THE PLOT: Boleyn Traitor by Philippa Gregory is a historical novel about Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford. In the Tudor court of Henry VIII, Jane is lady-in-waiting to Katherine of Aragon. Hidden in the shadows, she is married to George Boleyn and her star is tied to a rising family when Queen Katherine is cast aside and Anne Boleyn ascends the throne. But when Henry VIII turns against Anne, Jane is forced to betray her husband and sister-in-law to survive. Desperate to rebuild her life, she gets close to Thomas Cromwell. Yet in a court ruled by ambition, how many of Henry’s queens can she outlive.

SUMMARY: Tudor fiction is my comfort read and I’ll always love Philippa Gregory. Her novels are the perfect blend of fact and fiction, allowing exciting plots and endearing characters to shine against a loose historical backdrop. Publishers marketed this as Gregory’s first Tudor novel in a decade, so I dutifully rushed to buy it in hardback as I was keen to see her take on a controversial figure who has been a side character in so many of her early novels. As a staunch fan, I know that Gregory’s previous depictions of Jane Boleyn have not been kind. Indeed, most novelists and historians portray Lady Rochford as a gossiping, malicious old shrew. Yet this novel challenges the status quo and seeks to understand Jane in her own right. As a figure without many primary records, particularly for her early years, Gregory tries to look at the totality of Jane Boleyn’s life at the Tudor court. It assesses her as a clever woman who was able to use her intelligence to survive the machinations of a tyrant. While the storytelling features the signature Gregory brand of insight and intrigue, it does feel somewhat formulaic and I would’ve liked more of Jane’s early life. However, the overall message was powerful and it was an enjoyable, familiar read. It’s not the best Philippa Gregory novel and I wouldn’t recommend it as an introduction to her work, but it’ll please the loyalist fans.

GOOD BITS: A central feature of Jane’s character is her education and it’s continually mentioned that her father was a scholar. I loved how this detail fed into her own sense of self-importance and ambition. Hubris is one of my favourite tropes and the depiction of Jane as a clever woman who kept surviving and grasping for power really spoke to me. I particularly liked her relationship with Cromwell and how she idolised him. However, her scenes with him became repetitive and I felt like her desire to emulate Cromwell could have been exaggerated even more, with ambition driving her recklessness towards the end. If she wanted to be the power behind a pregnant queen regent, rather than having simply believing in Katherine Howard and Thomas Culpepper’s love, I think it would’ve been a stronger motivation for her actions.

NOT SO GOOD BITS: I wanted chapters about Jane’s early life so we could see her personality develop without the Boleyn’s. While I understand the lack of historical records and need to shorten the novel, I felt like we were dropped into the end of Anne Boleyn’s reign without much to ground us in Jane’s character as an independent figure. Some fabrication of her early life would’ve allowed the reader to see her education first-hand and expressed how Jane felt about going to court and marrying George, so we could empathise with her. Additionally, this novel is written in first-person but I think I prefer Gregory’s third-person novels. First-person allows you into Jane’s head and shows her thinking, which is key because she has to mask her thoughts. Yet I think it causes too much repetition and introspection.

OVERALL: I’d recommend this book to fans Alison Weir, Elizabeth Chadwick, and Annie Garthwaite. You can purchase this book (with a discount) and support @aminasbookshelf via my bookshop.org. affiliate link.