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Plain Jane: A Novel of Jane Seymour (Tudor Women Series) | 
| Author: Laurien Gardner
Publisher: Jove
Category: Book
List Price: $6.99
Buy Used: $0.83
You Save: $6.16 (88%)
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Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 564733
Media: Paperback
Pages: 352
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 6.6 x 4.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 0515141550
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780515141559
ASIN: 0515141550
Publication Date: June 27, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
With a plain face, Jane Seymour has no suitors and few hopes. Then she is granted a position at court as maid of honor to Queen Catherine. There, Henry VIII ignores his aging wife, showering favor on the dark beauty Anne Boleyn, soon to be his new queen. But he tires of stubborn Anne, and his wandering eye falls on plain Jane. Although she cares for Henry, she must not let herself be swept away by his attentions. For she intends to win not only his heart but also the greatest prize of all-the crown.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 10 more reviews...
Plain Jane is a smart Jane June 12, 2009
Lana M. (Tucson, AZ USA)
I like the format and find it very easy and smooth reading. It helps me to understand the way people survived in the period. Although Jane had little control of some areas of her life, her moral values swept through. I recommend this book as a quick read and thought provoking.
Plain Jane - The Quiet Wife of Henry VIII May 16, 2009
H. Rieseck (USA)
Queen Jane Seymour is one of the lesser known Queens of King Henry VIII and most certainly one of the least written about. Plain Jane by Laurien Gardner is the first book that I have read about Queen Jane and it did not disappoint.
The story begins at Wolf Hall, the family home of the Seymour's and we are introduced to Jane as a child. Her parents do not think that there are any prospects for Jane to find a husband and expect they will send her to a nunnery, because she is so plain. When the unlikely invitation is extended for Jane to join the court of Queen Catherine a chain of events are set off ultimately bringing her to the role of Queen.
This novel brings the reader through the reigns of Queen Catherine, Queen Anne, and then Queen Jane. What I found interesting is that these events are seen from the perspective of Jane where as most other books show these events from Anne's or Catherine's perspective. Much of the early portion of Jane's life is fictionalized, as not much is know about her before becoming Queen.
Overall, I found this author to be a very engaging writer. I would say that the writer's style is somewhat similar to Philippa Gregory. The characters are very well developed and the story flows convincingly through the years. I would recommend this to any one who want to know more of the story about Queen Jane Seymour.
4 out of 5 stars.
 The Title Says It: Plain May 13, 2009
Anne B. Duggan (New York, NY)
The title of this book says it all: plain. This book was not exciting or enticing. I made it to the end only because of sheer will power. The back of the book says Jane was "shrewd, bright," but all I found was a one dimensional woman who was very far from shrewd or bright. The author kept saying Jane was the smart child of the Seymour children, but it felt to me like lip service. Like how Jane appeared to fall into shrewdness in attracting the king by following social norms between men and women.
In fact, most of the characters felt one dimensional, with all actions propelled by simple forces, with no complexity. One example would be Henry VIII's desire for Anne Boleyn was physical only. Overall, not interesting. I suggest reading another Henry VIII novel.
Pleasant enough if not entirely historically accurate. February 21, 2009
kellie (perth australia)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
It was during my mad hunt for books about or surrounding Anne Boleyn that I discovered Laurien Gardner. I have read that the name is a pseudonym (forgive the atrocious spelling, I can never get this word right) used by numerous authors for this particular series (the Tudor Women series) which is a pity, as I would have liked to know who exactly wrote these books so as to find further works by these authors. During my travels, I noticed that there were an awful lot of books about the wives of Henry VIII- mostly about Anne Boleyn and Catherine of Aragon. The Tudor period itself seems to be of real interest at the moment and many authors of historical fiction seem to be jumping on the money making bandwagon. What I learnt though, was that there is more information known about the women who lost the King's favour than the one woman who actually kept it and gave him his heart's desire- Jane Seymour.
The little that is known about Jane is from the tidbits of information available about her family as a whole- for example, where they lived, promotions, whom they married etc. As Jane was not considered to be an asset to the family in any major way, (most women were married off or sent to the church) they obviously did not consider her to be important when documenting their history. A pity, considering the role she was to play at the end of her life. As she was in this role for a short amount of time, even the feisty courtiers and ambassadors did not get enough information about her before her untimely death. With all this in mind, I was amazed at the depth that the author has gone to whilst writing this story- there is enough detail and plot in this book to keep you completely hooked and occupied. I feel that the author has done their research on Jane as much as possible (as I said not much to do) with a few modifications, and combined it with whatever they knew about life for the average noble family in C16 England, which for me worked well in their favour.
The story follows Jane from her childhood at Wolf Hall to her marriage to the King of England and her death, and told entirely in first person (unlike the other books in this series which are told in third person). As a young girl with two brothers, Jane is presented as a tomboy- the sort of child who is not afraid of hard work, loves to horseride and who is eager to prove herself to her brothers and her parents. An unfortunate turn of events means that Jane is running out to join her brothers for play at the exact moment that her parents talk behind closed doors of her own future, and she is stunned to discover her parents think her plain and not good enough to get a husband. They believe her to be so plain that they fear they may have to pay the church to take her as a nun when the time comes.
Understandably upset, Jane vows to make her own future (much the same as Anne Boleyn) and prove her parents wrong. And so it comes to pass that
quiet and obedient Jane develops some backbone. The story starts to progress when Jane meets William Dormer, the heir to a vast inheritance, who she feels is her other half as he is decribed as being just as plain and dull as herself. A mutual attraction develops between the two, and they decide to marry, but when Dormer's family find out, they reject Jane as "not good enough" and Dormer is made to marry another (hmmm I'm having major flashbacks to Anne Boleyn's own story here). Rejected and humiliated, and having shocked her parents at her own determination and courage, they decide to send her to court to wait on Catherine of Aragon, whom she becomes fond of, in the hopes of finding her a husband. Who knows? Maybe there is hope for Plain Jane yet.
Naturally, Anne Boleyn becomes Jane's rival, and I was strongly reminded of my school years- the group of beautiful girls and popular guys who pick on the wimpy kid with glasses and a runny nose just because they can. Watching the King's attentions slip away from his wife to Anne, Jane learns from an outsiders perspective how the World at Court works, and in later years, uses this to her advantage. Jane sees Henry as a man rather than a King and once again a mutual affection develops. As Anne's world comes crashing down around her, Jane's starts to brighten until she eventually finds herself married with the love of a King. For a girl whose prospects once seemed so dim, she was now the brightest star in the sky.
As brilliant as I found this book to be, I do have a few grudges about it. Jane goes from being a relatively strong child who is certain of herself and her place within the world to a wimp with low self esteem and
to be honest she just irritated me. She nevers stops commenting on how plain she is (or thinks she is) and how beautiful she believes everyone else to be (who knows? maybe her low self esteem is what attracted Henry to her in the first place; once again playing the chivalric knight rescuing the damsel in distress). She makes out that Henry is only attracted to Anne because of her looks when it is well known that Anne was not a conventional beauty- being dark compared to the sought after fair- and it is believed by most that Henry was attracted to Anne because of her individuality and her wit. Jane has her moments of strength, but the majority of the book seems to focus on her plainness and insecurities. She managed to keep the heart of the fickle King of England, so she must have had something going for her.
On the other hand, Jane does present a richly detailed, thought provoking and unique view of the King's Matter, and the love between Henry and Jane is very tender and sweet- and is written as such- a nice change from the usual passionate bodice ripping stuff normally presented (lust presented as love).
With all this in mind, I reccommend that you view this novel as entirely fictional. We can all dream about what Jane was like based on the information available to us and it would be nice to think that the plot in this book was a possibility, but unfortunately that is all we can do; nothing is known about Jane with any certainty. Plain Jane is the only fictional portrayal of Jane that I have found and it does a good overall job; each character is presented as an individual, feelings are well presented, the writing is clear and the plot does drag you into the story. The size of this book did mean that I finished the book within a few hours- in a way I felt cheated and would have liked to have had more time with the characters that were slowly starting to grow on me.
In this book, we are finally able to regard Jane as a human being, not just a face in an unfinished painting. We are able to see exactly what drew Henry to this remarkable woman, and why he considered her to be his most beloved wife (apart from the obvious). All in all, this is a book I recommend any readers of historical fiction try, if only to give Jane a voice in this much told tale.
4 stars.
 Great Book! August 29, 2008
Teresa A. Frailey (Middletown, PA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
If you are interested in this part of history you will enjoy this book. I read the other Bolyn Girl and was interested in more information about Henry's next wife. This book was both enjoyable and informative.
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