The passionate and gripping love story of dashing Charles II and loyal Catherine of Braganza.
The timid, young, convent-bred Portuguese princess who came to Restoration England to be the bride of Charles II seemed a pathetic pawn in the sophisticated game of statesmanship.
Attended by a vigilant army of ladies-in-waiting and painfully naïve, virtuous Catherine was desperate to make her marriage a success, but life was not easy for the foreign bride.
Her husband’s father had been executed by his own subjects, Charles was considered a heretic, and his amorous success with women was the subject of gossip.
The marriage seemed doomed and for Catherine of Braganza it was a frightening venture, offering only a slender chance of happiness.
Tormented by the knowledge that her husband had a mistress and had loved others before her, Catherine was torn, struggling to control her fiery temper and play the doting wife.
But she proved to be a woman of passionate integrity, and from the moment she set eyes on the darkly handsome King Charles she continued to love him utterly.
Eventually she managed to hold her own with dignity and courage even when challenged by the ensnaring beauty and ruthless ambition of women like Lady Castlemaine.
Charles, who was unaccustomed to such intense loyalty, loved Catherine in all her fiery innocence.
As her strength and understanding grew, she withstood the rivalry of dazzling courtesans, fanatical accusations about her religious beliefs and the strain of failing to produce an heir.
And eventually, she discovered how secure, after all, were the foundations of her ill-fated marriage, realising that the cunning nature of women like Lady Castlemaine could never come between the love of her and her husband.
When her own future was in danger, Catherine found a defender in Charles.
Only then did she understand the wise words of her beloved donna Maria Penalva, the elderly and blind woman who had guided her through the tumultuous early stages of her marriage.
With All My Heart is a beautifully written historical novel focusing on Charles II and his Queen.
Margaret Campbell Barnes wrote historical novels which have been sold worldwide. She is the author of Isabel the Fair.
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