The Silken Rose

by Carol McGrath Book 1 in the The Rose Trilogy series.

First published 2020

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4.0(4,517)

England, 1236. Eleanor of Provence—Ailenor in the novel—arrives as the young bride of Henry III, entering a court where affection, dynasty and foreign alliances are inseparable. Her friendship with Rosalind, a gifted commoner whose needlework brings her close to the royal household, opens a second view onto the privileges and hazards surrounding the queen.

As Henry’s rule comes under pressure from his barons and Simon de Montfort emerges as a formidable opponent, Eleanor learns to use patronage, family connections and political influence to defend her husband and children. McGrath sets the private loyalties of two women against the long tensions of Henry III’s reign, exploring how a queen’s reputation can be shaped as much by hostility to her power as by the choices she makes.