Shannon's Library

LET’S GET EXCITED ABOUT THIS BOOK!

Edward is the young King of England and he’s dying. Jane is his favorite cousin and whom he chooses to succeed him to the throne. But Jane doesn’t want to be Queen. She just wants to be left alone to read her books. Nor does she want to be forced into an arranged marriage to Gifford. Gifford just wants to be left alone to spend his days running around as a horse. Yes, a horse. Because in this reimagined story of English royal history, some people can change into animals. Not everyone is happy with these abilities and there are dangerous plots afoot to rid the country of these “abominations.” Edward, Jane and Gifford must join together in order to both survive and save the kingdom.

Shannon’s Rating — PG-13

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LET’S TALK ABOUT THIS BOOK!

I was recently asked, “What’s a book that makes you smile?” I have a few that are at the top of my “Makes-Me-Smile list” and “My Lady Jane,” by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadows is one of them!  And, yes, you read that correctly.  There are THREE authors of this novel.  How these three writers came together to write a book is fascinating to me! Cynthia Hand was the instigator of the whole adventure.  She knew she wanted to write a comedy novel about the very depressing real-life story of Jane Grey. In order to do so, she convinced two other authors to help her.  Brodi Ashton is known for her comedic writing and Jodi Meadows is known for her fantasy novels. The three women had previously met on a book tour and became fast friends. Together they embarked on this unique journey of co-authoring a story.  And not just any story.  They managed to reimagine a very somber part of English history and write, instead, a light-hearted, fun, romantic story!

But before we can get into talking about “My Lady Jane,” here’s a quick refresher course on who Lady Jane Grey was – in case your knowledge of English royal history is a little rusty – like mine was!

Jane Grey was a teenage noblewoman in the mid 1550’s who held the throne of England for a very brief nine days. She’s sometimes referred to as the “Nine Days’ Queen.”  Before King Edward VI died at the age of 15, he wrote in his will that his cousin, Jane, should be his successor to the Crown – instead of his half-sister, Mary. He did this mainly because Jane supported the Church of England, like Edward, whereas Mary was a devote Catholic. Lady Jane was very well educated and preferred her academic studies over just about everything else. As you can imagine, when Edward passed away and Jane was proclaimed the queen, it didn’t go over well with Mary.  Support for Mary grew quickly, and the Privy Council of England abruptly changed sides and proclaimed Mary as the queen.  Jane was held prisoner in the Tower of London, along with her husband Lord Guildford Dudley, until they were both beheaded a few months later. As you can see, Lady Jane’s story is certainly not a happy one.  And the fact that three authors wanted to tackle the challenge of turning this depressing story into a young-adult comedic romance, is amazing!

In the prologue, the narrators (the three authors, I presume…) state that they have a different tale to tell about Lady Jane.

“This is how we think Jane’s story should have gone.”

What follows is a complete manipulation of English history, and I am here for it! Instead of religious wars happening between the Catholics and the Church of England, the tensions instead involve the Edians (people with the ability to switch between a human form and an animal form) and the Verities (people who believe that human beings should only be human beings and anything else is an abomination needing to be eradicated.)

The story of “My Lady Jane” is told between three alternating points of view: Jane, Edward and Gifford. Each of the three authors took one of these characters to write. Meadows wrote Jane. Hand wrote Edward. Ashton wrote Gifford. All three characters were hilarious and entertaining in their own way. I loved them all!

But Jane, of course, holds a little extra spot in my heart because of her obsessive love of books.  She’s mocked in society because she always has her nose in a book.  She weighs down her carriages because she packs too many books with her. She turns into a walking thesaurus whenever she gets nervous.  She even wonders if she can bring a book to her own wedding in case she gets bored!

When Lord Gifford is told about his arranged marriage and that it would take place with Jane, he knew exactly who she was even though they had never met.

“’Lady Jane Grey?’ G hoped he had heard his father wrong. He hadn’t been present in court for several years now, but he knew of Jane. Her reputation preceded her.  The book girl.”

I don’t know.  I think there are worse things to be known as than, “The book girl!” But maybe not in the 1500’s…

In a story where people are constantly turning into horses, lions, foxes, birds, skunks and even ferrets, one wouldn’t think a girl who loves books would be such an outrageous thing!

At one point in the novel, the narrators pause to tell their readers…

“If the truth of what happened to our heroes and heroine scares you – and God’s teeth, it should scare you – do not venture past this point. But if you are a bucker of the system, a friend of the truth, an ally of love, and a believer in magic, then read on.”

Are you a believer in magic? An ally of love? If so, then do yourself a favor and read this book. It’s full of magic, love and humor – everything needed to turn a depressing story of history into a delightful and entertaining novel!