Crowned Viper

In the spring of 1533, Anne Boleyn has married Henry VIII, is expecting his child and is preparing for her coronation. Thomasin has withdrawn from court into a contented country marriage, but the death of her uncle requires her and her husband to return to London. She finds Catherine of Aragon banished, Rafe Danvers married at the Boleyns’ direction and the royal household transformed by Anne’s triumph.

The new queen’s position is less secure than it appears. Threatening verses imagining Anne’s beheading circulate in her chambers, an intruder attempts to reach her and the strain of pregnancy exposes the hostility surrounding her. Thomasin is again pulled into court intrigue, where protecting Anne may also mean confronting the resentment created by the queen’s rise and the uncertainty of Henry’s favour.