Sisters of Treason

By: Elizabeth Fremantle

Narrated by: Georgina Sutton, Rachel Bavidge, Teresa Gallagher

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Sisters of Treason by Elizabeth Fremantle.

Lady Jane Grey has just been executed by her cousin Mary Tudor and her two younger sisters, Mary and Catherine, live in the shadow of their sister's tragic demise. Lady Catherine's fatal flaw is her compulsive desire for love, while clever Lady Mary is burdened with a crooked spine and tiny stature - and both have inherited the curse of royal blood.

It is court painter Levina Teerlinc who helps the girls survive Mary Tudor's reign, but when the Queen's sister, the hot-headed Elizabeth, inherits the crown, court life becomes increasingly treacherous for the Grey girls...

©2014 Elizabeth Fremantle (P)2014 Penguin Audio

Tudor History at its Finest!

Tudor history is one of those time periods that has been written about every possible way, with just about every person of note highlighted and nearly every corner unearthed to try and present the history in a new and interesting light. While I still can't get enough of the Tudors I do understand why many readers have all but banned them from their reading lists....there's just been such an over-saturation of the subject matter! So what could draw a reader familiar with the time period back? Simply put, exceptional writing and a story that, while familiar, is still poignant and alluring. This is exactly what you will get in Elizabeth Fremantle's Sisters of Treason, a novel that is so well written you cannot help but be drawn in and captured by the characters even as you know the inevitable paths their lives will take.


I switched back and forth between the Kindle version and the Audible audiobook version of Sisters of Treason but I must note that the audiobook was so captivating that I listened to the majority of the story. The narrators (Georgina Sutton, Rachel Bavidge and Teresa Gallagher) were perfect and did a phenomenal job of giving Lady Catharine, Lady Mary and Levina Teerlinc their own voices and personalities. So often with audiobooks there is one narrator that does their best to create distinct voices for multiple characters, but having the three separate narrators eliminated any possible confusion between characters and gave each her own story within a story. Whichever narrated Lady Mary was PERFECT and was able to somehow give us this higher, innocent sounding voice laced with steal that perfectly personified the Lady Mary within the story. I was so disappointed whenever I had to stop listening and do anything else.


Choosing to tell this story from these three points of view was excellent. The story as a whole covers the time period from Jane Grey's execution through a good part of Queen Elizabeth's reign. The royal blood that flows within the two surviving Grey sisters meant they would never be too far from the court or the intrigues that surrounded the thrones of Queen Mary I and Queen Elizabeth I, especially Lady Mary as her deformity and small stature made her less of a threat to both queens and made it so she was nearly invisible to many. She was almost a pet to these queens and was witness to many conversations and intrigues that wouldn't have happened in front of others. Lady Catharine, on the other hand, did present more of a threat so was closely watched and punished for any personal freedoms she sought without the queens' permission. Levinia also presents a great point of view as she shifts from the fringes of the court as a painter into the grime and dirt of the streets, giving a way to show what all level of person would have felt and experienced during this turbulent time. These shifting perspectives gives a constant feeling of tension overlaying the story as danger and grief is never far behind any of these women.


Individually, each woman's story is laced with loss, heartache and, ever so briefly, small glimpses of joy. Lady Katharine wants nothing more than to love freely and be loved and, for anyone who knows the story already, her actions toward this end bring her years of imprisonment and indescribable loss. Lady Mary wants peace and security away from court and, while she eventually finds a small taste of this, faces her own losses of love and happiness before getting there. Levina sacrifices much of her own love and family in the pursuit of her art and to protect the Grey sisters and, while I wasn't familiar with her as a court painter, watching her tug-a-war between her home life and her court life was fascinating. All of these characters are brought to life in such a way that it was impossible not to feel for them and ache a little for all they lost.


The secondary characters are just as well brought to life. I was amazed at the detail given to Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth and Ms. Fremantle does an exceptional job of showing the mental and physical unraveling of Mary as well as the whip-smart and vindictive nature of Elizabeth. I was a little surprised at the sympathetic presentation of the Grey sisters' mother, Francis Grey, as I have always seen her presented as a cruel, cold and manipulative woman, but I enjoyed seeing her as a more loving and kind mother to Catharine and Mary and supportive friend to Levina. The entire story, from character development to period detail, is just perfectly presented.


Even though I have all three of Elizabeth Fremantle's novels this is my first experience with her writing and it is just superb. I am now prepared to dive right into Queen's Gambit (the first in her Tudor Trilogy with Sisters of Treason being the second) and Watch the Lady (the third book in the Tudor Trilogy). I can't imagine a better way to spend my time and recommend her writing to anyone who enjoys historical fiction or just a wonderfully spun story.

Definitely recommen

I enjoyed this book immensely. The story, the flow, and the performance were all exceptional. I prefer straight up history but I am such a fan of this genre that I often read historical fiction, and this book was better than many I’ve read by better-known authors. I especially enjoyed hearing about Mary Grey, though much of it is speculation. Some of the lines about life were so well put and philosophical that I actually jotted them down to think about later. Give it a read, Tudor fans, you’ll be glad you did!

Her Story

The author has a strong and speshal presents in the eria of historical fiction. This book was dark and extremely human. I liked all the stories. What impressed me most was the story of Mary Gray, which I heard for the first time. She had a very hard life, but still showed great carrage. I wish more people would read this book and learn more about her.

Captivating, desperate, surprisingly good!

STORY - I didn't really know anything about Jane Grey's sisters so I was compelled to take a chance on this book and so glad I did. Filled in some gaps and for me, surprisingly engaging. Warning, yes much of the story is about silly girls looking to give and receive love but keep in mind the story is told from a young girls perspective which endeared me to them. The dwarf sister Mary Grey was so captivating, the spoken voice so sweet and her mind so sharp. PERFORMANCE - The way the book is written made it very easy to meld the different narrators and each one was perfect. OVERALL - Amazing! This book gave me an insight and interest to these two lovely girls whose lives were dominated by grief and burden of having royal blood.