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| About the Books |
The Godmother’s Secret
If you knew the fate of the Princes in the Tower, would you tell? Or forever keep the secret?
May 1483: The Tower of London. When King Edward IV dies and Lady Elysabeth Scrope delivers her young godson, Edward V, into the Tower of London to prepare for his coronation, she is engulfed in political turmoil. Within months, the prince and his brother have disappeared, Richard III is declared king, and Elysabeth’s sister Margaret Beaufort conspires with her son Henry Tudor to invade England and claim the throne.
Desperate to protect her godson, Elysabeth battles the intrigue, betrayal, and power of the last medieval court, defying her Yorkist husband and her Lancastrian sister under her godmother’s sacred oath to keep Prince Edward safe. Bound by blood and rent by honour, Elysabeth is torn between King Richard and Margaret Beaufort, knowing that if her loyalty is questioned, she is in peril of losing everything—including her life.
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| Bolton Castle, Yorkshire Lady Elysabeth Scrope's home |
Were the princes murdered by their uncle, Richard III? Did Margaret Beaufort mastermind their disappearance to usher in the Tudor dynasty? Or did the young boys vanish for their own safety? Of anyone at the royal court, Elysabeth has the most to lose–and the most to gain–by keeping secret the fate of the Princes in the Tower.
Inspired by England’s most enduring historical mystery, Elizabeth St.John blends her family history with known facts and centuries of speculation to create an intriguing story about what happened to the Princes in the Tower.
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About The Godmother’s Secret and The King’s Intelligencer
In a stroke of serendipity, I discovered a fascinating family connection that inspired my novel, The Godmother's Secret. While searching my family tree for inspiration, I stumbled upon a 15th-century ancestress, Elysabeth St.John. To my excitement, I found that she was the godmother to Edward V, the eldest of the infamous missing Princes in the Tower.
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| Westminster Abbey Sanctuary |
Intrigued by Elysabeth's role, I delved deeper. According to a manuscript in the National Archives, Henry VI paid Elysabeth for attending Queen Elizabeth Woodville during her confinement in Westminster Sanctuary, and upon Edward V's birth, she became his godmother. In medieval times, a godmother wasn’t just a symbolic role but was regarded as a blood relative responsible for the spiritual well-being and security of the child.
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| appointment to attend the confinement |
What makes Elysabeth’s story even more fascinating is her tangled web of family loyalties. She was half-sister to Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII, and wife to Lord John Scrope, a Yorkist supporter and ally of Richard III. So, while Elysabeth, a Lancastrian, was godmother to the Yorkist heir, she was also related to the Tudor claimant, setting the stage for an extraordinary clash of allegiances during the Wars of the Roses.
The Godmother's Secret follows Elysabeth’s struggle as she tries to protect her godson, Edward V, amidst the treacherous political schemes that surround him after his father’s death. As rival factions vie for the throne, Elysabeth is torn between loyalty to her husband and sister. But more than anything, she seeks the power to make her own decisions, defying the constraints of blood and loyalty in a world where women had little control.
When I starting writing the first draft of The Godmother’s Secret, I actually devised it as a dual timeline, with the second story set in seventeenth-century England, when children’s bones, believed to be those of the missing princes, were unearthed in the Tower of London. Or so they thought. About halfway in, I threw my hands up and realised I had two separate novels. And so, I’ve now written “The King’s Intelligencer”, which follows the discovery of the missing princes, and the actions of Franny Apsley, my ancestress who happened to be on the scene at the time. You don’t have to have read The Godmother’s Secret to enjoy my new novel. But if you have, you become an Intelligencer too!
Author Bio:
Elizabeth St.John’s critically acclaimed historical fiction novels tell the stories of her ancestors: extraordinary women whose intriguing kinship with England's kings and queens brings an intimately unique perspective to Medieval, Tudor, and Stuart times.
Inspired by family archives and residences from Lydiard Park to the Tower of London, Elizabeth spends much of her time exploring ancestral portraits, diaries, and lost gardens. And encountering the occasional ghost. But that’s another story.
Living between California, England, and the past, Elizabeth is the International Ambassador for The Friends of Lydiard Park, an English charity dedicated to conserving and enhancing this beautiful centuries-old country house and park. As a curator for The Lydiard Archives, she is constantly looking for an undiscovered treasure to inspire her next novel.
Elizabeth's works include The Lydiard Chronicles, a trilogy set in 17th-century England during the Civil War, and The Godmother's Secret, which unravels the medieval mystery of the missing princes in the Tower of London. Her latest release, The King’s Intelligencer, follows Franny Apsley's perilous quest to uncover the truth behind the sudden discovery of the princes' bones. In Charles II's court of intrigue and deceit, Franny must decide what she’ll risk—for England’s salvation, her family's safety, and her own happiness.
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STEP INTO THE PAST WITH
3rd October J G (Jane) Harlond
4th October Susan Grossey
5th October Carol Westron
10th October Judith Arnopp
11th October Anna Belfrage
12th October Elizabeth St.John
13th October Nancy Jardine
14th October Helen Hollick
15th October Derek Birks
16th October Cathie Dunn
17th October Amy Maroney
18th October Tony Riches
19th October Cryssa Bazos
20th October C.C (Chris) Humphreys
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Having read both books, I can say these novels are beautifully written and perfect complements to each other.
ReplyDeleteThank you Amy - I totally agree!
DeleteI LOVED this book!
ReplyDeletesame here!
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