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The Poison Bed
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London, 1615. Frances Howard and her husband Robert Carr, Earl of Somerset, are imprisoned after the poisoning of Sir Thomas Overbury in the Tower of London is exposed. Frances is the daughter of a powerful family and Robert is the king’s former favourite, but privilege offers uncertain protection once servants, apothecaries and court officials begin to describe a conspiracy that reaches into their household.
The couple narrate conflicting versions of their marriage, ambition and possible guilt, each trying to shape the story before the Jacobean state decides who will bear responsibility. Their accounts reveal the rivalries surrounding James VI and I’s court and the intimate secrets behind a public scandal. Originally published under the name E. C. Fremantle, the novel turns the Overbury case into a psychological crime narrative about love, manipulation and the unreliability of confession.
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