Title: The Last Tudor    

Author: Philippa Gregory  

Genre: Historical Fiction

Publisher: Touchstone

Format: Paperback

Pages: 528

Rating: 5/5 stars

Synopsis (Goodreads):

The latest novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Philippa Gregory features one of the most famous girls 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 half 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 Queen Elizabeth?

Review:

This is the last book in the Tudor/War of the Roses series that Philippa Gregory wrote and I am so sad to see it end. I love that she takes characters that are somewhat unknown to history, or focuses on people that maybe don’t get as much of the spotlight in history! And this book does just that!

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The Last Tudor not only focuses on Jane Grey, but also her sisters, Katherine and Mary. Honestly I didn’t know much about her two sisters, as history’s focus has always been on Jane! But her two sisters led quite a dramatic life after her death! The book is divided into three sections, one for each sister, and I loved getting the perspective of events from all three! Jane is depicted as serious and devout, Katherine depicted as silly, and Mary depicted as wary and inconspicuous. –

I highly recommend this book if you are looking for a story during the Elizabethan era! It also displays different historical events, such as when Mary queen of Scots marries Lord Darnley! Such a fun read!

Happy reading!