Tanzanite's Castle Full of Books

 

Revenger by Rory Clements.  This was actually released in the UK last week (April 29, 2010) but somehow I missed it in last week's post. 
1592. England and Spain are at war, yet there is peril at home, too. The death of her trusted spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham has left Queen Elizabeth vulnerable. Conspiracies multiply. The quiet life of John Shakespeare is shattered by a summons from Robert Cecil, the cold but deadly young statesman who dominated the last years of the Queen’s long reign, insisting Shakespeare re-enter government service. His mission: to find vital papers, now in the possession of the Earl of Essex. Essex is the brightest star in the firmament, a man of ambition. He woos the Queen, thirty-three years his senior, as if she were a girl his age. She is flattered by him – despite her loathing for his mother, the beautiful, dangerous Lettice Knollys who presides over her own glittering court – a dazzling array of the mad, bad, dangerous and disaffected. When John Shakespeare infiltrates this dissolute world he discovers not only that the Queen herself is in danger – but that he and his family is also a target. With only his loyal footsoldier Boltfoot Cooper at his side, Shakespeare must face implacable forces who believe themselves above the law: men and women who kill without compunction. And in a world of shifting allegiances, just how far he can trust Robert Cecil, his devious new master?

 My Royal Story:  Mary Queen of Scots by Kathryn Lasky.  UK release May 3, 2010.  Middle School.  Mary is only nine months old when she is crowned Queen of Scotland, succeeding her father, King James V. Because of political conflicts, she is separated from her mother and her country at the age of five. For the benefit of forging an alliance with France, she is betrothed to Francis, the son of King Henry II of France, and his wife, the vicious and jealous Queen Catherine de Medici. Mary is sent to France to live in their care until she is old enough for the marriage to take place. It is at their home, the beautiful Chateau St. Germaine, that we first meet the irresistibly charming Mary at 11 years old.

My Royal Story:  Elizabeth by Kathryn Lasky.  UK release May 3, 2010.  Middle School.  In 1544, when Elizabeth I, daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, is 11, she receives a diary and begins recording her life and emotions amid palace intrigue and her uncertain position as third heir to the throne. She is the forgotten princess, often exiled by her father, whose love she yearns to win.

To Defy a King by Elizabeth Chadwick.  May is finally here!!  UK release May 6, 2010.  A story of huge emotional power set against the road to Magna Carta and the fight to bring a tyrant king to heel. The privileged daughter of one of the most powerful men in England, Mahelt Marshal's life changes dramatically when her father is suspected by King John. Her brothers become hostages and Mahelt is married to Hugh Bigod, heir to the earldom of Norfolk. Adapting to her new life is hard, but Mahelt comes to love Hugh deeply; however, defying her father-in-law brings disgrace and heartbreak. When King John sets out to subdue the Bigods, Mahelt faces a heartbreaking battle, fearing neither she, nor her marriage, is likely to survive the outcome ...

Conquest by Jack Ludlow.  UK release May 6, 2010 (will be released in the US in December).  This is the heart-stopping conclusion to the epic "Conquest" trilogy. In twenty years the de Hauteville brothers have gone from penniless obscurity to become the most potent warrior family in Christendom: depended on by the Pope, feared by Byzantium and respected by the Holy Roman Emperor. Now, at the head of the tribe stands Robert, who has only one aim: to expand his power by military conquest. Yet his equal has yet to make his presence felt. Roger, the youngest of the brothers, is a giant in build and a great fighter. In company - and sometimes in conflict - with Robert, he will seek to raise the family to the pinnacle of influence, not as vassals beholden to a greater power, but as rulers in their own right. Their chosen enemies are the mighty Saracen Emirs of Sicily, and conquest comes before all, even if the path is not easy. The Saracens are like a hydra-headed monster. There are enemies at Roger's back as well as before him, battles to fight and defeats to be reversed, and treacheries both secret and transparent to circumvent in a long and bloody campaign. Yet the loyalty of blood that binds this family of warriors together is still present and it is that, above everything, which will in the end be the catalyst that propels the name de Hauteville to the pinnacle of power, as they undertake, with papal blessing, the first true crusade of the 11th century.

The Royal Stuarts by Allan Massie.  Non-fiction.  UK release May 6, 2010.  The Royal Stuarts ruled for over 300 years in Scotland and for a century as the Royal Family of Britain and Ireland. They were leading actors in the foremost political dramas of British history - the Scottish Wars of Independence, the Union of the Crowns, the English Civil War and the Restoration - and remain the most controversial and divisive of royal families. Drawing on the accounts of historians past and present, novels and plays, Allan Massie tells the family's full story, from the salt marshes of Brittany to the thrones of Scotland and England, and then eventual exile. A book which gets beyond the received generalisations, "The Royal Stuarts" takes us deep into the lives of figures like Mary Queen of Scots, Charles I and Bonnie Prince Charlie, uncovering a family of strong affections and fierce rivalries, the brave and capable, the weak and foolish. Told with panache and pace, adventurous and opinionated, this is a nuanced history of that remarkable family who, for better or worse, shaped our history and made our country what it is.

The Virgin Widow by Anne O'Brien.  Although the official UK release date is not until May 21, 2010, Amazon UK is showing the item as "in stock" and available.  This will be released in the US in November.  This title is about England's forgotten Queen. England, 1469. A daughter of Warwick the Kingmaker, Anne Neville cannot dictate her own future. Her marriage will be political, made purely to advance her family's interests. But at the age of fourteen, her father's treason forces her into exile, and into an uneasy betrothal with Edward of Lancaster. Edward is changeable and completely controlled by his powerful mother, Margaret of Anjou. In a hostile, impoverished court, Anne finds herself at the mercy of other's whims. On her wedding night, the audience assembled to witness her bedding instead witnesses a royal humiliation. At the point of consummation, Queen Margaret forbids the act. Anne went to her husband's bed a virgin, and she will remain so. The battle for the crown of England rages, and Anne's husband must fight for his cause. But he is foully done to death by Richard, Duke of Gloucester - a man who twice before has been betrothed to Anne. Anne must decide where her loyalties lie. And during the reign of King Edward, the wrong decision could mean death.