The Last Tudor
-
-
4.3 • 301 Ratings
-
-
- $14.99
Publisher Description
The final book of the Tudor series from #1 New York Times bestselling author Philippa Gregory features one of the most famous women in history, Lady Jane Grey, and her two sisters, each of whom dared to defy her queen.
Jane Grey was queen of England for nine days. Her father and his allies crowned her instead of the dead king’s half-sister Mary Tudor, who quickly mustered an army, claimed her throne, and locked Jane in the Tower of London. When Jane refused to betray her Protestant faith, Mary sent her to the executioner’s block, where Jane transformed her father’s greedy power-grab into tragic martyrdom.
“Learn you to die,” was the advice Jane wrote to her younger sister Katherine, who has no intention of dying. She intends to enjoy her beauty and her youth and fall in love. But she is heir to the insecure and infertile Queen Mary and then to her sister Queen Elizabeth, who will never allow Katherine to marry and produce a Tudor son. When Katherine’s pregnancy betrays her secret marriage, she faces imprisonment in the Tower, only yards from her sister’s scaffold.
“Farewell, my sister,” writes Katherine to the youngest Grey sister, Mary. A beautiful dwarf, disregarded by the court, Mary keeps family secrets, especially her own, while avoiding Elizabeth’s suspicious glare. After seeing her sisters defy their queens, Mary is acutely aware of her own danger, but determined to command her own life. What will happen when the last Tudor defies her ruthless and unforgiving cousin Queen Elizabeth?
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Adding another chapter to her epic saga of Plantagenets and Tudors, Philippa Gregory reenters the rivalry-heavy world of British royalty. Using actual history as her foundation, Gregory takes us into the heart of the Tower of London, offering a darker perspective on the reign of Queen Elizabeth I and spinning a gripping yarn. In first-person chapters, Elizabeth’s cousins—Jane, Katherine, and Mary Grey—come to life as diverse characters. Altogether, The Last Tudor offers an entertaining portrait of a turbulent time when politics and religion were a messy tangle and having royal blood was dangerous.
Customer Reviews
Excellently written!
I love her books, but if you’re looking for a happy ending kind of story, this is not it. The Grey family were persecuted by Queen Elizabeth. In fact, she persecuted all her family members that were still living. Reading this book has completely changed my opinion of Queen Elizabeth 1. I also noticed some inconsistencies between the books in her portrayal of “facts”. Because it’s fiction iswhy I have “facts” in quotes. I only noticed this because I’m going back and rereading them in order, one right after the other. All that said, she is an excellent writer and her books are very difficult to put down, but I cried for a while when I finished this one.
Philippa Gregory’s BEST in years
It’s been a long time since I was this impressed with a Philippa Gregory novel. The book contains Gregory’s usual number of historical inaccuracies (done on purpose, but why?) and I’ve read other accounts of Katherine Grey’s suffering at Queen Elizabeth’s hands. It‘s no secret that Elizabeth Tudor wasn’t fond of her female cousins... especially the pretty ones. However, by writing from the viewpoint of Elizabeth’s persecuted family members, Gregory hammers the point home, and it’s impossible not to feel empathy for the women Elizabeth should have embraced. I especially enjoyed Mary Grey’s fiery self-confidence. My heart broke for poor Katherine; I cried for her. As aforementioned, I knew Katherine Grey’s story before I read this, but Gregory made it more relatable for me. Alison Weir is my favorite Tudor-era writer. Weir gets the facts straight. But I’ve never cried while reading Alison Weir.
Dismal Read...
This book was a chore to read, unlike all of her others.
I found myself flipping pages ahead in hopes of an interesting turn of events. I felt as though I had been “imprisoned” as her subjects were. Page after page filled with identical subject matter and banter. A monotonous read, and horribly depressing!