A Dangerously Great Read

Last week I finished reading “A Dangerous Inheritance,” by Alison Weir. Once again I was hooked into the novel this was my second time reading from her. I have 4 of Alison’s books on hold at the library because I am hooked. “A Dangerous Inheritance goes between two timelines and both women in those timelines are named Katherine  and they are both related but very distant cousins. The first Katherine is Katherine Plantagenet, she is the bastard daughter of  King Richard III the man who possibly killed his nephew princes in the tower so they wouldn’t be a threat to his rule. There is also Katherine Grey the sister of Lady Jane Grey who was Queen of England for 9 days before being executed. Katherine doesn’t want to be a pawn and although she wouldn’t mind being queen love is more important. Both women want love and both of them were in the tower at some point.

Pros

I like the fact that Alison Weir tries to stay historically accurate while writing historical fiction and for the stuff that no one knows at all or knows for sure that’s the only time she fills in her own creative license to fill in the blanks and keep it interesting. I do like that a ghost story was added. Katherine Grey had seen the ghost of her ancestor Katherine Plantagenet beckon her and when she was in the tower she heard the ghosts of the two princes pleading, “Help us!” It added a creepy element. Everyone says The Tower of London is haunted though I hope the ghosts of the princes if they were even there at all moved on. I like how we see Elizabeth’s cruelty in this novel. History portrays mostly the good side of Elizabeth but she had her dark side to her as well. Elizabeth locked up poor Katherine for marrying her second husband Edward Seymour without her permission. Both Katherine Plantagenet and Katherine Grey were forced against their will to marry men to be pawns in a political game. Luckily Katherine Grey’s marriage was annulled despite her liking her first husband. Katherine Plantagenet wasn’t so lucky.

Cons

I wish the ghost story would have been used more. It seemed like they were here and there and that was it. It would have made the fictional bits of the book creepier if maybe the ghosts of the princes visited one night saying, “He/She is coming to kill us…” Or maybe the ghost of Katherine Plantagenet spoke a few words to Katherine Grey. It also seemed Katherine Plantagenet was doing more to solve the mystery than Katherine Grey was interested in the beginning then began being more invested in her own life and then during her time in the tower became invested again.

Overall

Overall this was a great read. It kept me up late a couple of nights wanting to know what was going to happen next. If you like history especially royal history, I suggest checking out this book. I’m hoping Alison writes more about the Plantagenet’s and other royals throughout Europe.