The Secret Bride
In The Court of Henry VIII
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4.1 • 37 Ratings
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- $3.99
Publisher Description
For fans of The Tudors comes a captivating drama about the only woman who could defy Henry VIII -and keep her life.
Mary Tudor, the headstrong younger sister of the ruthless King Henry VII, has always been her brother's favorite-but now she is also an important political bargaining chip. When she is promised to the elderly, ailing King Louis of France, a heartbroken Mary accepts her fate, but not before extracting a promise from her brother: When the old king dies, her next marriage shall be solely of her choosing. For Mary has a forbidden passion, and is determined, through her own cunning, courage, and boldness, to forge her own destiny.
The Secret Bride is the triumphant tale of one extraordinary woman who meant to stay true to her heart and live her life just as her royal brother did- by her own rules...
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Though it takes a long time to admit it to herself, Mary Tudor (1496-1553)-the headstrong, gorgeous, obedient, and favorite sister of Henry VIII-ardently loves the inappropriate but dashing Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk. Neither she nor Suffolk, however, can tell Henry, for it would seem a betrayal: Henry has arranged Mary's marriage to France's King Louis XII,and no one knows better than Mary that Henry he is not to be crossed. But it's a long way to that point in the latest historical from Haeger (The Perfect Royal Mistress), who begins in Mary's girlhood, and includes everyone from Katherine of Aragon and Cardinal Wolsey to Francois I of France and a young Anne Boleyn. While one doesn't get a firm sense of passing time along the way, Haeger delivers complexities of court and duty plausibly and with aplomb.
