Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!
There is one period of the past I have not often disappeared inside due to how I find reading about the Tudors to be a bit of a dicey choice for me. They are a curious lot that much is true but whenever I try to find a story about the Tudors which might be a good fit for me, I am generally disappointed by what I am finding. It is one of the more under-read eras for me in Historical Fiction and despite my curiosity about it – it takes me a bit longer to find a story which has a murmur of interest for me to seek out.
This is why when I read the premise behind The Catherine Howard Conspiracy – I thought perhaps this is one author who might win me over as I loved the premise and throughout our conversation, I felt I had made the right choice in earmarking this as a #nextread! I’ll be requesting this from my local library as I have with two other selections I’ve spotlighted and shared interviews of from Sapere Books – as honestly, each new story I find of theirs is the kind of story I most desire to be reading right now. I like the variety of stories they’re publishing but it is the layers of insight and of purposeful focus on behalf of their authors I am enjoying to discover the most. Each of their authors I’ve had the delight of interviewing have taken the time to let us peer into their writerly lives – see how they set the foundations down on behalf of their stories and given us a lovely ‘first look’ into what we might find inside the stories they’ve written.
This honestly might be one of the stories of the Tudors who swings the door open for me as a reader – as previously, I have enjoyed one of the stories by G.W. Gortner as well as a few others, but honestly when it comes to seeking out this era it sometimes feels like a harder sell to me as my disinterest can grow quickly. As you will not, Walsh has put in a lot into the background of this newly developed series – it is the first book of a forthcoming trilogy and I have high hopes I’ll be able to continue reading straight through to the conclusion!
I am enjoying hosting blog tours for Sapere Books as they are a new UK publisher I have discovered who is publishing quite a large collection of Historical Fiction – most of which I am actively seeking through my local library and am hopeful I can start reading some of their titles this year. They are also publishing stories within my particular genres of interest – from Women’s Fiction to CrimeFiction – I previously highlighted Clare Gray who recently celebrated her debut novel “Running in Circles”! Whilst I had the delight of hosting M.J. Rogue wherein we discussed her novel “An Abiding Fire”. Both of these novels are being acquired by my local library on the basis of my purchase requests and I am looking forward to reading them.
Ahead of reading these stories – today I am celebrating a novel about a niche of the past I do not often get to read but of which I have had a healthy curiosity about for quite awhile.
The Catherine Howard Conspiracy
by Alexandra Walsh
What secrets were covered up at the court of Henry VIII …?
Whitehall Palace, England, 1539
When Catherine Howard arrives at the court of King Henry VIII to be a maid of honour in the household of the new queen, Anne of Cleves, she has no idea of the fate that awaits her.
Catching the king’s fancy, she finds herself caught up in her uncle’s ambition to get a Howard heir to the throne.
Terrified by the ageing king after the fate that befell her cousin, Anne Boleyn, Catherine begins to fear for her life…
Pembrokeshire, Wales, 2018
Dr Perdita Rivers receives news of the death of her estranged grandmother, renowned Tudor historian Mary Fitzroy.
Mary inexplicably cut all contact with Perdita and her twin sister, Piper, but she has left them Marquess House, her vast estate in Pembrokeshire.
Perdita sets out to unravel their grandmother’s motives for abandoning them, and is drawn into the mystery of an ancient document in the archives of Marquess House, a collection of letters and diaries claiming the records of Catherine Howard’s execution were falsified…
What truths are hiding in Marquess House? What really happened to Catherine Howard?
And how was Perdita’s grandmother connected to it all?
The Catherine Howard Conspiracy is the first book in the Marquess House trilogy, a dual timeline conspiracy thriller with a twist on a well-known period of Tudor history.
Places to find the book:
ISBN: 978-1913028251
Published by Sapere Books
on 27th March, 2019
Published by: Sapere Books (@SapereBooks)
Formats available: Trade Paperback and Ebook
Converse on Twitter via: #HistFic or #HistNov
+ #CatherineHoward, #MarquessHouseTrilogy and #SapereBooks
About Alexandra Walsh
From tales spun for her teddies when she was a child (usually about mermaids) to film scripts, plays and novels, Alexandra Walsh has always been a storyteller. Words are her world. For over 25 years, she has been a journalist writing for a wide range of publications including national newspapers and glossy magazines.
She spent some years working in the British film industry, as well as in television and radio: researching, advising, occasionally presenting and always writing.
Books dominate Alexandra’s life. She reads endlessly and tends to become a bit panicky if her next three books are not lined up and waiting. Characters, places, imagery all stay with her and even now she finds it difficult to pass an old wardrobe without checking it for a door to Narnia. As for her magical letter when she was 11, she can only assume her cat caught the owl!
Alexandra’s other passion is history, particularly the untold tales of women. Whether they were queens or paupers, their voices resonate with their stories, not only about their own lives but about ours, too. The women of the Tudor court have inspired her novels. Researching and writing The Marquess House Trilogy (Book One: The Catherine Howard Conspiracy) has brought together her love of history, mysteries and story telling.
