Jane Boleyn: The True Story of the Infamous Lady Rochford

A reviewer

Although this book is a very well-researched historical account of Henry VIII's court during Jane Boleyn's lifetime, I bought this book hoping to find out more about, well, Jane. This is more of a general history of the time period rather than a biography. It contains few biographical details until the very end, although it does provide rich insight into the lives of Henry VIII's wives. In the afterword, Fox wrote that she started out writing a book about Henry's wives, and clearly, she had done a great amount of research, which she poured into her book about Jane Boleyn, essentially writing a book about the six wives despite her intention to write about Jane Boleyn. There is no characterization the Jane Boleyn of Fox's book is flat and unreadable. Fox claims to be writing a vindication of Jane's poor reputation, yet provides scant and weak research that leaves Jane's true character ambiguous. But the question that puzzles me most is: Why is Jane Seymour on the cover?

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Pealing Away The Lies

Julia Fox tries to seperate what the reader may already know about Jane Parker from what is truely known about her. Jane Parker has forever been known throughout history as manipulative sneak who sent her husband, sister-in-law and others to be beheaded for allegations that were completely unfounded and drudged up by a king wanting a new wife.

Jane Parker is infamous for horrible deeds she probably never did. I thought Julia Fox did a wonderful job giving the reader an thorough overview of what was going on at that time, and pulling apart what Jane would and wouldn't have been able to see or do. Trying to give the reader a thorough understanding of what would be expected of Jane in a family clawing and scheming their way to the top of a social ladder, Julia does a wonderful job of showing just how difficult it must have been being in the middle of the malicious Boleyn family, who would throw any one of each other under the bus to save their own lands and head.

While it does read slowly, anyone with a love for the Tudor time period, I think, would thoroughly enjoy the events shown through a different view. It's very easy to fall in love with Anne, George or Mary Boleyn through all the stories written about them, but seeing the story through Jane's eyes changes your perspective drastically on what it must have been like to be there.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Disappointing

I was really looking forward to finding out more about this interesting woman, however this book greatly disappointed me there. I am about halfway through and am debating whether to finish it or not. Most of the book so far has been about King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn (all information I already knew) with unimpotant mentions of Jane Boleyn thrown in, much of which is only speculation, such as she MAY have been at such and such an event!
Not impressed.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Interesting Perspective

I found this book to be intriguing and felt it offered a different perspective on Jane Rochford. History has alwats protrayed her as an evil traitor, but this book suggests that she was just as much a victum o Henry VIII as her relatives. The book dragged a bit in the middle, but overall an interesting historical perspective.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Not Worth the Time or Money

This book was a HUGE disappointment. Not only was it slow and tedious, but we already KNOW that there is little to nothing known about Jane parker. Everything in here is pure speculation, and ridiculous speculation, at that. The other thing I think that bothers me more, if that's possible, is that the cover of this book is Jane Seymour. WHY? Not worth it. Friends of mine have attempted to read it and have had to put it down. Ughh...Ms. Fox, sorry, but this as your debut book??? Disappointing.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A reviewer

While this book claims to tell the 'true' story of Jane Boleyn, it actually gives us no more insight about her than the little we already knew. The author gives us a quick, not always accurate, reading through Tudor marriage history, with many 'Jane should have been there,' and 'Jane might have been there' with no historical documentation beyond the stories of the major characters that were already well-known. It is minutely researched so that we know how many shillings were spent on each dress, and how many yards of cloth were allotted to each of the Queen's ladies, but almost everything written about Jane herself is pure speculation. Very disappointing.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

I don't trust it e The description alone had historical inaccuracies!

I considered reading this till I got to the part where it said "born Jane Rochford". ROCHFORD! She was born Jane Parker and only became Jane Rochford when het husband, George Boleyn, was granted the title of Lord Rochford which had previously belonged to his father. The title was given to him because his father was made an earl. She was lucky to still be allowed the name Lady Rochford after her husband's execution.

Misleading

I love reading about the tudor period and was anxious to read this. Of course its not really about jane boleyn persay. Its more about what was occuring at the time, the authir throws in stuff like " jane would have seen this" to tie her in to the story which is just historical fact written like a term paper. Since it is on a subject i enjoy im not entirely disappointed, just unsatisfied since the title is so misleading.

Not Recommended

I've read books about all the characters surrounding Jane Boleyn but
couldn't get through this VERY BORING book about one of the protagonists
in King Henry VIII's court!

Not such a goo read nor worth your time

I found this story to a bit disappointing. Since I've been reading plenty of Philippa Gregory novels of the Tudors and other Tudor tales that I was interested in know more about these real characters. So I decided to borrow this audio book from the library. The narration wasn't quite bad, nor excellent either. As for the story it had little explanation about Jane Boleyn's relationship with her husband or of Anne Boleyn. Only about where she was than & what she felt. Which wasn't so enthralling, I just felt that the author could have done more research of the Tudor history. That's just my opinion. This is the first novel of Julia Fox that I've read.

Excellent. Highly recommended,

As an avid fan of the Tudor period, I strongly recommend this book to others who wish to read an account of the court so wonderfully tied together from letters, books, accounts, and other primary resources. I looked forward to the times that I could sit down to read the book. There is so much information in here on the people of the court including those who were on the sidelines. Though not a historical fiction novel, it still kept me interested in what was going to happen next even though I know the history. Wonderful book to add to your collection of history books or even to a collection of historical fiction from this time period.

Absorbing Read

Very good book. Once started I could barely put it down. The incredible intrigue and every day life in the court of King Henry VIII is brought to life with every nuance imaginable. One can almost be transported back in time to the age of elegance and beauty in the court itself. Captivating read! Loved it!

Enjoyed the read while learning

Jane lived in Henry VIII's court, so he naturally permeates the story. However, Julia Fox is writing about Jane Parker and her Boleyn and Howard relatives. The entire book fascinated me. The parts where Anne Boleyn was executed, and where Jane was executed were a bit depressing.

Good read on an interesting figure

Suffers somewhat from a paucity of documentation written by or about Jane Boleyn in her early years, but presents viable scenarios throughout. I found some of the writing regarding how Jane "must have felt" a bit speculative. Overall, a good read, but take some of the assertions with a grain of salt.

I have read a lot of Tudor history and this was very well researched and written

The book was well balanced and written. For a biography it is a very easy read. I have read every book I can on Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth and this one had a lot of information I had not seen before. There was no judgement in the writing, just a layout of the facts as we can find them. Thank you for a great book.

Not perfect, but still worth your time

When I first read this book, I was just looking for an absorbing read. I indeed found one. Although not focused entirely on Jane Boleyn, it was very good at portraying England at the time of Henry VIII. I found that by reading this book, I was able to make connections and better understand what I was taking in when reading books about the same time period. Though a little monotonous in some parts, I would recommend Jane Boleyn to someone looking to find out more about Henry VIII and his wives, not just Jane Boleyn.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.