Just Finished Reading: A Dangerous Inheritance by Alison Weir (FP: 2012)

Two young women connected by one of English history’s greatest mysteries – what really happened to the Princes in the Tower? Kate Plantagenet has the more personal reason for finding out. Her father, King Richard III, has been widely accused of having them killed in order to illegitimately take the throne of England otherwise why does he refuse to publically show them still alive? Years later Lady Katherine Grey, sister of the recently executed Lady Jane Grey, has a more tenuous reason for wanting to know the truth. Drawn to her namesakes painting and dreaming of her on a regular basis she is drawn to the mystery by the discovery of documents uncovered in the London residence of her future family. Both women find themselves caught up in the tumultuous events of their day – Kate with the bloody culmination of the Wars of the Roses and Katherine with the political and religious machinations of the Tudor court. Both women want to marry for love and both are prevented from following their heart because of reasons of State. Both are made aware that their bodies and their lives are not their own. Who they are is of little consequence. What they are – real or potential contenders for the throne or producers of future heads of State – matters a great deal. Their wishes or desires are irrelevant, their actions are all too significant and potentially deadly when love itself can be seen as an act of the greatest betrayal.

I remember the tale of the Prince’s from school where we had been told as a fact that Richard had them killed to clear his way to the throne. His subsequent defeat at Bosworth which led to the Tudor Age was seen as putting things back on the right track. But things are far from clear and there appears to be no direct evidence that Richard had them killed or even if they died in the Tower at all. Weir looks into these ideas through the eyes of both of her heroines – it did seem more than once actually that we, the readers, where being lectured directly by Weir which was a bit annoying – but the story itself is fascinating enough (and convoluted enough) to keep anyone digging and guessing with or without supporting facts. I did find it interesting that in the early years of the Tudor reign several ‘imposters’ rose up claiming that they were the long lost and presumably murdered princes which Henry VII took very seriously indeed. That’s something I’ll be investigating later.

One other thing I’ve taken from this and previous Weir books (and from those of Philippa Gregory) is that there are female heroines scattered throughout history (and not just English history) that appear to be largely forgotten and overlooked that could be held up as admirable in a world largely dominated by powerful men. Male heroes are easy to find, female heroes noticeably less so. But what I am discovering is that they are there, often side-lined, often obscured and in the shadows but they are there if time and effort is taken to seek them out. Authors such as Weir, Gregory and others seem to spend their time shining light into the corners where these women have long existed (at least according to largely male historians) and much kudos for doing so. I shall look forward to finding out more about these lost, and now rediscovered, heroes.