Jane Boleyn: The True Story of the Infamous Lady Rochford | 
 enlarge | Author: Julia Fox
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Category: Book
List Price: $26.95
Buy New: $12.99
You Save: $13.96 (52%)
New (38) Used (22) Collectible (1) from $8.49
Rating:  44 reviews
Sales Rank: 141778
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.7
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.6 x 1.3
ISBN: 0345485416
Dewey Decimal Number: 942.052092
EAN: 9780345485410
ASIN: 0345485416
Publication Date: December 26, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: In pristine condition.
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Product Description
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 sister-in-law, Queen Anne Boleyn, Jane’s allegiance to the volatile monarchy was sustained and rewarded. But the price for 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 and restores dignity to this much-maligned figure whose life and reputation were taken from her.
Born to aristocratic parents in the English countryside, young Jane Parker found a suitable match in George Boleyn, brother to Anne, the woman who would eventually be the touchstone of England’s greatest political and religious crisis. Once settled in the bustling, spectacular court of Henry VIII as the wife of a nobleman, Jane was privy to the regal festivities of masques and jousts, royal births and funerals, and she played an intimate part in the drama and gossip that swirled around the king’s court.
But it was Anne Boleyn’s descent from palace to prison that first thrust Jane into the spotlight. Impatient with Anne’s inability to produce a male heir, King Henry accused the queen of treason and adultery with a multitude of men, including her own brother, George. Jane was among those interrogated in the scandal, and following two swift strokes from the executioner’s blade, she lost her husband and her sister-in-law, her inheritance and her place in court society.
Now the thirty-year-old widow of a traitor, Jane had to ensure her survival and protect her own interests by securing land and income. With sheer determination, she navigated her way back into royal favor by becoming lady-in-waiting to Henry’s three subsequent brides, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, and Catherine Howard. At last Jane’s future seemed secure–until an unwitting misstep involving the sexual intrigues of young Queen Catherine destroyed the life and reputation Jane worked so hard to rebuild.
Drawing upon her own deep knowledge and years of original research, Julia Fox brings us into the inner sanctum of court life, laced with intrigue and encumbered by disgrace. Through the eyes and ears of Jane Boleyn, we witness the myriad players of the stormy Tudor period. Jane emerges as a courageous spirit, a modern woman forced by circumstances to fend for herself in a privileged but vicious world.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 39 more reviews...
 Nothing New January 2, 2009
Just a retelling of Tudor history from the last days of Catherine of Aragon to the death of Catherine Howard. Fox tries to include Jane Boleyn, but it's all educated guessing.
Wrong Jane December 14, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Has anybody noticed that the cover of the book is actually a famous painting of Jane Seymour, third queen to Henry VIII? This is an okay read, but the cover really bothers me because it is so blatant.
 A Fascinating Look Into The Life of A Woman at COurt During the Tudoe Dynasty. November 23, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I have to admit to a lifelong fascination - perhaps obsession is a better way to describe it - with Tudor England. I 'feel' these lives - so connected. This book is a riveting (to my mind) look at how one survivor - who happened to be female - lived and died in the Tudor court. I cannot recommend this book any more highly than I have for anyone interested n Bristish history, Tudor history, woman's history - or just history. I loved this book !
Almost a book about Jane... October 27, 2008
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
For three-quarters of this book, the title of this otherwise well-researched work about the court of Henry VIII is almost laughable--at least in terms of Jane's appearances. In fact, I laughed many times, when, in the middle of well-written pages about the historical on-goings at court, in a complete non-sequitur to the action being described, a sentence like the following will suddenly get tacked on, appearing with no relationship to anything in the previous paragraphs or pages: "Jane is likely to have been there." (My paraphrase). The preceding paragraphs will have been flowing along, having absolutely nothing to do with Jane, and this constant speculative interpolation was an awkward jolt from left field, jerking me out of the narrative every time--right until the latter part of the book where the author enters the historically verifiable field of Jane's life, notably, the events leading to and following Anne Boleyn's death, and her role in the fall of Catherine Howard. At that point, it really does become a book about Jane Rochford. The author does an earnest and credible job of casting a different light upon this player in history. Worth a read for anyone interested in the Tudor period, and brings many details to light in a way that is refreshing in these days of the historical novel that takes ample liberties with actual events of record. (Not that I mind those books, but it's good to be brought back to some semblance of real events after enjoying the "artistically licensed" world of TV Tudors, Natalie Portman and such.
 Painfully bad writing September 29, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Not only is this book poorly researched as history, but the sentences within it are poorly contructed too; some are so laughably bad as to merit entry in the Bullwer-Lytton competition. I agree with those other reviewers who tired of reading about where Jane might have been and what she could have known. What a lot of hooey!
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