New Novel - A Man in Mourning

Available from 15th November. This tale is set at the end of the Wars of the Roses when Henry Tudor defeated King Richard III, the last of the Plantagenet dynasty, and brought stability back to England.

 

King Richard III is probably best known to non-historians for having murdered the little princes in the Tower of London, although there has never been any proof of that.

 

The allegation likely started with Shakespeare's play about the King, but he was living under the Tudors and had no wish to upset them.  Richard did, however, kidnap his nephew, Edward, the rightful king Edward V, on his way to his coronation and later his brother, Richard, and locked them away in the Tower, supposedly for their own safety.  He also had his brother's marriage annulled so as to make his sons illegitimate and make himself the rightful heir to the throne.

 

Richard III's remains were lost for six hundred years until in February 2013 a car park in Leicester was excavated and the remains were discovered beneath it and given a proper burial. Unfortunately, there are now some doubters who are challenging the finding and the DNA evidence that the remains were indeed Richard. The first clue that the skeleton was Richard's was the curvature of the spine, which is well known, and one has to wonder how likely it would be for another man to have gone into battle with such a disability. We will never know.

 

My story has little to do with the battle, or with Richard, but the setting is at this time. I hope you enjoy it.

 

Lord Ian Westerby has mourned his late wife, Eleanor, for ten years and never wanted to remarry. But when his younger brother and heir dies at the Battle of Bosworth, he is forced to take a new wife to produce an heir to his title and estates. Because he is a recluse who is still devoted to his dead wife, he is not a popular choice, but neither is his chosen bride, Lady Francesca Allinton. An accident some two years before left her crippled and, although beautiful, her twisted gait has made her unmarriageable by most standards.

These two are drawn together through circumstances neither of them want but can they make a future together, or will their individual secret heartaches drive a wedge between them?

 

You can read the first chapter here.