The new historical novel from Philippa Gregory, the Number One bestselling author of Tidelands and Dark Tides.
The spellbinding Fairmile series continues as the fiercely independent Alinor and her family find themselves entangled in palace intrigue, political upheaval, and life-changing secrets in seventeenth-century England.
It is 1685, England is on the brink of a renewed civil war against the Stuart kings and many families are bitterly divided. Ned Ferryman cannot persuade his sister Alinor that he is right to return from America with his Pokanoket servant Rowan to join the rebel army. Instead, Alinor has been coaxed by the manipulative Livia to save the queen from the coming siege. The rewards are life-changing: the family could return to their beloved Tidelands, and Alinor could rule where she was once lower than a servant.
Alinor’s son, Rob, is determined to stay clear of the war, but when he and his nephew set out to free Ned from execution for treason and Rowan from a convict deportation to Barbados, they find themselves enmeshed in the creation of an imposter Prince of Wales – a surrogate baby to the queen.
From the last battle in the desolate Somerset Levels to the hidden caves on the slave island of Barbados, this third volume of an epic story follows a family from one end of the empire to another, to find a new dawn in a world which is opening up before them with greater rewards and dangers than ever before.
Author Biography
Philippa Gregory is the author of many New York Times bestselling novels,
including The Other Boleyn Girl, and is a recognized authority on
women’s history. Many of her works have been adapted for the screen including
The Other Boleyn Girl. She graduated from the University of Sussex and received
a PhD from the University of Edinburgh, where she is a Regent. She holds
honorary degrees from Teesside University and the University of Sussex. She is a
fellow of the Universities of Sussex and Cardiff and was awarded the
2016 Harrogate Festival Award for Contribution to Historical Fiction. She is an
honorary research fellow at Birkbeck, University of London. She founded Gardens
for the Gambia, a charity to dig wells in poor rural schools in The Gambia, and
has provided nearly 200 wells. She welcomes visitors to her website
PhilippaGregory.com.
