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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: $13.50
You Save: $13.45 (50%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  35 reviews
Sales Rank: 20301
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
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Condition: Trade softback advance reader edition in perfect condition. Fastest shipping.
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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 30 more reviews...
 Best Sleeping Pill on the Planet July 13, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This obtuse speculation about the Infamous Lady Rocheford is the best sleeping pill I have ever encountered. If you have a restless night and want to quiet your mind with a soporific read, this is the book for you.
Read the reviews that give it one star... they are right on. The fact is... there ARE no facts relating directly to the state of mind or life of Jane Boleyn. The repetitious meanderings in which she "may have been" here or there, and "might have seen" this or that, and "could have felt" one thing or another is frustrating to read. One's eyes start to droop within a half a page.
Good uses for this book? Compost... propping up a sofa.... coaster.... and sleeping pill.
What was this publisher thinking and how could a biographer sink so low?
Pat Strong
 Terribly Disappointing May 29, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Like others have said this is just a re-hash of Henry VIII and his wives. I would have enjoyed it if this was all it was about because it has so little of actual "Jane" in it that it's amazing to me that it's titled that way. There are just interruptions of: "Jane MAY have been there..." "Jane MIGHT have heard that..." "Jane MAY have thought..." I can't believe the publisher ever let this get through. What "true story" is she writing about if there isn't anything certain to tell? I skimmed and put it down. Truly disappointing.
 Fascinating Subject Matter May 27, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I will admit that I know absolutely nothing about Jane Boleyn, the infamous wife of George Boleyn, other than what I've read about her in historical fiction books. This book pique my interest because I wanted to learn more about the woman who sent her husband and his sister to their deaths based on her testimony. Julia Fox worked to disabuse the reader of the old legends/myths that still prevail today.
Jane Boleyn is a book written about a woman that Fox presumably did her research on. How much of this is historically accurate, I don't know. At this point, I don't care because this book was interesting and fascinating. Not only did Fox tell the story of Lady Rochford, she explained customs and ceremonies that went on in the Tudor times. Here is a woman of some means married to a man whose rising star was linked with his sister, who the king favored. This is a woman who danced with the king's own sister and his wives and attended to them during their years of being the king's wives. This is a woman who survived the great fall of the Boleyns and managed to escape the king's wrath till she overstepped her bounds with his fifth wife, Kitty Howard. Then she met her end, ironically like her husband's.
This book disabuses of the popular notion that George Boleyn hated his wife and that she was a horror to those around her. She was a young noblewoman who was caught up in the schemes of more powerful men than her. Even her father, a respected peer of the realm couldn't save her. This is a woman who was in the midst of the court for many years and who kept her counsel wisely to herself. Fox just merely reconstructed her to show her argument that this is a woman who fought to survive those tumultous years in Henry's court and managed to slip up at the end only because of her inclination to help Kitty Howard. Fox presented the argument that Jane couldn't deny her queen and thus willing was sent to her death simply because she served her queen.
It is a very interesting perspective on this woman and definitely enlightening. It is also a very fast-paced read and if there were a lot of grammatical errors, I didn't pay much attention to them. However, there is one thing that I did notice about this author's writing style, she tends to repeat herself several times in a chapter. That did get annoying after awhile, but not to rate it any less than a four star. It is very enlightening and entertaining reading. It gives a fresh perspective of what it is like to be an outsider of the royal marriages and still be privy to those secrets.
5/27/08
Rehash May 19, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I agree with several of the other reviewers. It was a rehash of Tudor history with Jane being inserted into it. I quit after the 3rd chapter. Very disappointed!
Punctuation is your friend. April 21, 2008
I enjoyed Ms. Fox's writing style. She does a good job of converting non-fictional material into a fictional-style telling of a story. However, the editing is HORRIBLE! By the time you get through wordy lines of text, poorly placed commas and interjected "by the way" thoughts, you've forgotten the intent of the sentence. Had the editor used more periods, the flow would have been easier to establish.
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