Purchase
St. Martin's Griffin
March 2014
On Sale: March 18, 2014
Featuring: Mary Shelton; Edward de Vere; Sir John Skydemore
384 pages
ISBN: 0312662122
EAN: 9780312662127
Kindle: B00F1R9G1Q
Paperback / e-Book
Add to Wish List
Women's Fiction Historical
From Anne Barnhill, the author of At the Mercy of the Queen, comes the gripping tale of Mary Shelton, Elizabeth Iβs young cousin and ward, set against the glittering backdrop of the Elizabethan court Mistress Mary Shelton is Queen Elizabethβs favorite ward, enjoying every privilege the position affords. The queen loves Mary like a daughter, and, like any good mother, she wants her to make a powerful match. The most likely prospect: Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford. But while Oxford seems to be everything the queen admires: clever, polished and wealthy, Mary knows him to be lecherous, cruel, and full of treachery. No matter how hard the queen tries to push her into his arms, Mary refuses. Instead, Mary falls in love with a man who is completely unsuitable. Sir John Skydemore is a minor knight with little money, a widower with five children. Worst of all, heβs a Catholic at a time when Catholic plots against Elizabeth are rampant. The queen forbids Mary to wed the man she loves. When the young woman, who is the queenβs own flesh and blood, defies her, the couple finds their very lives in danger as Elizabethβs wrath knows no bounds.
| 
© 2003-2026