For seventeen-year-old Tansy Marsh, life centres upon her father’s inn, The White Boar, in Leicester.
Richard III sits upon the throne of England, and all seems well.
But the threat of the would-be usurper, Henry Tudor, looms like a gathering storm. And soon the eye of that storm is uncomfortably close to Tansy, disrupting her reassuringly ordinary life.
Once King Richard is defeated, that life becomes even less ordinary.
For Tansy has met Dickon Broome, the man who will change her existence forever.
And while life goes on under the Tudor, Dickon has particular reason to bear a grudge.
Meanwhile in Leicester, Tansy’s beloved father dies, and she is left at the mercy of her self-absorbed, self-interested stepmother.
Until her stepmother also dies, in a most horrible way, and Tansy finds herself terrifyingly close to the centre of that drama.
It soon becomes clear that there is nothing more for Tansy in her childhood home. She travels to London, to Dickon, and to a future that will be marked by some of the most noted events in England’s history.
For Dickon, Broome is not quite all that he seems, and the quality that sets him apart forces him to take some difficult decisions; decisions that affect Tansy as much as himself.
While the couple seems happy, Dickon’s secret has the power to destroy them. Will he allow that to happen, or will he come to terms with some of the nation’s most famous historic events, and live out a quiet and happy life with his beloved Tansy?
Only one man can decide.
Praise for Margaret Campbell Barnes
’Margaret Campbell Barnes has added brilliant hues to a picture which never lacked in color.’ - Vancouver (BC) Daily Province
‘Immensely entertaining and absorbing.’ - Chicago Tribune
’Turns a brilliant light on one of the lustiest and one of the most dramatic periods of English history." - Philadelphia Inquirer
‘Barnes has a way with words and I love some of her descriptions of the time and place. " - So Many Precious Books, So Little Time
‘Campbell Barnes' writing and story telling shine.’ - The Literate Housewife
Margaret Campbell Barnes was one of the most popular historical novelists of her time. She wrote over a dozen novels and over two million copies of her books were sold. While little is known of her personal life, her books had a wide readership in her time and are experiencing a resurge of popularity today.