This great meme is hosted by One Persons Journey Through a World of Books. Each week will share with you the books we are reading, just finished reading and those books we are planning to read this week.
Love is a choice you make every day.
Content in her comfortable marriage of twenty-two years, Jane Lindsay never expected to watch her husband Brad pack his belongings and walk out the door of their Manhattan home. But when it happens, she feels powerless to stop him and the course of events that follow Brad’s departure.
Jane finds an old ring in a box of relics from a British jumble sale and discovers a Latin inscription in the band along with just one other word: Jane. Feeling instant connection to the mysterious ring bearing her namesake, Jane begins a journey to learn more about the ring—and perhaps about herself.
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In the sixteenth-century, Lucy Day becomes the dressmaker to Lady Jane Grey, an innocent young woman whose fate seems to be controlled by a dangerous political and religious climate, one threatening to deny her true love and pursuit of her own interests.
As the stories of both Janes dovetail through the journey of one ring, it becomes clear that each woman has far more influence over their lives than they once imagined. It all comes down to the choices each makes despite the realities they face.
I was drawn to this book from seeing the cover and then even further by the book jacket summary. I love history and stories that are historical accurate, even if they include some fiction. I have read other books that do not flip well between current day and historical times well. I am please to report that this book was a great balance between the two. Just when you got into the story line with one person it flipped and we got to learn more about the other Jane. This really made the story work.
Lady Jane’s Story
I really enjoyed that these parts of this story were written not from Lady Jane’s perspective rather her seamstress Lucy. This made for a interesting view of what was going on in not only Lady Jane’s life but those in the world around her and how others were affected by the times. From this point of view, we see how little things changed this young women’s (I had not realize how young) life for better and for worse. I loved the historical accuracy of this story line, but also thoroughly enjoyed the fiction written in to make the story work. I loved trying to figure out what was going to happen to the ring.
Present Day Jane’s Story
Like so many women in today’s culture, her husband announces one day that he has taken a job out of state and need a “break”. Jane is heart broken and not willing to share her pain with anyone other than her best friend. Jane owns an antique store that once was her Aunt. In a package, Jane discovers few hundred year old Book Of Common Prayer and in its binding a ring. She is drawn to the ring because it has her name inscribe in it. After some research, could it be Lady Jane Grey’s ring? In the process of trying to save her marriage, she realizes that she must first make herself happy. The top of this list is discovering if this ring really is Lady Jane’s? Will she figure out the mystery and can she save her marriage?
I thought at first that I was going to be drawn mostly to the historical end of this story but about midway through the book, that changed. I felt like I could understand present day Jane so much better. I felt sad for her and wanted the best for her. I enjoyed seeing how these two stories played together. My favorite part of the entire book however is the very end which has letters tracking the history of the beautiful ring.
4 of 5 stars – This is a good read especially if you enjoy history!
I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. All opinion are my own.