England, 1444. King Henry VI’s grip on the crown hangs by a thread as the Wars of the Roses starts to tear England apart. And from the ashes of war, the House of Paston begins its rise to power. Led by three visionary women, the Pastons are a family from humble peasant beginnings who rely […]
Cecily by Annie Garthwaite
You are born high, but marry a traitor’s son. You bear him twelve children, carry his cause and bury his past. You play the game, against enemies who wish you ashes. Slowly, you rise. You are Cecily. But when the king who governs you proves unfit, what then? Loyalty or treason – death may follow […]
Finding my matriarch, Cecily Neville
Annie Garthwaite describes the 40-year journey that ends on 29 July, 2021, with the publication of her debut novel, Cecily. And reflects on how writing helped her find a matriarch of her own. Mum taught me to read long before school. It was her gift – the key to stories. By the age of ten […]
The Last Daughter by Nicola Cornick
Ever since her sister disappeared eleven years ago, Serena Warren has been running from a ghost, haunted by what she can’t remember about that night. When Caitlin’s body is discovered, Serena returns to her grandfather’s house, nestled beside the ruins of Minster Lovell Hall in Oxfordshire, determined to uncover the truth. But in returning to […]
When the Wars of the Roses got personal
What happens when you discover that an ancestor of yours was involved in the great moments of history which you’re writing about? It makes these events feel closer to you, but also it makes you think again about loyalties, as Nicola Cornick, the bestselling and award-winning historical novelist, tells Historia. In 2019 when I started […]
The Queen’s Rival by Anne O’Brien
England, 1459: Cecily Neville, Duchess of York, is embroiled in a plot to topple the weak-minded King Henry VI from the throne. But when the Yorkists are defeated at the Battle of Ludford Bridge, Cecily’s family flee and abandon her to face a marauding Lancastrian army on her own. Cecily can only watch as her […]
Historia Interviews: Karen Maitland
Karen Maitland is known for her meticulous research, gothic sensibilities and page-turning storytelling. Her new book, The Plague Charmer, is a typically dark, vivid account of the return of the Black Death to a small Devon village in the year 1361. Historia caught up with her to find out all about it. How did the initial […]
Accession by Livi Michael
Accession by Livi Michael is the third and final instalment of her Wars of the Roses trilogy which opens in 1444 with the novel Succession. The trilogy centres itself around Margaret Beaufort and Margaret of Anjou and their competing ambitions for their sons and the English throne. Novel three, as one would expect from this […]