The Last Tudor

The Last Tudor by Philippa Gregory is the final book she has written about the Tudor reign in England (for now). This book is broken up into 3 parts, each featuring one of the last Tudor princesses - Jane Grey, Katherine Grey, and Mary Grey. Jane Grey is forcibly crowned Queen by her family, for about 9 days before being thrown down and imprisoned in The Tower by Queen Mary Tudor. Completely devoted to her religion, she refuses to denounce her Protestant faith and is ultimately executed for it. Katherine Grey, is a stereotypical younger sibling who is young, beautiful, and believes she will live happily ever after. Instead, she also finds herself imprisoned in the Tower for the crime of falling in love. Mary Grey, the youngest Tudor princess, and a little person, is mostly overlooked by the court and by the history books in general. After seeing what happened to her sisters, Mary uses her strength and determination to try and live a meaningful life.

One of the things that really stood out to me in this book, was Gregory’s depiction of Queen Elizabeth I. As one of the most famous Queens, Elizabeth has been portrayed in many different ways, but I can’t think of another time when she has been portrayed as cruel, vicious, and selfish as she is here. This is not a stance that Gregory has taken in the other books that Elizabeth appears in, but I suppose from Katherine and Mary Grey’s points of view, this is probably how they felt about her.

I was not a big fan of Jane’s portion of the book at first, because of how over-religious she was depicted. By the end though, you do have to respect the fact that she was not willing to compromise her beliefs. Same with Katherine Grey, at first she appears to be this young, selfish arrogant little girl, but really she’s just a normal woman who wants to be with the man she loves. I was left feeling heart-broken, right along side her. I actually found Mary’s section most interesting, because I knew the least about her history. Gregory even states in her notes that Mary doesn’t “even appear in the specialist histories of little people”, even though she was the last of one of the most famous families in history.

I do feel like this book is a fitting end to Gregory’s exploration of the Tudor time period. While I do not believe that this is her best book, it was a great read filled with rich history, fascinating stories, and different perspectives. I would recommend reading some of Gregory’s other books on the Tudor’s first (The Other Boleyn Girl, The Taming of the Queen, The Virgin’s Lover, The Other Queen), just so that you have some background on some of the major players from this time period.