England’s Forgotten Queen: The Life and Death of Lady Jane Grey is pick of the day in ‘Event Magazine’ (The Mail on Sunday) and gets 4 stars.
‘If we remember Lady Jane Grey at all, it’s simply because of the fact that she ruled England for a total of nine days after the death of Edward VI, only to meet a tragic end on the executioner’s block after Queen Mary had wrestled the throne from her.
Historian Helen Castor is determined to give Grey a much fuller place in history, and is telling the teenage royal’s story in detail in this series showing across three consecutive nights.
Castor not only vividly recreates the intrigue and politics of the Tudor court but also manages to unpick the royal lineage with remarkable clarity and explain just why Grey was able to take the crown, albeit temporarily. Supported by a chorus of fellow historians, Castor spins a fascinating yarn…’
From Event Magazine, The Mail on Sunday, p.49
It is Critics’ Choice in ‘The Culture’ (The Sunday Times).
‘After touching on Lady Jane Grey in her series She Wolves, Helen Castor devotes a three-parter on consecutive evenings to the nine-day Queen of England in her own right. Her opener starts by explaining the context with typical lucidity. When Edward VI was on his deathbed in 1553, the most plausible heir was his Catholic sister, Mary. Determined to keep her from the throne, the king’s chief advisor induced Edward to name a brainy Protestant teenager as his successor.
In narrating what ensued after Edward’s death, Castor deftly manages to shape the story into a ‘Tudor thriller’ without sacrificing scholarly respect for evidence and complexity….’
From The Culture, Sunday Times, p.52.
