The Queen’s Sister

Name: The Queen’s Sister
Rating: 4.52 (179 reviews)

by Carol McGrath

First published 2026

Amazon

4.4(179)

In the aftermath of Anne Boleyn’s execution, the Seymour family rises with extraordinary speed. Elizabeth Seymour, already a young widow and mother, attempts to build an independent life in Yorkshire just as Henry VIII turns his attention to her sister Jane. Her second marriage, to Gregory Cromwell, binds her fortunes to the family of the king’s most powerful minister.

The Queen’s Sister follows Elizabeth through religious upheaval, dynastic opportunity and the dangers of Tudor proximity to power. Jane Seymour’s queenship, Thomas Cromwell’s influence and eventual fall, and Gregory’s uncertain future bring national politics directly into Elizabeth’s household. McGrath uses a woman usually seen only through her famous relatives to explore landholding, marriage, kinship and survival behind the public drama of Henry VIII’s court.

Historical Periods

Henrician Reformation1530–1547 CE

Genres

Biographical Fiction Court & Political Fiction Dynastic & Royal Fiction Social & Domestic Fiction

Historical people

Henry VIII1491–1547 Anne Boleyn1501–1536 Jane Seymour1508–1537 Thomas Cromwell1485–1540 Elizabeth Seymour, Lady Cromwellc. 1518–1568 Gregory Cromwell, 1st Baron Cromwellc. 1520–1551