Jane's Journal
By Margaret Ball 

     Most history buffs know three things about Lady Jane Grey: she was a talented scholar, reigned as queen for nine days and died at the age of sixteen. She was used as a pawn by people jockeying for power when sickly Edward VI was king and executed by Bloody Mary. All of which make her something of a cipher rather than an actual person. In this slim volume, Margaret Ball puts some flesh on the bones and makes her seem more of a real person, presenting her account of this brief life in the form of a diary.

     Starting from age nine when she is given the journal as a gift, it chronicles her view of the times she lived in. From her loving relationship with Edward VI and Katherine Parr to the machinations of her father, the Duke of Suffolk, she sees life at the highest strata of society but we also hear of her pet dog, various trivialities in the news, her views on religion, love of learning and opinions of those around her. On some subjects it seems rather bald, but this stresses her own vulnerability and lack of comprehension in the plots surrounding her. All in all, it makes for a short and interesting read, largely shorn of the invariable sentimentality of many other works on the subject of the tragic nine days' queen.