Simply Angela : Jane Boleyn: The True Story of the Infamous Lady Rochford by Julia Fox

Monday, February 23, 2015

Jane Boleyn: The True Story of the Infamous Lady Rochford by Julia Fox

In a life of extraordinary drama, Jane Boleyn was catapulted from relative obscurity to the inner circle of King Henry VIII. As powerful men and women around her became victims of Henry’s ruthless and absolute power–including her own husband and her sister-in-law, Queen Anne Boleyn–Jane’s allegiance to the volatile monarch was sustained and rewarded. But the cost of her loyalty would eventually be her undoing and the ruination of her name. For centuries, little beyond rumor and scandal has been associated with “the infamous Lady Rochford,” but now historian Julia Fox sets the record straight. Drawing upon her own deep knowledge and years of original research, she brings us into the inner sanctum of court life, teeming with intrigue and redolent with the threat of disgrace. In the eyes and ears of Jane Boleyn, we witness the myriad players of the stormy Tudor period, and Jane herself emerges as a courageous spirit, a modern woman forced by circumstances to make her own way in a privileged but vicious world.

I’m a huge Tudor fanatic and I majored in Renaissance studies so I thought this would be an interesting book to sink my teeth into. I’ve always wondered about Jane Boleyn. She was the key figure in her husband’s demise and execution as well as that of Anne Boleyn. Then she was beheaded for aiding in Catherine Howard’s affair. I was always intrigued by the fact she knew what would happen if a queen was accused having an affair and those associated with it yet she was willing help Catherine.

I thought this book would hold my attention. Sadly, I couldn’t get into it. I found it annoying. Often times Fox would say ‘Jane might have been there’ or ‘was most likely in attendance’ I don’t want to read a nonfiction book where the author guesses. Also, what little I did manage to read was more or less a rehashing of what was already know. Finally I just gave up.

Overall, what I read come off as speculative rather than fact-based.