Lady Jane Grey was born into times of extreme danger. Child of a scheming father and a ruthless mother, for whom she was merely a pawn in a dynastic power game with the highest stakes, she lived a life in thrall to political machinations and lethal religious fervour. Jane's astonishing and essentially tragic story was played out during one of the most momentous periods of English history. As a great-niece of Henry VIII, and the cousin of Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I, she grew up to realise that she could never throw off the chains of her destiny. Her honesty, intelligence and strength of character carry the reader through all the vicious twists of Tudor power politics, to her nine-day reign and its unbearably poignant conclusion. 'Alison Weir is one of our greatest popular historians. In her first work of fiction, she sets out to trace the brief life of one of history's most tragic heroines... Weir manages her heroine's voice brilliantly, respecting the past's distance while conjuring a dignified and fiercely modern spirit.' Daily Mail '[Weir] gives us a meaty flavour of the times, one of the bloodiest and most dangerous periods in history, full of betrayals and beheadings... An impressive debut.' Lesley McDowell, Independent on Sunday 'This is a novel that will grip readers and give great pleasure.' Allan Massie, Scotsman