The Royal Game

Name: The Royal Game
Rating: 3.86 (1833 reviews)

by Anne O’Brien Book 1 in the The Paston Family series.

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England, 1444. The Pastons are a rising Norfolk gentry family whose claim to land and influence remains vulnerable to older and more powerful neighbours. Margaret Paston manages households and estates while her husband pursues legal business; Elizabeth Paston confronts the use of marriage as an instrument of family strategy; and Anne Haute becomes connected to the next generation’s ambitions. Their letters and negotiations reveal how advancement depended on persistence as much as royal favour.

As Henry VI’s government weakens and faction develops into civil war, the Pastons face imprisonment, violence and repeated attacks on their property. The disputed inheritance of Caister Castle offers the family a route towards greater status but also attracts formidable enemies. The novel follows the women whose practical decisions sustain the household, showing the acquisition of power from the domestic and legal struggles that made it possible.