and including Catherine Howard. It is only during the downfall of Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard that we actually know anything definite about her other than the legalities around her marriage, her properties and the various gifts given to and received from the King.

It did fill in some details on her family (The Parkers) and the inter-relationships between the Parkers, Boleyns and Howards. It also went someway to rehabilitating her reputation. It's easy to see how a young girl entering the court and living through such tumultuous times would have to step carefully to keep (albeit eventually losing) her head. It's also easy to see how future generations might judge and vilify.

Interesting, but not quite what I expected.

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Although this book is registered at www.bookcrossing.com, you don't have to be a member. It's perfectly OK to just take the book and enjoy it. Of course, if you can visit the website and let us know that you've picked it up, that would be even better - you don't even have to join, you can add your comments anonymously - you can also post your review when you've read it, then return it or pass it on to someone else.

If you do join Bookcrossing, you'll be able to see what happens to it afterwards - for ever!