Book picks similar to
The Unhappiest Lady in Christendom by Alison Weir
historical-fiction
tudors
historical
fiction
The King's Pleasure
Norah Lofts - 1969
From the moment of Katharine's betrothal to Arthur, Prince of Wales, she looked upon herself as the future Queen of England. Arthur died just after their marriage and it was as the wife of his brother, Henry VIII, that she went to her coronation.
Gilt
Katherine Longshore - 2012
No longer stuck in Cat's shadow, Kitty's now caught between two men--the object of her affection and the object of her desire. But court is also full of secrets, lies, and sordid affairs, and as Kitty witnesses Cat's meteoric rise and fall as queen, she must figure out how to keep being a good friend when the price of telling the truth could literally be her head.
Je Anne Boleyn: Struck with the Dart of Love
Sandra Vasoli - 2014
Finally, admitting to myself that my mind was constantly preoccupied with images of him, I decided to spend some time alone in my chamber attempting to sift through my sentiments for the truth.Gain unprecedented access to one of history’s most tumultuous love stories in Sandra Vasoli’s riveting debut novel, Je Anne Boleyn.Sixteenth-century England witnessed a roiling tide of changes—most of which were fueled by the scandalous romance between King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn.The first volume of this two-part series tells the story of what really happened from Anne’s own point of view. In sumptuous detail, Je Anne Boleyn recounts the moment the lovers first met, as well as the powerful and climactic consequences that ensued.Scrupulously researched, this fictional memoir welcomes readers into the head and heart of one of history’s most misunderstood women. Learn how much Anne valued her female friendships, her desperate desire to bear children, and what lay behind her instinctive mistrust of Cardinal Wolsey.Readers will gladly come to know Anne Boleyn like never before.
The Queen's Promise
Lyn Andrews - 2012
From the moment Henry Percy, the future Earl of Northumberland, first glimpses the beautiful Anne Boleyn he is captivated and quickly proposes marriage. Anne has been taught to use her charms to her advantage and to secure her family's position of power at court. She sees that Henry Percy's affection is sincere and agrees to marry him. But a match of the heart has no place in a world where marriage is a political manoeuvre. Torn apart, the lovers are exiled to separate ends of the kingdom. For Henry a lifetime of duty awaits, while he remains true to the only woman he will ever love. But he is not the only man to be bewitched by Anne. And when King Henry VIII determines to make her his queen, the course of history is changed for ever...
Portrait of an Unknown Woman
Vanora Bennett - 2006
In this crisis, one man stood out as the great defender of tradition: Sir Thomas More.Portrait of an Unknown Woman is historical fiction at its best, rich in detail and observation that dares to choose as its setting the household of More. It is a novel that unfolds from an oblique angle, revealing itself not through More's eyes but through the eye of his young ward, Meg Giggs -- the unknown woman. Meg is a wholly realized creation, a young, headstrong woman schooled from childhood in the healing arts. A woman who, in time, will be torn between her loyalty, duty, and devotion to the More family and the call of her passions and conscience. Two men will vie for the heart and mind of young Meg: John Clement, her former tutor, a quiet man with a past shrouded in mystery; and Hans Holbein, the famous artist who twice painted portraits of More and his family.In Portrait of an Unknown Woman, Bennett has penned a suspenseful family drama with countless twists and turns, a revealing lesson on art and painting, and a most satisfying love story, all set against and within the rich historical time and tapestry of Tudor England. A remarkable debut novel.
To Die For: A Novel of Anne Boleyn
Sandra Byrd - 2011
So when twenty-five-year-old Anne's star begins to ascend, of course she takes Meg along for the ride.Life in the court of Henry VIII is thrilling... at first. Meg is made mistress of Anne's wardrobe, and she enjoys the spoils of this privileged orbit and uses her influence for good. She is young and beautiful and in favor; everyone at court assumes that being close to her is being close to Anne.But favor is fickle and envy is often laced with venom. As Anne falls, so does Meg, and it becomes nearly impossible for her to discern ally from enemy. Suddenly life's unwelcome surprises rub against the court's sheen to reveal the tarnished brass of false affections and the bonafide gold of those that are true. Both Anne and Meg may lose everything. When your best friend is married to fearsome Henry VIII, you may soon find yourself not only friendless but headless as well.A rich alchemy of fact and fiction, To Die For chronicles the glittering court life, the sweeping romance, and the heartbreaking fall from grace of a forsaken queen and Meg, her closest companion, who was forgotten by the ages but who is destined to live in our hearts forever.
The Kiss of the Concubine: A story of Anne Boleyn
Judith Arnopp - 2013
It is almost midnight and the cream of the English nobility hold their breath as King Henry VIII prepares to face his God. As the royal physicians wring their hands and Archbishop Cranmer gallops through the frigid night, two dispossessed princesses pray for their father’s soul and a boy, soon to be king, snivels into his velvet sleeve. Time slows, and dread settles around the royal bed, the candles dip and something stirs in the darkness … something, or someone, who has come to tell the king it is time to pay his dues. The Kiss of the Concubine is the story of Anne Boleyn, second of Henry VIII’s queens.
The Sisters Who Would Be Queen
Leanda de Lisle - 2009
Misremembered as the ‘Nine Days Queen’, she has been mythologized as a child-woman destroyed on the altar of political expediency. Behind the legend, however, was an opinionated and often rebellious adolescent who died a passionate leader, not merely a victim. Growing up in Jane’s shadow, her sisters Katherine and Mary would have to tread carefully to survive.The dramatic lives of the younger Grey sisters remain little known, but under English law they were the heirs – and rivals – to the Tudor monarchs Mary and Elizabeth I. The beautiful Katherine ignored Jane’s dying request that she remain faithful to her beliefs, changing her religion to retain Queen Mary’s favour only to then risk life and freedom in a secret marriage that threatened Queen Elizabeth’s throne.While Elizabeth’s closest adviser fought to save Katherine, her younger sister Mary remained at court as the queen’s Maid of Honour. Too plain to be considered significant, it seemed that Lady Mary Grey, at least, would escape the burden of her royal blood. But then she too fell in love, and incurred the queen’s fury.Exploding the many myths of Lady Jane’s life and casting fresh light onto Elizabeth’s reign, acclaimed historian Leanda de Lisle brings the tumultuous world of the Grey sisters to life, at a time when a royal marriage could gain you a kingdom or cost you everything.
Three Maids for a Crown
Ella March Chase - 2011
Her beautiful middle sister Katherine Grey charms all the right people--until loyalties shift. And finally Lady Mary Grey, a dwarf with a twisted spine whose goal is simply to protect people she loves--but at a terrible cost. In an age in which begetting sons was all that mattered and queens rose and fell on the sex of their child, these three girls with royal Tudor blood lived under the dangerous whims of parents with a passion for gambling. The stakes they would wager: their daughters' lives against rampant ambition.
The Last Days of Henry VIII
Robert Hutchinson - 2005
But much less attention has been paid to his monarchy, especially the closing years of his reign.Rich with information including details from new archival material and written with the nail-biting suspense of a modern thriller, The Last Days of Henry VIII offers a superb fresh look at this fascinating figure and new insight into an intriguing chapter in history.Robert Hutchinson paints a brilliant portrait of this egotistical tyrant who governed with a ruthlessness that rivals that of modern dictators; a monarch who had "no respect or fear of anyone in this world," according to the Spanish ambassador to his court. Henry VIII pioneered the modern "show trial": cynical propaganda exercises in which the victims were condemned before the proceedings even opened, proving the most powerful men in the land could be brought down overnight.After thirty-five years in power, Henry was a bloated, hideously obese, black-humored old recluse. And despite his having had six wives, the Tudor dynasty rested on the slight shoulders of his only male heir, the nine-year-old Prince Edward -- a situation that spurred rival factions into a deadly conflict to control the throne.The Last Days of Henry VIII is a gripping and compelling history as fascinating and remarkable as its subject.
Mary & Elizabeth
Emily Purdy - 2011
However, when Henry fell passionately in love with the dark-eyed Anne Boleyn, he cast his wife and daughter aside. Henry and Anne's union divides the country, and with the birth of Elizabeth, Mary becomes a pariah, stripped of all royal privileges. Yet, there is something enchanting about Elizabeth, and Mary soon grows to love her like a sister. But every rose has its thorn, and following Anne Boleyn's execution, a rift begins to grow between the sisters. Mary assumes her place as queen, her reign of terror turning the people's love to hate. Elizabeth, whose true love is her country, must defy her tyrannical sister to make way for a new era... Mary and Elizabeth is a rip-roaring story of a love, power, and rivalry that will delight fans of The Tudors.
Anne Boleyn: The Final 24 hours
Marcella Mayfair - 2016
This is the story of the dramatic final 24 hours of the life of Anne Boleyn. The story is told in a compelling minute by minute countdown which ends with her final walk to the scaffold, and her beheading by the hangman of Calais' sword. The book describes the actions and thoughts of some the leading players during those final 24 hours including Thomas Cranmer, Chapuys, Jane Seymour, Lady Mary, Sir William Kingston, Thomas Wyatt and, of course, the three principle players... Henry VIII - what was he doing as the woman he moved heaven and earth to marry faced execution. Did he feel remorse? Did he feel hatred? Did he feel anything at all? Thomas Cromwell - widely accepted as the engineer behind the downfall of the queen. Did he feel guilt that even Chapuys was not convinced by the charges which sent Anne to her death? Anne Boleyn - just how did she manage to walk to the scaffold and address the the crowd so bravely? How did she cope with the continual postponement of the execution? And what did she think of the men that would send her to the grave? A new take on one of the most infamous days in English history ...the clock is ticking and, for the Queen of England, it cannot be stopped.
Mary Tudor: Princess, Bastard, Queen
Anna Whitelock - 2009
This is a page-turning, revisionist history of the villainised and misunderstood Mary Tudor, the first queen of England.
The Other Tudors: Henry VIII's Mistresses and Bastards
Philippa Jones - 2009
'The Other Tudors' examines the extraordinary untold tales of the women who Henry loved but never married, the mistresses who became queens and of his many children, both acknowledged and unacknowledged.
Anne Boleyn
Evelyn Anthony - 1957
There, he feasts his eyes on Anne Boleyn, who caught his roving attention at court a few months earlier. Anne is in no mood to receive her king. He has torn from her the one man she loved: Harry Percy, who was forced to marry another. But King Henry VIII is not a man who gives up—the thrill of the chase only excites him more. Yet the woman he desires so passionately is no fool. Educated at the French court, Anne vows that she will not share the fate of her naïve younger sister, Mary, who after bearing Henry a bastard son was cast away and married off to a country squire. No, Anne will settle for nothing less than the crown of England, even if Henry has to break with Rome in order to marry her. History comes thrillingly alive in a novel that features a teeming canvas of iconic real-life characters: Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the enemy Anne vows to destroy; Henry’s first wife, the proud and pious Queen Catherine of Aragon; and Thomas Cromwell, who engineers Anne’s downfall. From the halcyon early days of courtship to her imprisonment in the palace tower for treason, this is a tale of love, ambition, and the tragic destiny of Anne of the Thousand Days.