Tanzanite's Castle Full of Books

When we were in England, one of the things I really loved seeing was all of the old tapestries hanging on the walls.  Many of the gift shops had reproductions that were very pretty - and very expensive.  So, I got it into my head that I could make my own and one day, I would have a room full of them hanging on the wall!   For my first attempt, I decided on The Lady and the Unicorn - Sight.


When it is finished, it will measure about 24 inches square and will have more than 121,000 stitches!!  I've been working on it for about a month now:



I have a long way to go!  I'll post updates periodically.  My husband says I"ll probably be sick of looking at it before I get it done!

After a hiatus of a couple of months, Monday Mosaic is back.  I recently finished up The Jewel of St. Petersburg, set during the Russian revolution.  Although the tsar and his wife are more background characters, I decided to a mosaic of Alexandra Feodorovna.

Originally known as Alix of Hesse, her name was changed when she went to Russia and converted to the Russian Orthodox faith.  Alexandra was a granddaughter of England's Queen Victoria and was born in 1872.  She married Tsar Nicholas II of Russia in 1894.  Widely disliked by the Russian people, she was blamed for many of the country's ills which was only made worse by her inability to have a son.  Finally, after 10 years of marriage, she gave birth to the couple's only son, Alexei. The people's dislike of her increased after it became known that Alexei's hemophelia had been inherited from his mother and with the start of WWI (due to her German ancestry). 

In 1917, the tsar and his family were taken prisoner during the revolution, and in July 1918, the family was executed in the basement of the home where they had been imprisoned.  This portrait was done in 1907 by Nikolai Bodarevski.

The Leopard Unleashed by Elizabeth Chadwick.  UK reissue December 2, 2010.  Renard, heir to Ravenstow, is a crusader in Antioch, a place far removed from the cold Welsh Marches of his birth. Summoned home to his ailing father, Renard brings Olwen with him, an exotic dancing girl whose sensuous beauty and wild ways have ensnared him. Yet, in a political match made by their families, Renard is already betrothed to the innocent Elene and he knows he is also returning to the duty of marriage. Torn between Olwen and Elene, Renard's personal dilemma is set against a background of increasing civil strife as Ranulf of Chester, his greedy neighbour, strives to snatch his lands. When Renard is taken prisoner at the Battle of Lincoln, his fate is placed in the hands of the two women ? his former mistress, now in the bed of his deadliest enemy, and his determined yet inexperienced wife, protecting his lands against terrible odds ...
 
 

A single, rare Lady’s Slipper orchid grows in the English countryside and its existence will tangle the lives of friends and neighbors as they each seek to posses the flower for their own purpose.


Alice Ibbetson is an artist who wants to preserve the flower’s beauty in art. Convinced that others will destroy it and hoping that she can successfully pollinate the flower to grow more, she steals it. Richard Wheeler is a former soldier who fought in the civil war and has now given up violence for the peaceful life of a Quaker. He owns the land where the flower was growing and he knows Alice stole it even though she won’t admit it and he can't prove it.

But despite the beauty of the flower, Alice soon fears it has brought her nothing but trouble as her life is turned upside down. With Richard trying to find evidence of her guilt, her patron Geoffrey Fisk trying to exploit the flowers medicinal purposes for his own use and profit, and the local medicine woman trying to get her hands on the orchid as well, Alice tries to stay one step ahead of them but finds herself backed into a corner. Her theft of the flower starts a chain of events that finds one person dead – and the wrong person accused.

The Lady’s Slipper is an engaging, well-written story and I enjoyed it very much. It started off a little slow but definitely picked up and at times, I didn’t want to put it down. The only real issue I had with the story was the romance between Alice and Richard since it seemed a little too sudden and the basis for it wasn’t as well developed as it could have been - I’m not quite sure I believed it. There is also one sex scene that was a little over the top and I could have done without some of the detail. But those are really minor quibbles.
England during the 1660’s is not a period I know much about and there is not a lot of historical context within the story. There is quite a bit though about the Quakers which I found interesting.





In case the FTC asks: The publisher sent me a copy.

I'm  pleased to welcome Deborah Swift to the castle to answer a few questions about her debut novel, The Lady's Slipper, set for release in the US tomorrow (I'll be posting a review in the next couple of days). 


Is there something in particular that made you want to be a writer?

I just love books. As a child my spending money always went on books, and not much has changed! I think most writers are bookaholics, and reading other people’s stories makes you long to tell your own. I suppose I’ve always been fascinated with how someone creates a novel. As a child I used to tell my sister long rambling tales at bedtime, and she would get tearful if any of the characters got killed off, so the plots got longer and longer and more and more complicated. It was a natural step from there to want to write my stories down, and I’ve always written something.


For every book that gets published there are probably hundreds of others that don’t which means a lot of people get rejected. What made you decide to take the plunge and try your hand at getting published?

I was lucky that in the book’s early stages it was shortlisted for a prize and the positive feedback from that encouraged me to try for publication once it was finished. And when the big stack of printed pages had rattled out of the printer and the book was right there in front of me in a physical form, there was a natural desire to share it and find readers for it. The characters are real people to me and it was a lovely idea to think they might come to life for someone else. One of my biggest thrills was when my editor called me and started talking about my characters and I realized they suddenly existed for someone else too.


What was your inspiration for writing The Lady’s Slipper?

I was first inspired by seeing the actual orchid – the lady’s slipper – on a country walk. In England it is so rare that it has a round-the-clock guard when it is flowering. It was beautiful and fragile, and I was immediately fascinated. I looked it up and found out that it was used in the past for medicinal purposes. In the 17th century it was already over-collected by ‘cunning’ women or healers, and also by wealthy landowners who were vying with each other to collect the most exotic blooms for their gardens. Each of my characters has a particular relationship with the flower – the obsessive artist who wants to paint it, the greedy collector who wants to profit from it, the cunning woman who wants to use it to pass on her craft. Add a scheming maid into the mix, and I had a volatile situation just waiting to explode. All I had to do then was write the book – but it was another eighteen months after my first sight of the lady’s slipper before it was finished!



What types of historical information were you able to utilize in your research?

I set my novel in the 17th century because it is one of the periods of greatest turmoil in English history, a time just following the Civil War when the English were at war with themselves. This seemed appropriate for many of my characters are also at war with themselves. I used the diaries and pamphlets of the time, particularly those of Pepys and of George Fox the founder of Quakerism.


One of my characters is a Quaker, and Fox appears briefly in my book. His diaries make for interesting reading, you can imagine Fox sitting down, quill in hand after a long day, and writing by candlelight. It tells of the persecution and hardships he endured. It’s fantastic the diaries have survived all this time. Also I visited old buildings and museums, even the gruesome dungeons of Lancaster Castle Gaol, looked at old maps, and ploughed through loads of books. I can recommend Liza Picard’s “Restoration London” as a good domestic guide to this time, and also “The Weaker Vessel” about women in the English Civil War by Antonia Fraser.


Did you discover anything that surprised you and/or that you found particularly interesting?

I suppose it is obvious, but that people do edit their own diaries. Some key events in Fox’s diary were changed by him later, presumably to maximize the effect on his readers or followers. His printed version of his diary, although supervised by him, is different from his original pen-written one. Several references to the slightly scandalous behavior of alewomen, to take just one example, were removed. ‘Spin’ was present even in the 17th century! It reminded me that no matter what historical research I may do as a novelist, it is only as accurate or reliable as the narrator telling the story at that time - that there is no objective history, no real truth, only many versions of events.


If you could have dinner with any historical person, who would it be and what would you want to ask them?


Rembrandt. And I would ask him if he would show me his studio and then I’d be cheeky and volunteer to be a sitter and be painted by him. (All this in sign language of course as I can’t speak Dutch!) I looked at many of his paintings whilst writing about the 17th century. We owe such a debt to those painters before photography – from them we get so much of our visual sense of a period. Rembrandt had a life marred by the deaths of those closest to him, yet he left us such an amazing legacy about his time through his art.


What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

Writing is quite a static activity so I like physical things like swimming or going for walks. I mull over the plots of my novels as I go. I also have a regular Tai Chi practice and belong to a Taiko drumming group which is great fun and keeps me fit. I used to work in the theater so I still enjoy seeing live performances and go to the theater when I can. And did I say I like reading?!


Can you tell us what you are working on next?

I have finished a companion volume to The Lady’s Slipper, called The Gilded Lily which will also be published by Macmillan. It is set in seventeenth century London when the Thames freezes over, and tells the adventures of sisters Ella and Sadie as they flee their rural home of Netherbarrow for the city smoke, with the Law in hot pursuit. More information about it can be found on my website - www.deborahswift.co.uk. I am at work on a third novel which is set in a completely different period and place, but I am holding back on describing it until the first draft is done. Sometimes my stories have a habit of taking me to unexpected places!

Thank you Deborah so much for taking the time to answer a few questions!

It’s a pleasure to be here, thanks for asking me.

The Lady's Slipper by Deborah Swift.  US release November 23, 2010;  released in the UK in June 2010. 







The King's Daughter by Christie Dickason.  US release November 23, 2010;  released in the UK in 2009. 
The daughter of James I, the Princess Elizabeth would not be merely her father's pawn in the royal marriage market.

The court of James I is a dangerous place, with factions led by warring cousins Robert Cecil and Francis Bacon. While Europe seethes with conflict between Protestants and Catholics, James sees himself as a grand peacemaker—and wants to make his mark by trading his children for political treaties.
Henry, Prince of Wales, and his sister, Elizabeth, find themselves far more popular than their distrusted father, a perilous position for a child of a jealous king. When Elizabeth is introduced to one suitor, Frederick, the Elector Palatine, she feels the unexpected possibility of happiness. But her fate is not her own to choose—and when her parents brutally withdraw their support for the union, Elizabeth must take command of her own future, with the help of an unexpected ally, the slave girl Tallie, who seeks her own, very different freedom.


Katherine the Queen by Linda Porter.  Non-fiction.  US release November 23, 2010;  released in the UK in March 2010. 
The general perception of Katherine Parr is that she was a provincial nobody with intellectual pretensions who became queen of England because the king needed a nurse as his health declined. Yet the real Katherine Parr was attractive, passionate, ambitious, and highly intelligent. Thirty-years-old (younger than Anne Boleyn had been) when she married the king, she was twice widowed and held hostage by the northern rebels during the great uprising of 1536-37 known as the Pilgrimage of Grace. Her life had been dramatic even before she became queen and it would remain so after Henry’s death. She hastily and secretly married her old flame, the rakish Sir Thomas Seymour, and died shortly after giving birth to her only child in September 1548. Her brief happiness was undermined by the very public flirtation of her husband and step-daughter, Princess Elizabeth. She was one of the most influential and active queen consorts in English history, and this is her story.


 
 
Catherine of Aragon by Giles Tremlett.  Non-fiction.  US release November 23, 2010;  released in the UK earlier this month.  The youngest child of the legendary monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, Catherine of Aragon (1485-1536) was born to marry for dynastic gain. Endowed with English royal blood on her mother's side, she was betrothed in infancy to Arthur, Prince of Wales, eldest son of Henry VII of England, an alliance that greatly benefited both sides. Yet Arthur died weeks after their marriage in 1501, and Catherine found herself remarried to his younger brother, soon to become Henry VIII. The history of England—and indeed of Europe—was forever altered by their union.

Drawing on his deep knowledge of both Spain and England, Giles Tremlett has produced the first full biography in more than four decades of the tenacious woman whose marriage to Henry VIII lasted twice as long (twenty-four years) as his five other marriages combined. Her refusal to divorce him put her at the center of one of history's greatest power struggles, one that has resonated down through the centuries— Henry's break away from the Catholic Church as, bereft of a son, he attempted to annul his marriage to Catherine and wed Anne Boleyn. Catherine's daughter, Mary, would controversially inherit Henry's throne; briefly and bloodily, she returned England to the Catholicism of her mother's native Spain, foreshadowing the Spanish Armada some three decades later.  From Catherine's peripatetic childhood at the glittering court of Ferdinand and Isabella to the battlefield at Flodden, where she, in Henry's absence abroad, led the English forces to victory against Scotland to her determination to remain queen and her last years in almost monastic isolation, Giles Tremlett vividly re-creates the life of a giant figure in the sixteenth century. Catherine of Aragon will take its place among the best of Tudor biography.


Mary Stuart by Stefan Zweig.  Non-fiction.  UK reissue November 26, 2010.  Mary Stuart Queen of Scots, Queen of France and a claimant to the throne of England, was condemned for treason and executed at the age of forty-four. A potential threat to the stability of the English Crown, she was held captive for twenty years by her cousin Elizabeth I, Queen of England. From the moment of her birth until her execution, her life was spent embroiled in the power struggles that shook the foundations of Renaissance Europe. It has taken the free spirit and the immense talent of Stefan Zweig to justly reconstruct events in the life of a woman who was so cruelly united with destiny. With all the rigor of a scientist and the passion of an artist, Zweig has skillfully reconstituted the character of Mary Stuart and the turmoil that was her fate.

I have always loved stories about King Arthur, so when I started collecting historical fiction a few years ago, I included several books about this time period on my “must have” list. Although I’ve read several of them, most have left me unsatisfied for one reason or another – too romantic, not romantic enough, not realistic enough, too feminist in attitude etc. Having loved Helen Hollick’s Harold the King (just the right balance of romance and realism), I hoped that her Arthurian trilogy would be just what I was looking for. With the completion of the first volume, The Kingmaking, I was not disappointed!


Set in the mid 5th century, Hollick’s story is a realistic version of what might have been. Arthur is no knight in shining amour; instead, most of the time he is a drunken louse who has a temper, uses women, makes promises he has no intention of keeping and is not above lying, cheating ,stealing, and scheming to get what he wants. He’s even not above executing a woman when it suits his purpose. Yet underneath his flaws and bad attitude, he has a good heart, tries to do the right thing when it really counts and is likeable enough that you can't help but want to see him succeed.

Gwenhwyfar is the daughter of a Welsh chieftan. The only girl among nine children, she is a bit of tomboy and can generally take care of herself. When she and Arthur first meet in their early teens, they take an instant disliking to each other but in the way of kids that age that means they actually like each other! They find they share some commonality and through that, they form a friendship that gradually becomes more.

But the recent discovery of Arthur’s parentage and the winds of war and defeat work against the pair and their lives quickly become anything but a fairytale as they are used as pawns in the battle for control of Britain. A night of drunkenness and the schemes of others find Arthur married to the king's daughter, Winifred and Gwen virtually in exile. But Arthur is biding his time for the right opportunity to stake his claim to his country and to the woman he loves.

Gritty and raw, it is easy to imagine that this is how it was. The threat of battle was constant and it’s not pretty – guts are spilled, women are raped and innocent people are left for dead or their lives destroyed for no other reason than they were in the wrong place. The battles depict enough realism without being too gory or gross though and at times it easy to feel the anguish and desperation of not only the common people, but also of their leaders.

I loved Hollick’s version of Arthur and his world. The secondary characters are interesting and add dimension to the story – especially Winifred who is a delightful, scheming bitch who seems to get what's coming to her.  Or does she?  I'm really looking forward to reading the rest of Arthur's story.






In case the FTC asks: I bought this one myself.

The two winners of The Forever Queen are:

Michelle (The True Book Addict) and

Mimi from Washington

Congratulations!  I will be sending you an email shortly to get your mailing address.  Thanks so much to everyone who entered.

Conquest by Stewart Binns.  UK release February 7, 2011. 
1066 - Senlac Ridge, England. William the Bastard, Duke of Normandy, defeats Harold Godwinson, King Harold II of England, in what will become known as the Battle of Hastings.The battle is hard fought and bloody, the lives of thousands have been spent, including that of King Harold. But England will not be conquered easily, the Anglo-Saxons will not submit meekly to Norman rule.Although his heroic deeds will nearly be lost to legend, one man unites the resistance. His name is Hereward of Bourne, the champion of the English. His honour, bravery and skill at arms will change the future of England. His is the legacy of the noble outlaw.  This is his story.









The Daughter of Siena by Marina Fiorato.  US and UK release May 24, 2011.
Couldn't find a summary yet but found this:  Like much of the author’s work, the book has been inspired by Italian history and culture and is set against the background of the city’s famous Palio horse race.

 












Hereward by James Wilde.  UK release June 23, 2011.
1062: While the ailing King Edward, known as the Confessor, wastes his final days building monuments to God, across the Channel the brutal William the Bastard of Normandy plots to swamp all England in a tide of blood. The war drums are beating, the ravens are gathering. But with the king’s closest advisors scheming and squabbling, any hope of resistance to the Norman duke lies with just one man.

Hereward, the King of Terror.
Hereward is a warrior, trained in the lethal art of spear, axe and sword, a master tactician, a mercenary, and, to both ally and enemy, the devil in human form - as adept at slaughter as the foes gathering to claim Edward’s throne. Yet the men who need him most have made him outlaw, and Hereward must carve a bloody swathe from the frozen hills of Northumbria to the war-torn fields of Flanders just to stay alive. Here, during the darkest age in history, are the early days of the man who would be forged into one of England’s greatest heroes. It is the story of two mismatched allies, Hereward the Warrior and Alric the Monk, one fighting to save the land he loves, the other to save his friend’s soul. This is the story of the last Englishman, the first terrorist…the forgotten hero.

 
The Caspian Gates by Harry Sidebottom.  UK release July 2011.
The next thrilling instalment in the bestselling Warrior of Rome series. AD262 – the Roman Imperium is in turmoil after the struggle for the throne. Furthermore, Ephesus, Asia's metropolis, lies in ruins, shattered by a mighty earthquake. Its citizens live in fear as the mob overwhelms the city, baying for blood to avenge the gods who have punished them. Yet an even greater threat to the Empire advances from the North. The barbaric Goth tribes sail towards Ephesus, determined to pillage the city. Only Ballista, Warrior of Rome, knows the ways of the barbarians, and only he can defeat them. The Goths' appetite for brutality and destruction is limitless and before long Ballista is locked into a deadly bloodfeud, with an enemy that has sworn to destroy him – and the imperium – at all costs. The Caspian Gates follows bestsellers Lion of the Sun, Fire in the East and King of Kings



 
A Reluctant Queen:  The Love Story of Esther by Joan Wolf.  US release July 5, 2011. 

King Stephen (The English Monarch Series) by Edmund King.  Non-fiction.  US release November 18, 2010;  released in the UK in October 2010. 



 
The Inventory of King Henry VIII:  Textiles and Dress by Maria Hayward and Philip Ward.  Non-fiction.  US release November 15, 2010.  This one is pricey - $203!  The Inventory is not only a catalogue of magnificence but also a key text for evaluating the successes and failures of the Tudor monarchy. Henry VIII had extravagant ideas of image and authority and loved his possessions, amongst which where over 2,000 pieces of tapestry, 2,028 items of gold and silver plate and 41 growns. Although he left the country with heavy debts and an empty exchequer, he was far from bankrupting the monarchy as some scholars have suggested. Indeed the Inventory allows us to calculate that at the time of his death the contents of his palaces and wardrobes were worth about 300,000 GBP and the military and naval stores a further 300,000 GBP. Most of what the King owned has unfortunately since disappeared. Yet the Inventory tells us what once existed, enables us to identify surviving objects and also helps identify what once belonged to him. The transcription of the inventory is accompanied by a historical introduction, a glossary of technical terms, and an exhaustive Index which is a major tool of scholarship in its own right.

Earlier in the week I posted the UK version of Brandy/Emily Purdy's upcoming book, Mary and Elizabeth (scroll down towards the bottom of the post).  Yesterday I received the US version from Brandy:



In the wake of King Henry VIII's death, England's throne is left in a precarious state-as is the peculiar relationship between his two daughters. Mary, the elder, once treasured, had been declared a bastard in favor of her flame-haired half-sister, Elizabeth, born of the doomed Anne Boleyn. Yet the bond between the sisters was palpable from the start. Now reinstated, Mary eventually assumes her place as queen. But as Mary's religious zeal evolves into a reign of terror, young Elizabeth gains the people's favor. Gripped by a tormenting paranoia, Mary is soon convinced that her beloved Elizabeth is in fact her worst enemy. And the virginal Elizabeth, whose true love is her country, must defy her tyrannical sister to make way for a new era...

A brilliant portrait of the rule of "Bloody Mary" and her intricate relationship with Elizabeth I, the adored "Virgin Queen," here is a riveting tale of one family's sordid and extraordinary chapter in the pages of history.

Covers for a few upcoming paperback releases of books previously released in hardback:

In the world of the Tudors perhaps the only person who can compete with Anne Boleyn regarding the number of books written about them is her daughter, Elizabeth. While many focus on the years of her reign, Elizabeth: The Struggle for the Throne focuses on her childhood and teenage years. This is not a look at Queen Elizabeth but rather at Elizabeth the girl/young woman – the experiences that shaped her early life and would undoubtedly influence her far into adulthood.


The ease with which Starkey tells Elizabeth’s story means that he never has to tell you how she might have been feeling, especially during the years her sister Mary was queen. From the descriptions of the events and circumstances that surrounded her, I could easily imagine how terrified Elizabeth must have been much of the time. During her various forms of imprisonment, Elizabeth often outsmarted and outmaneuvered her jailers – they usually didn’t stand a chance against the witty and bold young woman.

In the last chapter Starkey gives an overview of Elizabeth’s reign and points to various things in her early life that may have impacted the decisions she made. He also discusses two promises she made to her people: to take counsel and to never lose their love and provoke them to rebellion. For the first an important distinction is made between being “ruled by counsel” and being “ruled by councilors”, the later something Elizabeth would never do. The second promise is basically one to be popular and if push came to shove, popularity would win every time.

This is the first book by Starkey that I have read. Although I have read some criticisms of his ego, attitude and biases, I thought this was written in an easy to read style and I enjoyed reading more detail about Elizabeth’s early life. I plan to read more of his books in the future.

Like father, like daughter? “Fortunately for her country, she would emulate only the form and not the substance; like her father, she would bite men’s heads off; unlike him, she would rarely cut them off.” Discussing Elizabeth’s attitude towards her father as a formidable ruler.

I did not have sex with that man: “Perhaps a Clintonesque formula will square the circle: Dudley had sex with her but she did not have it with him.” On whether or not the rumors about Elizabeth and Dudley were true. (I thought this was particuarly funny!)



In case the FTC asks: From Paperback Swap

Queen Defiant by Anne O'Brien.  US release June 7, 2011. 

Queen of Kings by Maria Dahvana Headley.  US release May 12, 2011; UK release July 21, 2011.  Passion and seduction, witches and warriors, and history and mythology combine to bring the timeless story of Cleopatra to life like never before in this stunningly original and spellbinding debut. The year is 30 BC. A messenger delivers word to Queen Cleopatra that her beloved husband, Antony, has died at his own hand. Desperate to save her kingdom and resurrect her husband, Cleopatra summons the most fearsome warrior goddess, Sekhmet, and against the warnings of her scholars she strikes a mortal bargain. But not even the wisest scholars could have predicted what would follow. . . .

In exchange for Antony’s soul, Cleopatra is transformed into a vampiric creature of mythical proportions, an immortal shapeshifter with superhuman strength and an insatiable hunger for human blood—a being at once ferocious and seductive. And she is bent on vengeance against those who have wronged her family and her kingdom. Clashing against witches and monsters, gods and warriors, Cleopatra journeys from the tombs of Egypt to the great amphitheaters of Rome to the ancient underworld—where she will meet her love once again, and where the battle between man and beast will determine the fate of the world. Blending history, fantasy, romance, and the supernatural, Queen of Kings is a masterful feat of the imagination that fans of Diana Gabaldon, Patricia Briggs, Philippa Gregory, and Neil Gaiman won’t want to miss.



George II by Andrew C. Thompson.  Non-fiction.  US and UK release May 28, 2011.  Despite a long and eventful reign, Britain’s George II is a largely forgotten monarch, his achievements overlooked and his abilities misunderstood. This landmark biography uncovers extensive new evidence in British and German archives, making possible the most complete and accurate assessment of this thirty-three-year reign. Andrew C. Thompson paints a richly detailed portrait of the many-faceted monarch in his public as well as his private life.

Born in Hanover in 1683, George Augustus first came to London in 1714 as the new Prince of Wales. He assumed the throne in 1727, held it until his death in 1760, and has the distinction of being Britain’s last foreign-born king and the last king to lead an army in battle. With George’s story at its heart, the book reconstructs his thoughts and actions through a careful reading of the letters and papers of those around him. Thompson explores the previously underappreciated roles George played in the political processes of Britain, especially in foreign policy, and as a patron of the arts. He also charts the intricacies of the king’s complicated relationships and reassesses the lasting impact of his frequent return trips to Hanover. George II emerges from these pages as an independent and cosmopolitan figure of undeniable historical fascination.


 
Burghley by Stephen Alford.   Non-fiction.  UK reissue April 30, 2011; US reissue May 31, 2011.    William Cecil, Lord Burghley (1520–1598) was Elizabeth I’s closest adviser and, as this revealing and provocative biography shows, the driving force behind the Queen’s reign for four decades. Cecil, the steadfast rock of Elizabeth’s government, had a deep and personal impact on the development of the English state. A committed Protestant, he guided the domestic and foreign affairs of the nation with the confidence of his religious conviction. Believing himself to be the divinely instigated protector of his monarch, he felt able to disobey her direct commands. He was uncompromising, obsessive, supremely self-assured—a cunning politician as well as a consummate servant. This comprehensive biography gives proper weight to Cecil’s formative years, his subtle navigation of the reigns of Edward VI and Mary I, his lifelong enmity with Mary Queen of Scots, and his obsession with family dynasty. Intimate, authoritative, and enormously readable, this book will redefine our understanding of the Elizabethan period.
 

 
Richard III by Charles Ross.  Non-fiction.  US reissue May 31, 2011. 
Edward the Confessor by Frank Barlow.  Non-fiction.  US reissue June 28th, 2011.  Frank Barlow’s magisterial biography, first published in 1970 and now reissued with new material, an updated bibliography and a fresh introduction, rescues the king from contemporary myth and subsequent bogus scholarship. Disentangling verifiable fact from saintly legend, he vividly re-creates the final years of the Anglo-Danish monarchy and examines England before the Norman Conquest with deep insight and great historical understanding










Mary and Elizabeth by Emily Purdy.  UK release June 16, 2011;  US release (as The Tudor Throne by Brandy Purdy) June 28th, 2011.  In the wake of King Henry VIII's death, England's throne is left in a precarious state-as is the peculiar relationship between his two daughters. Mary, the elder, once treasured, had been declared a bastard in favor of her flame-haired half-sister, Elizabeth, born of the doomed Anne Boleyn. Yet the bond between the sisters was palpable from the start. Now reinstated, Mary eventually assumes her place as queen. But as Mary's religious zeal evolves into a reign of terror, young Elizabeth gains the people's favor. Gripped by a tormenting paranoia, Mary is soon convinced that her beloved Elizabeth is in fact her worst enemy. And the virginal Elizabeth, whose true love is her country, must defy her tyrannical sister to make way for a new era...  A brilliant portrait of the rule of "Bloody Mary" and her intricate relationship with Elizabeth I, the adored "Virgin Queen," here is a riveting tale of one family's sordid and extraordinary chapter in the pages of history.


The Girl in the Mirror by Sarah Gristwood.  UK release July 7, 2011.