For fans of Hilary Mantel Philippa Gregory & Alison Weir Elizabeth Fremantle's first novel Queen's Gambit is a riveting account of Katherine Parr the Tudor queen who married four men & outlived three of them
- including Henry VIII. Queen's Gambit: Gripping". (Woman & Home). " Sumptuous". (Metro). "A major new voice in historical fiction". (The Bookseller). " Rich & enticing". (Stylist). " Electric". (Good Housekeeping). " Wildly entertaining". (Huffington Post). Tudor England
- A dying king. A queen in danger Widowed for the second time aged thirty-one Katherine is obliged to return to court but suspicious of the aging Henry & those who surround him she does so with reluctance. Nevertheless when she finds herself caught up in a passionate affair with the dashing & seductive Thomas Seymour she believes she might finally be able to marry for love. But her presence at court has attracted the attentions of another... Captivated by her honesty & intelligence Henry Tudor has his own plans for Katherine & no one is in the position to refuse a proposal from the king. With her charismatic lover dispatched to the continent Katherine becomes Henry's sixth wife. Passionate about religious reform & ever aware of the fates of his previous queens she must draw upon all her instincts & intellect to navigate the treachery of the court. With the Catholic faction once more in the ascendency reformers burned for heresy & those around the dying king vying for position in the new regime her survival seems unlikely
- & yet she has still not quite given up on love... Rich in atmosphere & period detail & told through the eyes of Katherine & her young maid Dot Queen's Gambit is the story of two very different women during a terrifying & turbulent time. If you loved Wolf Hall The Other Boleyn Girl or the BBC drama series The Tudors then Elizabeth Fremantle's Queen's Gambit is the book for you. Elizabeth Fremantle holds a first in English & an MA in creative Writing from Birkbeck. Queen's Gambit is her first novel. Her second Queen Jane's Shadow will be published in 2014."