Queen's Gambit
Soon To Be a Major Motion Picture, FIREBRAND
-
-
4.5 • 15 Ratings
-
-
- £3.99
-
- £3.99
Publisher Description
If you love the BBC's The White Queen you'll love this.
Meet the woman who survived Henry VIII in Elizabeth Fremantle's first novel, Queen's Gambit...
My name is Katherine Parr.
I'm 31 years old and already twice widowed.
I'm in love with a man I can't have, and am about to wed a man no-one would want - for my husband-to-be is none other than Henry VIII, who has already beheaded two wives, cast aside two more, and watched one die in childbirth.
What will become of me once I'm wearing his ring and become Queen of England?
They say that the sharpest blades are sheathed in the softest pouches.
Only time will tell what I am really made of...
For fans of Hilary Mantel, Philippa Gregory and Alison Weir, Elizabeth Fremantle's first novel, Queen's Gambit, is a riveting account of the Tudor queen who married four men and outlived three of them - including Henry VIII.
Rich in atmosphere and period detail, and told through the eyes of Katherine and her young maid Dot, it tells the story of two very different women during a terrifying and turbulent time. If you loved Wolf Hall, The Other Boleyn Girl or the BBC drama series The Tudors, then Elizabeth Fremantle's Queen's Gambit is the book for you.
'Gripping' Woman & Home
'Sumptuous' Metro
'A major new voice in historical fiction'The Bookseller
'Rich and enticing' Stylist
'Electric' Good Housekeeping
'Wildly entertaining' Huffington Post
Elizabeth Fremantle holds a first in English and an MA in creative Writing from Birkbeck. As a Fashion Editor she has contributed to various publications including Vogue, Elle, Vanity Fair and the Erotic Review and has had her fiction published in the Mechanic's Institute Review. Queen's Gambit is her first novel; her second, Sisters of Treason, will be published early in 2014.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Tudor women continue to rule historical fiction, as Fremantle demonstrates in her debut novel tracing Katherine Parr's passage from grieving widow to Henry VIII's sixth and last wife, the one who survives. Taking us into Katherine's mind and heart, Fremantle portrays a complex gentlewoman: decent, though willing to hasten her previous husband's demise; modest, though ready to throw herself into the arms of the man she adores; and intelligent, though blind to the machinations of the man in question, aristocratic playboy Thomas Seymour. At 31, daft with desire for Thomas, Katherine has no choice but accept the now aging, ungainly King's unwelcome marriage proposal. A reluctant queen in a court full of intrigue and potential enemies, she still manages to write a book, reconcile Henry to his daughters Mary and Elizabeth, and champion Protestant reforms, all while maintaining a tenuous hold on the King's favor and a noticeably unabated attraction to Seymour. Fremantle details the dangers of 16th-century sexual politics while humanizing powerful women, including Katherine herself; clever, willful Elizabeth; and lonely, suspicious Mary. Even with invented characters such as a gay royal physician/confidant, and a loyal commoner maid Fremantle carves out no new literary territory, but like Katherine, she navigates Tudor terrain with aplomb.
Customer Reviews
Queen's gambit
Katherine parr 's life from just before marrying Henry viii to her death from child birth with the maids story, doctor and Elizabeth 1 woven into it