Narrated by the adolescent and entirely innocent Jane Seymour, it tells the story of Katherine Filliol, introduced to the Seymour family home as the oldest brother Edward's new wife. She is fresh, beautiful, an unconventional young woman for her time and she and Jane become firm friends in that first delightful summer.
It soon becomes clear that things are not going well for the couple; Katherine does not become pregnant. But it is just noticed, not talked about. Few things are actually talked about freely or in any detail in this family or perhaps in any family at that time.
Edward goes to the court to further his prospects, is home briefly and then at war for several months. When he returns, he angrily accuses Katherine of adultery and rejects her and the son she has had in his absence.
The scandal is held within the family, but Jane remains totally bewildered and appalled by her brother's cruelty to his wife.
Later, Jane goes to court as lady-in-waiting to Catherine of Aragon, and observes the pain and cruelty of her rejection by Henry in his pursuit of Anne Boleyn and his need for a son and heir.
Poor Jane herself at the end of the book is awaiting her marriage to Henry as a result of manoeuvring by family members.
This sad and troubling story of the use and abuse of women is nonetheless a beautiful description of a young girl's innocence and ignorance of the way of the world in which she lives.
- Margaret Bannister is a retired Dunedin psychotherapist and science teacher.
