Author Description

Product DescriptionA stunning novel set in the Tudor court, from the Sunday Times No.1 bestseller Philippa Gregory.I would have been a fool indeed to tell the truth in this court of liars...1553. King Edward is on his deathbed, and the future of the Tudor dynasty swings perilously.Forced out of Spain by the Inquisition, Hannah Green arrives in a volatile kingdom. She is identified as a seer and sworn into the service of Robert Dudley, the son of King Edward's protector and a key player at court. Her task: to keep watch on Princess Mary, the forgotten heir.Mary's grip on the Crown is fragile. Elizabeth, Mary's half-sister, is ready to take England's throne. Caught in the rivalry between the daughters of Henry VIII, Hannah must navigate her way through a treacherous court if she is to survive.ReviewPraise for Philppa Gregory:`Gregory's research is impeccable which makes her imaginative fiction all the more convincing' Daily Mail`Gregory is great at conjuring a Tudor film-set of gorgeous gowns and golden-lattered dining. She invokes some swoonsome images...while the politics are personal enough to remain pertinent' Daily Telegraph`Subtle and exciting' Daily Express`Written from instinct, not out of calculation, and it shows'Peter Ackroyd, The Times`For sheer pace and percussive drama it will take a lot of beating' Sunday TimesAbout the AuthorPhilippa Gregory was an established historian and writer when she discovered her interest in the Tudor period and wrote the internationally bestselling novel The Other Boleyn Girl, which became a major film starring Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson. Her Cousins' War novels were the basis for the highly successful BBC series, The White Queen.Philippa's other great interest is the charity that she founded twenty years ago: Gardens for The Gambia. She has raised funds and paid for over 200 wells in the primary schools of this poor African country.Philippa is a former student of Sussex University and a PhD and Alumna of the Year 2009 of Edinburgh University. In 2016, she was presented with the Outstanding Contribution to Historical Fiction Award by the Historical Writers' Association. Her love for history and commitment to historical accuracy are the hallmarks of her writing. Philippa lives with her family on a small farm in Yorkshire and welcomes visitors to her site www.PhilippaGregory.com. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.Summer 1548The girl, giggling and overexcited, was running in the sunlit garden, running away from her stepfather, but not so fast that he could not catch her. Her stepmother, seated in an arbor with Rosamund roses in bud all around her, caught sight of the fourteen-year-old girl and the handsome man chasing around the broad tree trunks on the smooth turf and smiled, determined to see only the best in both of them: the girl she was bringing up and the man she had adored for years.He snatched at the hem of the girl's swinging gown and caught her up to him for a moment. "A forfeit!" he said, his dark face close to her flushed cheeks.They both knew what the forfeit would be. Like quicksilver she slid from his grasp and dodged away, to the far side of an ornamental fountain with a broad circular bowl. Fat carp were swimming slowly in the water; Elizabeth's excited face was reflected in the surface as she leaned forward to taunt him."Can't catch me!"" 'Course I can."She leaned low so that he could see her small breasts at the top of the square-cut green gown. She felt his eyes on her and the color in her cheeks deepened. He watched, amused and aroused, as her neck flushed rosy pink."I can catch you any time I want to," he said, thinking of the chase of sex that ends in bed."Come on then!" she said, not knowing exactly what she was inviting, but knowing that she wanted to hear his feet pounding the grass behind her, sense his hands outstretched to grab at her; and, more than an