We are thrilled to announce that we have signed the next three books in The Tarnished Crown series by C. F. Dunn.
Set during the Wars of the Roses, the series follows Isobel Fenton — a brave and determined heiress — and the intrigues that surround her.
In Dunn’s words:
“I am delighted to continue working with the team at Sapere Books to bring the Wars of the Roses and this tempestuous period in English medieval history to life.
“I take the view that everything that happened in the past resonates down the centuries. The great names in history didn’t exist in isolation, but were part of a rich web that made up as complex a society as any that exists today. It is relationships at every level that enabled society to work, and when these broke down, conflict ensued. And like people throughout time, actions were driven by love and loyalty, fear, feuds and ambition.
“The next three books in The Tarnished Crown series see Isobel and her beloved Robert confront unforeseen twists of fortune, testing their allegiance to the Crown and to each other as England faces challenges from abroad and treachery at home. And when those closest to the throne call upon Robert and Isobel’s support, bonds of friendship and fealty are stretched to breaking point.”
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…?
Congratulations to C. F. Dunn, whose thrilling War of the Roses saga, Wheel of Fortune, is out now!
Wheel of Fortune is the first book in the Tarnished Crown series: historical novels set in medieval Europe.
1469, England
For almost ten years, attractive and charismatic Edward IV has ruled with the Earl of Warwick’s support, but now rebellion threatens England’s fragile peace.
With the Midlands in uproar, King Edward wants peace in the shires and the last thing he needs is potential trouble in the form of an unwed heiress.
But, strong-willed and single-minded, Isobel Fenton is determined that nothing will separate her from her beloved manor of Beaumancote, even if she does have to marry to stay there.
Isobel is unaware of the importance she and her land represent, nor of the agenda of the formidable Earl in whose care she finds herself.
And as unrest boils into war, she is drawn into the very heart of the conflict.
Can Isobel escape from the web in which she is trapped? Will she find a way to decide her own fate?
Or will the Wheel of Fortune fail to turn in her favour…?
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!
We are thrilled to announce that we have signed a series of Medieval sagas by Isolde Martyn.
Isolde is the author of nine novels and, recently, a history picture book for children. Her debut novel, set during the Wars of the Roses, won significant awards in the USA and Australia.
In Isolde’s words:
“The Wars of the Roses era is often overshadowed by the Tudor century, yet it is full of so many fascinating people, so I am delighted that Sapere Books are republishing my novels set in this time period. There are some strong, fantastic women I’d love readers to get to know better: Mistress Shore, seeking a way out of a loveless marriage; young mothers Elizabeth Woodville and Katherine Neville, struggling to survive in the aftermath of battles that took their husbands; and Margaret Neville, Warwick the Kingmaker’s bastard daughter, secret agent in France for the King of England.
“It’s a great pleasure to be working with the wonderful team at Sapere books and I look forward to getting to know my fellow authors and Sapere’s great family of readers.”
