The Lady of Misrule - Tapa dura

A remarkable writer, a lyricist of ordinary life and ordinary people transfigured by extreme emotions.

Her ear for the rhythms of speech is unerring, her feeling for the minutiae of experience acute. It takes a good deal of artistry to create the illusion of real life, and she has managed something more difficult still, which is to show us how strange real life can be.

I often abandon historical novels nowadays, but I really could not put this one down.--Alison Weir, #1 New York Times bestselling novelist

Keenly drawn and wrenching in its outcome. Fun, engaging prose enhances complex religious themes; a good novel for those already Elizabethan-era savvy.

Dunn, a seasoned author of the period, provides readers with a viewpoint less explored. Dunn focuses on the relationship between Jane and lady-in-waiting Elizabeth Tilney during the months before Jane's death, bringing heartbreaking sympathy and humanity to these figures who for most are just faceless names in a textbook.

Suggest this historical novel, brightly and smartly narrated by the clear-eyed Elizabeth, to fans of Hilary Mantel's work.

Escorting the nine-day queen Lady Jane Grey across the Tower of London from throne room into imprisonment is Elizabeth Tilney, who surprised even herself by volunteering for the job. All Elizabeth knows is she's keen to be away from home; she could do with some breathing space. And anyway, it won't be for long: everyone knows Jane will go free as soon as the victorious new queen is crowned. Which is a good thing because the two sixteen-year-olds, cooped up together in a room in the Gentleman Gaoler's house, couldn't be less compatible. Protestant Jane is an icily self-composed idealist, and Catholic Elizabeth is . . . well, anything but.They are united though by their disdain for the seventeen-year-old boy to whom Jane has recently been married: petulant, noisily-aggrieved Guildford Dudley, held prisoner in a neighboring tower and keen to pursue his prerogative of a daily walk with his wife.As Jane's captivity extends into the increasingly turbulent last months of 1553, the two girls learn to live with each other, but Elizabeth finds herself drawn into the difficult relationship between the newlyweds. And when, at the turn of the year, events take an unexpected and dangerous direction, her newfound loyalties are put to the test.