A Dangerous Inheritance (edition 2012)

by Alison Weir (Author)

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565	42	42,886	(3.62)	25
A tale inspired by the life of Lady Jane Gray's younger sister, Katherine, interweaves the tragic story of her imprisonment in the Tower of London with the fates of three other innocent political prisoners including Kate Plantagenet and boy princes Edward and Richard.

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Member:	KimSalyers
Title:	A Dangerous Inheritance
Authors:	Alison Weir (Author)
Info:	Hutchinson (2012), 528 pages
Collections:	Your library, Wishlist, Currently reading, To read, Read but unowned
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A Dangerous Inheritance: A Novel of Tudor Rivals and the Secret of the Tower by Alison Weir

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10
Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir (tina1969)
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The Sisters Who Would Be Queen: Mary, Katherine, and Lady Jane Grey: A Tudor Tragedy by Leanda de Lisle (tesskrose)
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The Children of Henry VIII by Alison Weir (tesskrose)
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Figures in Silk by Vanora Bennett (tesskrose)
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The Virgin's Daughters: In the Court of Elizabeth I by Jeane Westin (k00kaburra)
k00kaburra: Another account of the sad life of Katherine Grey.
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The White Queen by Philippa Gregory (tina1969)

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Showing 1-5 of 43 (next | show all)

After reading this book, I decided I like Alison Weir's non-fiction coverage of the Tudor family, as opposed to her fictional accounts. (

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schoenbc70 | Sep 2, 2023 |

I LOVED this book. It is a novel of two eras - Plantagenet and Elizabethan - has alternating viewpoints, and wraps mystery, romance and history into a well written blend of fact and fiction. Tells the stories of Kate Plantagenet and Katherine Grey. This is the first book I have read of Alison Weir and I am definitely going to be reading more! (

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ChrisCaz | Feb 23, 2021 |

This was a really intriguing tale. As usual, Weir adds her own flare to the story by imagining what characters might have done or said, while still giving us the facts. Weir does an excellent job weaving together the tales of Lady Katherine Grey, Jane Grey's sister, and Lady Kate Plantagenet, the illegitimate daughter of King Richard III. Throughout the book, both Kate and Katherine (who discovered some of Kate's writings) set out to uncover the mystery of the Princes in the Tower, and to discover whether or not King Richard had his young nephews murdered. (

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book_lady15 | Apr 3, 2020 |

I thought I had lost interest in yet more historical fiction related to the Plantagenets and Tudors. But there I was checking out A Dangerous Inheritance at the library after book group a couple weeks ago. I had to renew it but once I started reading, I really couldn't stop. Part of it was the format: short vignettes that moved between the two main characters, Richard III's illegitimate daughter Katherine, and Lady Katherine Grey, the sister of Lady Jane Grey. Alison Weir masterfully weaves together the stories of these two women, connecting them through the always intriguing story of the princes in the tower.

While much is known about Grey, Weir was able to be a bit freer with Katherine Plantagenet, since less is known about her life. (She doesn't even has a Wikipedia page: here is the best source.) Weir imagines what it must have been like to have been the daughter, baseborn or not, of Richard III, hated in his lifetime and ever after as the man who killed his nephews. Weir shows the very dangerous paths navigated by England's ruling classes as they try to survive the shift in leadership and religious imperatives. (

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witchyrichy | Mar 31, 2020 |

I love historical fiction. I also love Alison Weir. So when I found out I won a copy of A Dangerous Inheritance, I was super excited. I had high expectations for this book and I was not let down.

The plot was very interesting. I just wanted to keep reading so I could find out what was going to happen next. I couldn’t read fast enough. Even though it is a pretty big book, the plot and Weirs writing make it seem a lot shorter than it really is. I flew right through it.

The characters are well-developed and you actually care about them and what they are going through. I really liked Kate Plantagenet, but I loved Katherine Grey.

Overall, this book was amazing. It wasn’t the best I’ve read, but it is definitely up there. I think the only reason I’m not giving this book five stars, is because of how horrible weir made Queen Elizabeth seem compared to Queen Mary. I know she wasn’t perfect but I do look up to her and I think she was the best Queen.

If you’re in to historical fiction, you should give this book a read. If you’ve never read anything by Alison Weir before, you are missing out. (

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TheTreeReader | Nov 25, 2017 |

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Canonical title

Original title

A Dangerous Inheritance: A Novel of Tudor Rivals and the Secret of the Tower

Alternative titles

Original publication date

2012-06-21

People/Characters

Katherine Grey (Lady Catherine Grey)

Lady Jane Grey

Katherine Plantagenet

Richard III, King of England

Mary I, Queen of England

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Important places

London, England, UK

England, UK

Tower of London, London, England, UK

Raglan Castle, Raglan, Monmouthshire, Wales, UK

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▾Book descriptions

A tale inspired by the life of Lady Jane Gray's younger sister, Katherine, interweaves the tragic story of her imprisonment in the Tower of London with the fates of three other innocent political prisoners including Kate Plantagenet and boy princes Edward and Richard.

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Book description

When her older sister, Lady Jane Grey, the Nine Days’ Queen, is executed in 1554 for unlawfully accepting the English crown, Lady Katherine Grey’s world falls apart. Barely recovered from this tragic loss she risks all for love, only to incur the wrath of her formidable cousin Queen Elizabeth I, who sees Katherine as a rival for her insecure throne.

Interlaced with Katherine’s story is that of her distant kinswoman Kate Plantagenet, the bastard daughter of Richard III, the last Plantagenet king. In 1483, Kate travels to London for Richard’s coronation, and her world changes forever.

Kate loves her father, but before long she hears terrible rumors about him that threaten all she holds dear. Like Katherine Grey, she falls in love with a man who is forbidden to her. Then Kate embarks on what will become a perilous quest, covertly seeking the truth about what befell her cousins the Princes in the Tower, who may have been victims of Richard III’s lust for power. But time is not on Kate’s side, or on Katherine’s.

Katherine finds herself a prisoner in the Tower of London, the sinister fortress that overshadowed the lives of so many royal figures, including the boy princes. Will Elizabeth demand the full penalty for treason? And what secrets will Katherine find hidden within the Tower walls?

Alison Weir’s new novel is a page-turning story set within a framework of fascinating historical authenticity. In this rich and layered tapestry, Katherine and Kate discover that possessing royal blood can prove to be a dangerous inheritance.

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