by Julia Fox
First published 2007
Jane Parker marries into the Boleyn family just as her sister-in-law Anne becomes Henry VIII's second queen. She enjoys the privileges of court life until Anne's fall brings catastrophe. When Henry accuses Anne of adultery with multiple men including Jane's own husband George, the executioner's blade takes both her spouse and her sister-in-law. Now a thirty-year-old widow branded as a traitor's wife, Jane loses her inheritance and her position at court. She must rebuild her life from nothing. Through determination and careful maneuvering, she wins her way back into royal favor by serving Henry's next three wives as lady-in-waiting. Jane survives Jane Seymore's death in childbirth, Henry's swift annulment from Anne of Cleves, and finally secures her future serving the young Catherine Howard. But when Catherine's sexual secrets emerge, Jane's involvement destroys everything she has worked to reconstruct. Julia Fox reveals how one woman navigated the treacherous Tudor court where loyalty meant survival and a single mistake could mean death.
Genres: literary-fiction, historical-fiction, biography-memoir, historical-drama
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Tudor England, Royal Court
Period: 16th Century
319 pages · Hardcover · Ballantine Books
Content warnings: death, violence