Tanzanite's Castle Full of Books

Confusion alert:  Secrets of a Tudor Court by Darcey Bonnette- US and UK release January 20, 2011. This appears to be a reissue by Avon of D.L. Bogdan’s book Secrets of the Tudor Court released last year by Kensington (about Mary Howard).  The summaries on Amazon are identical.






The Maid by Kimberly Cutter. UK release May 2, 2011.  (I posted the cover for this a few weeks ago but now, I have a summary).
She was 12 the first time she heard the voices. It was the thing she'd prayed for. The only thing she'd ever wanted. She kept it inside, secret, burning like a small fierce sun, waiting. Waiting. It is the early part of the 15th Century and the tumultuous Hundred Years War rages on. The French city of Orleans is under siege, English soldiers tear through the countryside wreaking destruction on all who cross their path, and Charles VII, the uncrowned king, has neither the strength nor the will to rally his army. And in the quiet of her parent's garden in Lorraine, a 12-year-old peasant girl, Jehanne, hears a voice that will change her life. The story of Jehanne d'Arc, of the young peasant girl who believed she had been chosen by God, and who went on to lead an army of 10,000 soldiers against the English, has captivated our imagination for centuries. But the story of Jeanne - the girl - whose sister was murdered by the English, who sought an escape from her violent father and a forced marriage, who taught herself to ride, and fight, and lead, and who somehow found the courage and tenacity to convince first one, then two, then tens, then thousands to follow her, is at once thrilling, unexpected and heart-breaking. Sweeping, gripping and rich with intrigue, betrayal, love and valour, "The Maid" is a novel about the power and burden of faith, and the exhilarating and devastating consequences of fame.



The Last Nun by Nancy Bilyeau. UK release February 1, 2012.
London, May 1537: When Joanna Stafford, a young novice, learns her cousin is about to be burned at the stake for rebelling against Henry VIII, she makes a decision that will change not only her life but quite possibly, the fate of a nation. Joanna breaks the sacred rule of enclosure and runs away from Dartford Priory. But when Joanna and her father are arrested and sent to the Tower of London, she finds herself a pawn in a deadly power struggle. Those closest to the throne are locked in a fierce fight against those desperate to save England's monasteries from destruction Charged with a mission to find a hidden relic believed to possess a mystical power that has slain three Englishmen of royal blood in the last 300 years, Joanna and a troubled young friar, Brother Edmund, must seek answers across England. Once she learns the true secret of her quest, one that traces all the way back to Golgotha and the Relics of the Passion, Joanna must finally determine who to trust and how far she is willing to go to protect her life, her family and everything she holds dear.