This is my favorite book.
"Coronation of Glory" by Deborah Meroff tells the story of Lady Jane Grey, the Nine Days Queen of England.
It's hard for me to understand why more people do not know about and love this book! It's SO much better than all of those Tudor sorts of novels like The Other Boleyn Girl.
On the back cover:
"Coronation of Glory" by Deborah Meroff tells the story of Lady Jane Grey, the Nine Days Queen of England.
It's hard for me to understand why more people do not know about and love this book! It's SO much better than all of those Tudor sorts of novels like The Other Boleyn Girl.
On the back cover:
Jane Grey was never allowed to forget that she was a Tudor, fifth in the royal line of succession after King Henry VIII. To Jane, this knowledge was a shadow across the peaceful days in her beloved valley home outside London.
The threat was a distant one until Henry died and Jane's cousin Edward took his place. People began to whisper of a match between Jane and Edward; child marriages were common, and her parents were ambitious for money and power.
When Edward became ill, Jane was thrust - at age fifteen - into the political arena, a pawn between violent and greedy men and a cruel mother who would make her Queen.
Set against sixteenth century court intrigues, political and social, unrest, and the backdrop of the Reformation, this is the fascinating story of a young girl's struggle to find and do the will of god, even in the face of those who would manipulate her for their own ends.
The bittersweet love story of Jane and Edward Seymour and the romance of Catherine Parr and the charming Lord Thomas are just two of the many compelling subplots in this rich narrative.
"Coronation of Glory" is storytelling at it's best, clearly demonstrating that the person who has a "why" to live can bear with almost any "how."
Slight warning: Several characters have the same name, courtesy of history, not Meroff, so that gets pretty confusing at times. :) But there's a handy list of Principle Characters in the back so you can sort it out. It's so worth the effort. :)
This is one of those precious books you love to just hold. I didn't take it to England with me, even though I visited the place where Jane died, stood on the ground she walked, because I was afraid of my beautifully aged copy being destroyed by travel.
I read this book pretty much every year or two. It always kills me, but every time I see myself more in Jane, and feel grateful for life in a fresh way.
Deborah Meroff is a FANTASTIC writer. This is one of those Magnum Opuses where a writer just NAILS it. EVERY. TIME. It's not a long book; but it's an epic - a sweeping epic of English hillsides and the trains of silken dresses, the love of mentors, deceitful protectors, lovers in secret, a mother with a heart colder than you can imagine, the forgiveness and courage of a young girl, towers and bars and dungeons, learning to love what one thought one never could, riding on horseback across fields of English grasses, the torturing truth that even a girl who desires to do right may go wrong, and above all, the hope we have that goes beyond however chaotic this life may become.
This is one of those precious books you love to just hold. I didn't take it to England with me, even though I visited the place where Jane died, stood on the ground she walked, because I was afraid of my beautifully aged copy being destroyed by travel.
I read this book pretty much every year or two. It always kills me, but every time I see myself more in Jane, and feel grateful for life in a fresh way.
Deborah Meroff is a FANTASTIC writer. This is one of those Magnum Opuses where a writer just NAILS it. EVERY. TIME. It's not a long book; but it's an epic - a sweeping epic of English hillsides and the trains of silken dresses, the love of mentors, deceitful protectors, lovers in secret, a mother with a heart colder than you can imagine, the forgiveness and courage of a young girl, towers and bars and dungeons, learning to love what one thought one never could, riding on horseback across fields of English grasses, the torturing truth that even a girl who desires to do right may go wrong, and above all, the hope we have that goes beyond however chaotic this life may become.