Margery Otwell enters aristocratic service and discovers that courtly display conceals predation, calculation and unequal power. After a seduction threatens her reputation, Sir John Peche helps her secure a place in Katherine of Aragon’s household. Margery’s position then draws her into the conflict surrounding Henry VIII’s marriage and Anne Boleyn’s ascent, where private loyalties can be manipulated for political ends.
Margery’s service to Katherine gives her a privileged view of the queen’s household but also binds her fate to a political cause already losing ground. Court gossip and sexual reputation can be turned into weapons, especially against women with little independent power. Her personal experience of coercion makes the developing struggle over Henry’s marriage something she understands through vulnerability as much as allegiance.
Philippa Gregory
32 books
Elizabeth Fremantle
7 books
C. W. Gortner
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Margaret George
6 books
David Field
46 books