Lady Jane Grey could’ve been a really interesting historical figure… That is, had she not been executed after being queen for just nine days. Thank goodness for My Lady Jane.

It was Jane’s love of books, compassionate nature, and reluctance to be queen that drove authors Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows to tweak history and give Lady Jane Grey her own “How It Should Have Ended”-finale in My Lady Jane.

About ‘My Lady Jane’

It’s 1553 and 16-year-old Lady Jane Grey has little idea about what the future holds for her. How could she have known that her quiet days as a bibliophile were going to soon come to an end? In a conspiracy meant to dethrone her cousin, King Edward, Lady Jane is about to marry a complete stranger and become Queen of England. As one does.

However, unlike actual history, Lady Jane’s story doesn’t stop there. In fact, also unlike history, Jane’s story involves a few more deviations, including shapeshifters, true love, and an epic battle.

It’s a race against time (and British troops) for Jane, her now-husband G, and the rest of their compatriots to try to stop the devious and relatively deadly plot that was put in motion before innocent people pay the price (and, you know, before they lose their heads).

‘My Lady Jane’ book review

My Lady Jane is not at all what I had expected. It was better.

I’ve read my fair share of historical fiction and I can safely say that this novel is unlike anything else. From the very first sentence, the authors make it clear they don’t intend to tell Lady Jane’s experience accurately. Their intention is to tell it better. Give her a story that’s worthy of her. Though I don’t know much about Jane Grey’s life (except for what I’ve read on Wikipedia), it’s safe to say that My Lady Jane does just that.

Jane is an absolutely fabulous protagonist. She’s intelligent yet slightly naive, strong yet vulnerable. Her multi-faceted nature makes her character come to life and leap right off of the page. Jane brings out the best in the other characters, both in terms of their actions and decisions as well as their overall character development. Even a whiny, reluctant character is lovable because of Jane’s presence. I don’t think there’s a single character in this book that I disliked, including the villains. All of them are just so vibrant and well-written. I don’t think any of the characters would’ve been nearly as fascinating without the authors of My Lady Jane giving our hero the story she deserves.

That’s not to say that this novel completely threw history out the window. Sure, there’s no way that all of this could’ve happened in real life even if Jane had lived, but there are quite a few realistic elements to the book. Getting an alternate history view not only of Jane but of the future queens Mary and Elizabeth is fascinating. Though they’re minor characters in this retelling, they’re incredibly memorable and really hold their own. The glimpses of them in their early years combined with the knowledge of who they’d become in the future made for interesting character complexity.

One of the aspects of this novel that really interested me was the fact that the shapeshifters (about which I won’t give too much away) are stand-ins for Protestants in this alternate history. It’s fascinating to watch the future Queen Mary treat the magical peoples in the same way that her real-life version treated Protestants just because it adds an extra bit of commentary to history as we know it.

But this novel isn’t just historical fiction laced with magic. Other synopses and reviewers aren’t kidding when they liken My Lady Jane to the perennial classic The Princess Bride. This novel has so many of the same qualities, including ridiculous gags and its very own version of R.O.U.S.-es! All that’s missing is a phrase like “As you wish” to seal the deal. The story is just fun enough to be likened to the classic without being a direct copy or homage to it.

One of the most amazing things about My Lady Jane is the fact that it’s impossible to discern which author wrote which portion of the book. Their voices and writing styles mesh seamlessly, which is impressive. A lot of times when multiple authors contribute to the story, the transition between voices can be jarring and take the reader out of the story. That’s definitely not the case here. The language in this book is so smooth and enjoyable that it’s practically addicting. This is one difficult book to put down.

That is, except for the random Shakespeare lines and quotes. Don’t get me wrong. I love Shakespeare, but perhaps that’s why the only thing I’m not a huge fan of in this book is the inclusion of lines from the Bard himself. I found myself too preoccupied with finding out whether or not the novel was presenting a particular character as potentially being the Bard or if it was simply pulling a Knight’s Tale-like move where it would just constantly reference (old) pop culture. That question gets answered at the very end, but I almost would’ve preferred being thrown a bone more toward the beginning so it wouldn’t get in the way of the rest of the story as much.

Overall, though, My Lady Jane is such a fun read. So much so that I wish I could go back and read it for the first time all over again. If you love stories like The Princess Bride, or even A Knight’s Tale, you’ll fall in love with My Lady Jane.

My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows is available now from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and your local independent bookstore. Also, don’t forget to add it to your Goodreads “to read” list!