historical drama Archives

Congratulations to Rozsa Gaston!

Congratulations to Rozsa Gaston, whose absorbing sixteenth-century drama, Maid of Honour, is out now!

Maid of Honour is the first book in the Anne Boleyn Chronicles.

Europe, 1513

Anne Boleyn’s path to Henry VIII’s heart—and the throne—begins not in France, but at the court of Europe’s most powerful woman, Margaret of Austria.

Anne enters the world of the Burgundian-Habsburg Netherlands as one of Margaret’s eighteen maids of honour, who thrive under the guidance of their highly intelligent ruler.

Anne struggles with cliques and jealousies at court, and when Erasmus of Rotterdam arrives with ideas of reform, Anne starts to question tradition and sets her sights high, determined to leave her mark on the world.

But political machinations intervene, cutting short Anne’s time at Margaret’s court, and launching her to France.

Armed with the skills learned under the Netherlands’ brilliant ruler, Anne inches closer to her destiny…

Can she achieve her ambitious desires? Will Margaret’s formidable example influence Anne’s future?

Or will this young maid struggle to blossom in a man’s world…?

Congratulations to Simon Michael!

Congratulations to Simon Michael, whose absorbing courtroom drama, The Fall Guy, is out now!

The Fall Guy is the tenth book in the Charles Holborne Legal Thrillers series.

London, 1969

The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Who … Tin Pan Alley is the heart of London’s music scene.

It is also the dark heart of a ruthless business tainted by sex, drugs and corruption.

When a young fan is found dead from a heroin overdose at an American rock star’s accommodation and the band’s manager is charged with her murder, Charles Holborne, barrister, must defend him.

But Holborne is getting married in two weeks, and for some reason DS Sean Sloane, his best man, refuses to speak to him.

Has Sloane been turned? What has a select group of corrupt Met officers known as ‘the Team’ to do with the case?

And is Holborne’s client the unscrupulous venal businessman he is portrayed or is he, perhaps, The Fall Guy?

Congratulations to C. F. Dunn!

Congratulations to C. F. Dunn, whose powerful medieval saga, Sun Ascendant, is out now!

Sun Ascendant is the second book in The Tarnished Crown series: historical novels set during the Wars of the Roses.

1470, England

England is in turmoil as the battle between supporters of the Yorkist king, Edward IV and the old Lancastrian king, Henry VI escalates.

And for Isobel Fenton the war is personal. Her father’s sudden death made her an heiress to Beaumoncote Manor, a desirable estate in the midlands. But as conflict threatens England’s unstable peace, Isobel and her lands become the focus of bitter tensions and a long-held feud.

Taken from her manor, Isobel becomes the unwilling mistress of an indomitable Earl. Unable to protect her own lands or herself, she sees her only chance of happiness in the Earl’s brother, Robert Langton, newly sworn to serve Richard, Duke of Gloucester.

Isobel’s life in the castle becomes increasingly difficult as the Countess plots against her rival, and Isobel finds herself trapped and alone in her gilded prison.

She is determined to take her fate into her own hands, but how can she gain her freedom and find her way back to Beaumoncote…?

Moonlight at Cuckmere Haven is Published Today

Congratulations to Graham Ley, whose compelling historical saga, Moonlight at Cuckmere Haven, is published today!

England and Brittany, 1796

In London on business, aristocrat and father-to-be Justin Wentworth chases a thief only to be confronted by a face from the past — Coline — and the news that he already has a daughter.

Amelia Wentworth is in Sussex enjoying the delights of sea-bathing with her companion Caroline North. When Caroline catches sight of a dangerous adversary in the crowd at the Brighton races — the villain Tregothen — she writes to her brother, Colonel North, who swiftly rides to their aid.

At Chittesleigh Manor in Devonshire, pregnant Arabella Wentworth is disturbed by a brief note from Justin extending his absence from her. She decides to write to Justin’s friend Eugene Picaud to ask him to inquire after Justin in London. Justin’s mother, Sempronie, comes to stay at Chittesleigh, and is drawn to Justin’s writing bureau, discovering letters from Coline from their time together.

Meanwhile at Kergohan Manor in Brittany, the villagers celebrate as bread is baked for the first time in the large oven. The gathering is interrupted by the arrival of Laurent Guèvremont, owner of the manor, who explains to Héloïse Argoubet that he has an obligation to look after her, and prepare her for life in society.

Eugene, unsure of his future, enlists as a marine aboard HMS Amphion. Justin and Amelia visit as the ship prepares to leave Plymouth. After a sudden and terrifying explosion at the dock, Justin rushes back to find that the Amphion has been blown apart, with horrendous loss of life. As he searches for Eugene amongst the bodies, he eventually sees a figure in the water…

Will Eugene survive the disaster? Will Tregothen escape justice? And is the child the result of Coline’s affair with Justin?

And when love blossoms, will it finally unite the Wentworth family once and for all?

The Manors of the Wentworth Family Regency Saga by Graham Ley

In this behind-the-scenes blog series, Sapere Books authors offer an intriguing insight into how, where and why they write.

Today, we are delighted to spotlight Graham Ley, author of the Wentworth Family Regency Saga Series.

Brittany, really, has been my place for my writing. There lies inspiration and the prompt to be historical, implicit in the ancient stone and timber that surrounds you, and the glimpses from the road of almost hidden farmhouses and squat barns of sturdy beauty — sometimes deserted but strangely still standing. And that region across the Channel has an uncanny relationship with Devon and its history, embedded in its own cob-and-timber beauties, and those oddly contrasting stone manor houses.

How better to link the two regions than with the story of a family that was both Devonian and Breton, in the mid-1790s when the buildings were still full of life and yet conflict was raging? It was bound to be the case that at some point I would catch, in passing, the misty outline of the Breton manor that would lie at the heart of the story — a home that had been emptied by the Revolution in France, but which would be gradually restored in quite unpredictable ways. That manor came into being in partnership with another that would be in Devon, both of great antiquity but which had, in different ways, been brought up to date. Two homes that might contain threat as well as comforting familiarity, both put together from what I had seen across the two regions.

In the saga, Chittesleigh in Devon and Kergohan in Brittany are manors with orchards and gardens. Both sit in the heart of farmland and woodland, with its capacity to conceal, protect and yet also harbour danger. It was only when I was finishing the fourth and final book of the saga that I stumbled on a truly striking vision of Kergohan, nestling in a valley only a mile or so from where I was staying. Its medieval aspect is pictured here, but it also has a shorter, eighteenth-century façade with a portico. So it seems that you can only sum up when you have finished. In the meantime, a building takes shape from the inspiration and the uncertain lives of its characters: they fill it with aspirations, fears and suspicions, which only their love for each other may come to quieten.

The Real-life Inspiration Behind my Medieval Novels by Isolde Martyn

In this behind-the-scenes blog series, Sapere Books authors offer an intriguing insight into how, where and why they write.

Today, we are delighted to spotlight Isolde Martyn, the author of a number of historical novels including The Lady and the Unicorn and The Knight and the Rose.

Instead of looking out at rose bushes and oak trees or hearing blackbirds, I face an office window that is flanked by palm lilies, and the bird noises come from kookaburras and sulphur-crested cockatoos. None of which is very helpful when I am attempting to describe a scene in fifteenth-century England or thirteenth-century France. Living in Sydney, my research is limited to the occasional overseas trip or the internet. Fortunately, the latter is so fantastic these days and British History Online is now one of my go-to places.

Inspiration? Visiting Carcassonne and Minerve in France and hearing how the Northern French crusaders ransacked the land of the troubadours. Or sometimes it’s someone’s talk quivering my antennae. My second novel, The Knight and the Rose, resulted from hearing a fellow historian cite a rare medieval divorce case that involved a ‘green card’ situation. My third book, The Silver Bride, was hatched from reading of a daughter dressing in armour to fight a duel for her cowardly dad, plus wondering what it would have been like to be a clairvoyant woman back in the 1480s. The Golden Widows arose out of a friend taking me to visit Shute Barton in Devon and hearing about Warwick the Kingmaker’s youngest sister losing seven menfolk in battle. That gave rise to the idea of two young widows on opposite sides in the Wars of the Roses in the early 1460s: Katherine Neville and Elizabeth Woodville.

Historical novelists tend to go over the ground with a metal detector trying to find new angles. It becomes a challenge, especially with the Tudors. Fortunately, the character who was trying to get my attention was from the previous century and one of history’s most mysterious wheelers and dealers, the twenty-nine-year-old Duke of Buckingham, Richard III’s cousin, and so the tale of a villain and a loser came to life in The Devil in Ermine.

‘Write a woman next, a shameless gold-digger,’ suggested my agent. It didn’t work. Instead, on further acquaintance that most appealing of royal mistresses, Elizabeth Lambard — aka ‘Shore’s wife’ — took charge of the writing, and away we went with Mistress to the Crown.

I still envy novelists living in the UK for being able to easily do location research, but living in Australia hasn’t stifled my lifelong interest in… Oh, there goes another kookaburra!

Lady of Misrule is Out Now

Congratulations to Amy Licence, whose intriguing Tudor drama, Lady of Misrule, is published today!

Lady of Misrule is the fourth book in The Marwood Family Tudor Saga.

1528

The mood at court is sombre. The fractures in the royal marriage are spreading and King Henry’s desires are threatening the stability of the realm.

Eighteen-year-old Thomasin Marwood feels aged beyond her years in service to Queen Catherine of Aragon.

Her time as a lady-in-waiting has exposed her to intrigues and dark plots that have cast a shadow over her future.

And now King Henry is becoming more open in his plot to divorce the queen and marry Lady Anne Boleyn.

Queen Catherine has sent for her daughter, Princess Mary to join her at court and remind Henry of his fatherly duties. But Anne Boleyn is always at Henry’s side, resplendent in her lavish gowns, reminding the king of her youth and ability to carry an heir.

Thomasin is loyal to her mistress, Queen Catherine, but she finds herself noticed by the Boleyns and she fears her position at court may soon change.

What will happen to Thomasin if the king is successful in his petition for a divorce? Will Queen Catherine be cast out of court?

And will Lady Anne Boleyn finally get the throne she has been lusting after…?

Troubled Queen is Published Today

Congratulations to Amy Licence, whose page-turning Tudor drama, Troubled Queen, is published today!

Troubled Queen is the second book in the Marwood Family Tudor Saga Series.

1528

Escaping from her family’s scandalous involvement with Anne Boleyn’s circle, Thomasin Marwood is beginning a new life in the service of Queen Catherine of Aragon.

Thomasin is trying to forget Rafe Danvers, the man who stole her heart and then betrayed her, and when a group of Venetians arrive at court, she is drawn to the sophisticated Nico.

But a great danger is lurking. The dreaded sweating sickness has returned, which claimed the life of Catherine’s first husband, Prince Arthur, many years ago.

Catherine and her ladies are forced to flee, and their shared isolation with King Henry brings the couple closer again.

But Anne Boleyn will not let herself be forgotten.

Thomasin finds herself torn between new friends and old loyalties as Rafe comes back into her life.

Who will win Thomasin’s heart? Will she survive the dreaded sickness?

And will Anne Boleyn become victorious in her quest for the throne?

Happy Publication Day to Amy Licence!

Congratulations to Amy Licence, whose stunning Tudor saga, Dangerous Lady, is published today!

1528

At seventeen, Thomasin Marwood is plunged into court society when a husband is found for her elder sister, Cecilia.

But the mood at court is tense. It is split between the conservative Catholics, loyal to Queen Catherine of Aragon, and the fashionable Francophiles, enthralled by King Henry’s mistress, Anne Boleyn.

While her parents sympathise with the old queen and her faith, Thomasin can not help but be drawn to the glamour and vitality Anne represents.

And her head is soon turned by the tall, dark and handsome Rafe Danvers who seems equally entranced with her.

But as a ward of Anne’s father, Sir Thomas Boleyn, Rafe represents the “other” side, of which Thomasin’s parents are unlikely to approve. And they have already lined up their own candidate for Thomasin’s hand, Sir Giles Waterson, who comes from wealth and good standing.

Thomasin finds herself torn between duty and the desire Rafe has aroused in her. But when she is drawn into a dark plot concerning Queen Catherine, she realises the court is far more dangerous than it appears…

Which path, and with whom, will she choose?

Happy Publication Day to Coirle Mooney!

Congratulations to Coirle Mooney, whose enchanting Medieval drama, The Cloistered Lady, is published today!

Eleanor of Aquitaine has been arrested for rebelling against her husband, King Henry II of England.

Her loyal ladies-in-waiting, Alice and Joanna of Agen have fled to the nunnery at Fontrevault, where they are anxiously awaiting news of their queen.

Alice and Joanna struggle to adapt to their cramped new home at the Abbey. Each is secretly nursing a broken heart – and harbouring unholy desires.

Joanna left behind a lover, Jean, at Eleanor’s court in Poitiers, and Alice has long been in love with the queen’s daughter, Marie.

And as the days stretch on with no news, they both begin to fear the worst.

What has happened to Eleanor? Will Alice and Joanna be forced to remain at the Abbey indefinitely? And will they ever be reunited with the ones they love?

Click here to order The Cloistered Lady

The Baron Returns is Out Now

Congratulations to Graham Ley, whose gripping historical saga, The Baron Returns, is out now!

The Baron Returns is the first book in The Kergohan Regency Drama Series.

Devon and Brittany, 1795

In the aftermath of the bloody French Revolution, the British government is anxious to prevent revolutionary ideals from crossing the Channel.

As a seasoned army captain with an estate in Brittany, English-French aristocrat Justin Wentworth is sent to France to assist the Chouannerie — a royalist uprising against the new regime.

Back at Chittesleigh Manor, his Devonshire estate, Justin’s mother and sister anxiously await his return, alongside family friend Arabella Wollaston. Harbouring a secret affection for Justin, Arabella listens carefully for clues about his movements.

When she notices suspicious behaviour around Chittesleigh, Arabella suspects that the Wentworth family is being watched and decides to discreetly investigate.

But with plots and treachery seemingly rife throughout the realm, she soon begins to wonder whether she has stumbled across a wider web of subterfuge…