The Seymours were certainly ambitious and self-serving to some degree, but according to Weir, they also loved and valued each other deeply. The trials that her family faces together weave a story of unconditional love and strong bonds - truthfully, a rarity in most stories about Tudor families. We see her older brother Edward's first marriage to Catherine Fillol play out dramatically, as the bombshell of her infidelity (with none other than Jane and Edward's own father) is dropped. The portion about Jane's childhood follows her happy home life, her exploration of religious life at the local priory, and ultimate decision not to pursue the sisterhood. I have a lot of faith and trust in her fiction writing, as a result. While I also enjoy novels with more of a 'what if?' twist, it's really nice to know that I can crack open an Alison Weir novel with the expectation of getting a very fact-based portrayal of the story in question. I personally really respect Weir's dedication to presenting her stories in as accurate a way as possible - only really taking creative license in order to fill in details not included in the historical record. As with all of Weir's novels, this one relies heavily on scholarly research and primary source material - which I really appreciate, as both a lover of creative historical fiction AND a stickler for accuracy. The character arc that Alison Weir creates over these ~30 years is fabulous, and I feel the reader truly gets to witness Jane grow up, adapt to the world around her, and find her place in Henry VIII's court.

This novel follows Jane's story from her childhood aspirations to enter a nunnery, all the way through to her death in 1537, following the birth of Prince Edward.

Jane seymour alison weir